Book excerpt: Eight writers -- four women and four men -- have gathered together to present this soul-stirring collection of contemporary fiction -- one that is sure to whet your appetite for more from these very talented authors. As one of them reminds us: "Here is the voice inside me which says: 'I am shaking the teardrops frozen in time with my literary tremor from a faraway land . . .' I think everyone has stories that are meant to shake or create waves to the uncharted mind."