Description: Winner of the 2021 Moon City Short Fiction Award
Michele Finn Johnson's colorful, witty stories hum with life. Characters in each of these thirty-six stories evolve at different rates, resulting in missed connections, almost connections, and--best-case scenario--close connections. A high-schooler struggles to figure out where she fits into the stereotypical landscape, searching for her space between these castes; Baby Albert grasps the concept of gravitational waves while his parents have difficulty operating the DVD player; bats mate by instinct while pregnant humans struggle to align. Writing about love, sex, loss, and joy, Johnson exposes the core of her characters.Review Quotes: "Development Times Vary is a rich and layered collection of stories by one of my favorite writers on the planet. Here, we're treated to the full range of Michele Finn Johnson's mastery, to stories full of heart and wit and insight. These stories feature an array of characters at various stages of life, navigating the glories and devastations of girlhood and womanhood and all brought to vivid, crackling life via Johnson's indelible voice and assured pen. How lucky we are to have such a stunning writer in our midst, to have all these brilliant stories in one place."
--Kathy Fish, author of Wild Life: Collected Works