Bucak, Ayse Papatya

Set during the Vietnam War, Coffee, Tea or Ammo chronicles the adventures of Bob Thomas, from his unsuccessful attempts to dodge the draft, through basic training and advanced individual training, to his service in Vietnam with an army artillery battery. On one level the narrative is impelled by Thomas's attempt to resolve the conflict between his agonistic and irenic impulses. However, the novel also relies on satire, precipitated by the bevy of unnerving characters Thomas encounters, such as a predatory homosexual drill sergeant, an oversexed lieutenant who frags another officer, a captain who keeps his identity secret from his troops and communicates through written acronyms, a colonel who counts fallen trees as KIAs, and a beleaguered American advisor on the run from an ARVN soldier trying to kill him to save face. Although Thomas's war experience is different from what he anticipated, it has a lasting impact on his life.

The Brooch of Clytemnestra follows the adventures Margaret O'Brien, age thirteen, encounters when her family returns to the United States after living in Venezuela for ten years. Set in 1963, in the fictional town of Desolasol, located on southeastern coast of Florida, the O'Brien family must cope with cultural, social and religious changes in order to adjust to life in the U.S. The story takes place over the course of one week in story present in Florida, and over the course of one year in story past in Venezuela. The protagonist, Meg, runs afoul of the gods, when she unwittingly incurs the wrath of Zeus, who, along with the Pantheon of Greek gods, is summering on the coast in Desolasol. Meg is a normal girl, without magical powers. However, to protect herself, and her family, she must become willing to stand up to Zeus.

The story of an Irish grandfather, Brendan Doran, covers the period 1918 through 1966; the story of his granddaughter, Maisie Doyle covers the summer of her seventeenth year. Brendan's perceptions are given in the first person viewpoint; Maisie's in the third-person viewpoint. A faithful following is given of Brendan's vernacular in young manhood; then, as he grows in sophisticated use of language his first-person narration reflects this. Both stories trace the psychological development of the two, leading to questions regarding the similarities and the differences between the romantic dreams of a young man and a young woman. An omniscient narrator is the narrative voice for an overview of family history, with emphasis on the family dwelling and land, Bloomlands, and on the story of Maisie's mother and father, Essie and Eddie Doran.

Weather assists in shaping our reality. It is an unalterable condition of the world that we are born into. This short story collection aims to present the nuances of weather. It attempts to acknowledge wind, rain, snow and lightning as forces that shape the world of its characters, forces that even influence the structure of the story itself. In some cases, weather acts as metaphor; in others, the weather seeks to alter language itself. The beauty of a snowflake resides in image and language.

Our lives are a series of patterns. In Katrina's case, fear plays a reoccurring role. Each chapter illustrates one particular picture in the protagonist's existence; each scene depicts a different year of her life, ranging from age six to twenty-six. The human body, both inner and outer, is a theme throughout, as well as her relationship with her mother. Each chapter title is named after a type of phobia, ranging from Mnemophobia (the fear of memories) to Ostraconophobia (the fear of shellfish).