THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES OF

MIKE KRATH

But first...a shameless commercial

Now Available from iUniverse and Other Online Bookstores

My First Children's Novel (and last...I'm going to put writing aside for awhile and clean out the garage)

The Tree Seekers

(made up from stories told to my children at the dinner table)

Editor's Choice - iUniverse

When a slip of paper falls out of a library book and guides [five siblings] to a large rock behind their house, they discover a secret staircase, and, at the bottom, a colorful world made of candy. Pixies, goblins and other creatures populate this ever-changing realm, where embankments suddenly vanish and " 'anything is possible.' " …the characterizations are vivid enough to make this slippery, random world engaging. - Kirkus Discoveries

 And if you don't want to buy a copy, click here and download the pdf file for free! If you like what you read, you might buy it. If you read it and find that you don't like it, you might find it to be the ideal book to give to an enemy or to that special someone with a bad case of insomnia!

And now to my short stories....

Table of Contents 

A Most Ambitious Experiment

(Story written when my 401k lost half its value! First published at East of the Web (excellent site for new and classic short stories), made into a short film by Columbia College Chicago, used in ESL Textbooks, discussed in numerous international blogs, required twelth-grade reading at a Chicago High School, and discussed on October 4th, 2005 by the Washington County Friends of the Library at Chipley Library in Chipley, Florida.)

High and Lifted Up

(Story written to read to my children at the dinner table. First published at East of the Web, used by Pizza Hut in a local advertising campaign in Texas, published in ESL textbooks, and permission given for use in U.S. standarized tests.)

Old Timer

(Story written as the first chapter in a book, but then published as a short story. The ending, by virtue of being a first chapter, will leave you wanting to know more. First published at East of the Web, and then published in an Italian Magazine. The link to this story will take you to the Italian Web Site where a professional actor reads the story.)

Near a House with Bushes ( Experimenting with surreal writing)

It's 10:30 in the Morning (again - surreal)

The Road (surreal)

The Cryptic Message (surreal)

The Coffee Savorer

 

A Brief History of the Midland Bridge  is available for free download.

America's Most Wanted Short Stories is also available for free download. These are silly stories that my wife and I wrote to amuse ourselves when we we were newly married.

 

"I was thinking of taking [one particular story] home and reading it to the kids, but the end was a little bizarre." - BJ

 

Biography: Mike Krath was born in Fort Worth, Texas on November 26th, 1956. He grew up in the USA and Egypt. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Texas A+M University. He has worked in the USA, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Korea as both an Accountant and Engineer.

Mike Krath met his wife, Veronica, in High School in Egypt at the age of 15. Together, they have published and sold books well into the teens! AMERICA'S MOST WANTED SHORT STORIES, and A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MIDLAND BRIDGE (and Other Histerical Accounts) are available from Xlibris.com (publisher), Amazon.com, www.bn.com, and other sundry Internet bookstores. SILLY BEYOND ALL GET OUT was published by iUniverse. It is also available from www.bn.com, walmart.com, amazon.com, and a cardboard box that sits on top of their bookshelf. (Oh, the folly of self-publishing!)

THE TREE SEEKERS is Mike Krath's first novel.

Mike Krath now resides in Keller, Texas with his lovely wife and five children.