Thematically, these stories range widely, from adultery to first love, from the humorous to the nearly-tragic, and they include central characters of an equally wide spectrum: a child, a teenager, a college student, a nurse, an electrician, a legal secretary, among others. One of the many strengths I see in these stories is the use of local, familiar landmarks and places. No stories take place in Tibet or Somalia, for instance, because these writers know that exotic locations can distract a writer, not to mention a reader, from the importance stuff-what happens to the people in the story . . . you will find more than one story that takes place in Maryland and more than one story that deals with the day-to-day travails of working life. These are the most difficult stories to write precisely because their terrain is so ordinary. Which is to say that these writers have set for themselves the largest challenges.