What If We Were Somewhere Else

What If We Were Somewhere Else is the question everyone asks in these linked stories as they try to figure out how to move on from job losses, broken relationships, and fractured families. Following the employees of a nameless corporation and their loved ones, these stories examine the connections they forge and the choices they make as they try to make their lives mean something in the soulless, unforgiving hollowness of corporate life. Looking hard at the families to which we are born and the families we make, What If We Were Somewhere Else asks its own questions about what it means to work, love, and age against the uncertain backdrop of modern America.

About the Author :
Wendy J. Fox is the author of The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories, and the novels The Pull of It and If The Ice Had Held. She received her MFA from Eastern Washington University, and her work has been published or is forthcoming in many literary reviews, websites, and blogs. Find her at wendyjfox.com and on Twitter @WendyJeanFox

Review :
Praise for the author's previous work, If the Ice Had Held : "Fox's novel tells the story of the cold and lonely landscape of the Mile High City, with honesty and tenderness, from one woman's perspective. It's a book about harbored secrets and shared discovery, told in lyric style." -- Westword.com "Pick up this beautiful novel today. It's stunningly written and immediately engrossing. I suspect I'll have to extend my reading hour because I don't see myself being able to put this one down before I finish." -- Drink. Read. Repeat. "Razor-sharp ... written with incredible grace and assurance. I gave myself over to this story and felt as though I had inhabited these characters." Benjamin Percy, author of The Dark Net "If the Ice Had Held, at its heart a story about second chances, is both haunting and luminous. I was captivated by how, in the aftershock of tragedy, these memorable characters try to find their way toward some brighter place. Expertly shifting back and forth in time, Fox has crafted an intricate mosaic shimmering with gorgeous prose." -- Heather Bell Adams, author of Maranatha Road "Wendy J Fox's prose is both haunting and full of bright spirit. Her latch on language is akin to an insect in amber:tight and solid and sparkling, and in the case of If the Ice had Held, houses perfect, vivid characters awash in the most timeless of troubles, namely, the bearing and rearing of unplanned children and the sleep of unchartered lives. The various perspectives leave us scratching our heads, wondering why we've never before possessed the ability to see the world--and life--in quite this same way." -- Paula Coomer, author of Jagged Edge of the Sky "Wendy J. Fox's If the Ice Had Held is a wonderful novel founded on the sexual union of a lonely girland a high school boy. What ensues is a remarkably told tale of the nearly forty years of lives, principally but far from exclusively, of three women--the sister, the mother, and the child, Melanie. Told without recrimination, in brilliantly crafted and telling snippets that plumb the ordinaries of these lives, this novel veers toward the metaphysical." John Keeble, author of Broken Ground "A kind of suspense is built into the very structure of If the Ice Had Held . I became more and more invested in each character and storyline and more and more eager to see how they would intersectI found it nearly impossible to put the book down." -- Small Press Picks "In this tale of tragedy, family secrets, and hidden identities, Wendy J. Fox weaves--with taut prose and an unflinching eye--a web of intersecting lives whose deceptions, disillusionments, and desires capture your attention and then your heart. She has a gift for writing the pulse of real people." -- Jen Michalski, author of The Summer She Was Under Water "If the Ice Had Held is a stunning novel. From its very first pages, I was captivated by the vivid intimacy of Wendy J. Fox's prose and her generous sense of character. Indelible, insightful, and deeply moving, If the Ice Had Held illustrates the complex bonds of family -- the terrible ways we hurt one another, the sacrifices we make to save one other." -- Jillian Medoff, bestselling author of This Could Hurt "Each story in this addictive collection casts a spell... What If We Were Somewhere Else is Friday night, stay in alone, tell your friends you have other plans, kind of reading." -- Dave Patterson, author of Soon The Light Will Be Perfect "Fox's memorable narrations, ranging from eccentric to evocative, side-splitting to shocking, had me smiling, pondering, and turning the pages for more." -- Cynthia Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller and The Glass Forest "I loved this book so much. Fox uses all of these somewhat bleak stories to tap perfectly into what it means to be human. It's the exact type of book that makes me love to read. It's exactly what I want when a book says 'stories.'" -- Meagan Graham, bibliotaphsblog "...diverting...enthralling... Fox successfully delivers small dramas that can pack a powerful punch." -- Publishers Weekly "Fox delivers a realistic, emotionally driven set of interlinked stories... Relatable, affecting, and at times absurd, this collection is for anyone who has felt frustrated at work. It shows us that there is more to life than what we do for a living." -- Booklist "[A] moving and perceptive collection of linked stories... emotionally resonant and memorable." -- Small Press Picks "Fox has a smooth-flowing prose style that helps keep you connected to her characters. She gives each of the characters we follow their own voice in addition to their own story while honoring each with her amazing writing style." -- Dominic Loise, Friction "Fox's prose is laced with tenderness, exploring lives measured in acceptance, kindness and connection. Even while moving insightfully through the more alienating facets of office culture -- networking parties, breakroom concerns -- Fox invests most of all in what makes us people over workers." -- New York Times