Prolific Valley Author to Launch New Collection

FLORENCE—John Sheirer of Florence, a prolific author of fiction and memoir, has published a new collection of linked short fiction, “Stumbling Through Adulthood,” and he will launch the book at Forbes Library in Northampton on Tuesday, August 10 at 6 p.m.

The rain date for the free and public event is Thursday, August 12, same time. 

“Stumbling Through Adulthood” carries the Janice Beetle Books imprint and is available on Amazon.

The book is a collection of stand-alone stories with characters who are linked, meaning they reappear like subtle surprises and rekindled connections. The book shines a light on Sheirer’s compassionate and often quirky characters and their intimate experiences, all with a backdrop that is clearly modern-day America and its recent, volatile culture.

Readers watch some protagonists grow through various stages of life and gain depth and texture as they age, mature, and adapt. The stories offer poignant moments, deft turns of phrase, and insight into the human mind and spirit, and they bring with them realism, failure and triumph in life, work, relationships, ethical conundrums, and politics.

Sheirer has taught writing and communications at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut, for 28 years. He is also a longtime columnist for the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Learn more at JohnSheirer.com.

Sheirer is the author of dozens of titles that cross many genres. “Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere,” is John’s memoir on growing up in Central Pennsylvania on a farm. “Loop Year,” focuses on John’s experiences in hiking the same trail for an entire year, and he describes the work as an environmental and anthropological study. 

In his Gazette column, John writes about politics and framed three books around that theme, including 2020’s “Positively Toward the Negative,” a collection of his recent Gazette columns. The Libby books, for children and adults, include “I Like Sticks!” and “The Alpha Dog Alphabet.”

John’s recent fiction includes “Too Wild: Flash Fiction,” a collection of very short stories; “Uncorrected,” a short suspense novel on a prison escape; and “Fever Cabin,” the fictionalized journal of a man isolating himself during the pandemic.

Here’s what some early reviewers have had to say about Stumbling Through Adulthood:

“A clever, witty, and intoxicating collection that will leave readers staggering with delight,” Jacob M. Appel, author of “Einstein’s Beach House.”

“John Sheirer is a master storyteller,” Susanne Davis, author of “The Appointed Hour.”

“John Sheirer creates intense and masterful portraits of his widely varied characters’ deeply personal worlds,” Sherri VandenAkker, writer, director, producer of “My Name Was Bette: The Life and Death of an Alcoholic.”