A Ukrainian writer barely on the wagon trades his health and sanity for the sake of his work when he makes a Faustian pact. A man tries to hold his family together as they watch their precious country being overtaken in a brutal military invasion. An upstart reporter from India gets too close to his beat and is quickly swallowed by his notoriety. Within the short stories of "We Are the New Auroras: The Story Collection," you'll encounter characters who are battered, bruised, and haunted by unfulfilled promises of their past. Solitary vagabonds, spies, rapscallion mercenaries, and ordinary men and women who find themselves and their families torn apart by war and Communism-all yearn for a new beginning. From the wintry climates of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Canada, to the sultriness of Gibraltar, Liberia, and South Africa, these stories take you around the globe as they highlight the ravages of international conflict, civil war, poverty, and conflict diamonds. Witty, touching, and, at times, horrifying, the stories in "We Are the New Auroras" speak of the dichotomy of the human condition, where pain lives next door to humor, and loneliness walks hand-in-hand with hope.