Glow in the Dark — Lisa Teasley

Lost souls, the disenfranchised, the destitute: These are the denizens of Lisa Teasley's stories. There's Magda, the drug-addicted surfer chick; Gita, who juggles sexual relationships; and Boogie, an overweight ten-year-old. Teasley follows her characters deep into the mire. "Baker" emerged from the 1997 rape and murder of a seven-year-old in a Nevada casino. In "Holiday Confessional," a character flees after witnessing a crime, then shares the secret with two strangers in a bar. Set in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Baja, Lisa Teasley's stories illuminate society's darker side.