...I needed Jillian’s warmth beside me as much as she needed mine. And I only braided her hair and tied the ties because I had learned from Mom how to find peace in the simplest of acts. She had taught me that there’s a sense of calm in the patient weaving of hair over and under and over again, and in the slow rolling of a piecrust to just the right thickness, knowing it by the feel of cool dough between your fingers. ~ "The Simplest of Acts"

Winner of the 2006 Family Circle Magazine short fiction contest, Melanie Haney's debut collection of stories includes her award winning works, "The Simplest of Acts" and "Only in Bellington" along with other carefully wrought stories of loss, love and the often small but cathartic moments in our ordinary lives.

Praise for The Simplest of Acts

"Melanie's beautiful metaphors and richness of language captivated me from the very first word." Author, Jodi Picoult

"Melanie Haney is a great writer and she is masterful at what makes short stories strongest: the last sentence..." Henry Baum, Self-Publishing Review

The Simplest of Acts and Other Stories is available now.