Middle Creek
Publishing & Audio

 "From the moment I began reading Michael Olin-Hitt’s recent collection of short stories, Messiah Complex and Other Stories, I was immediately reminded of the moment I discovered the stories of Raymond Carver. There is an immediate comfort with the conversational rhythm of the story telling. I found myself listening to some of these characters like I listened to Holden Caulfield. 

 

These stories end pitch-perfectly. Our lives are comprised of loose ends, and Olin-Hitt’s stories, while certainly take place in this tangle, are extracted in a near surgical manner, finishing in decisive moments. After reading this collection in one sitting, I recalled the words of Charles Lindbergh: “Life is a culmination of the past, an awareness of the present, as indication of a future beyond knowledge, the quality that gives a touch of divinity to matter,”

 

In the hands of another writer, these stories might end muddied from too much mucking around and stirring up unnecessary details. These are quick, clear, crisp stories, which, in the masterful hands of Olin-Hittt,  make you feel something."

         

                  ~  David Anthony Martin, Publisher, Middle Creek Publishing & Audio
                        and author of Span and Deepening the Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“I was drawn into the story by [the character's] kinetic voice and hooked by his spirited and smart digressions. But what really engaged me was the emotional complexity and the way the author carefully and subtly added so many layers. There’s sadness and loss but it’s met with optimism and empathy. And that’s what ultimately won me over: it’s bighearted and optimistic without being naive. “Struggle and beauty,” says [one character]. “You don’t get one without the other.” That’s what this story offers. Struggle and beauty and grace.”

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                 ~ Bryan Hurt, author of Everyone Wants to Be Ambassador to France

                     and editor of Watchlist: 32 Stories by Persons of Interest.

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"I nudged another project aside, with the idea that I would take a quick peek at these stories.  Hours later, I was still reading -- crying my way through much of the work.  Michael Olin-Hitt is the Leonard Cohen of fiction.  Read these stories.  You will be transported, transformed, washed new. "

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                 ~ Debra Leigh Scott, Founding Director of Hidden River Arts

                     and author of Other Likely Stories.

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Dr. Michael Olin-Hitt, English professor at Mount Union College teaches American Literature, Fiction Writing, and Native American Literature.
 
He has published an award-winning novel, "The Homegoing," in addition to two books on mystical awareness and thirteen short stories. Messiah Complex and Other Stories is the winner of Middle Creek Publishing's Osprey Fiction Award for 2016.

Michael Olin-Hitt’s novel, The Homegoing, won first place in the Somerset Awards for Literary Mixed-Genre, sponsored by Chanticleer Reviews.  In addition to his novel he has published two books of nonfiction on spirituality. He lives in Clinton, Ohio with his wife, Jennifer, and two children.

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