Uncertain Treasure

Sacred Treasure of Mountain tales

Mysterious love, uncertain treasure, hast thou more of pain or pleasure!

Endless torments dwell about thee; yet who would live, and live without thee!

~Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

loupeUncertain Treasure is a 60,000-word literary collection looking for a publisher. Although the stories are united by a focus on gemstones and precious metals, beneath the shiny surface one discovers strange tales of the human condition.

In Uncertain Treasure, man’s hidden flaws and secret facets are exposed with the aid of the loupe. The result is an unconventional, somewhat twisted journey in which the reader, drawn to brilliant and curious things, gains new perspectives on all that glitters.

Uncertain Treasure includes

“A Brilliant Bit of Work” – A diamond-cutter with OCD exacts the perfect revenge.

“Tower of Ivory” – A mountain of scrimshaw and a madwoman marooned in the Galapagos.

“Fair and Square” – A hoard of gold, two men, and four burros in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains.

“Jade Disease” – Corruption, disease, and addiction in the jade mines of Asia.

“Okaeshi” – Tit for tat and the gift of an amethyst ring.

Uncertain Treasure was a finalist for the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award and the Serena McDonald Kennedy Prize. It was a semi-finalist for the Eludia Award and received an honorable mention in the 2018 Leapfrog Fiction Contest. “Tower of Ivory” was a finalist in both The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition and the Hidden River Arts Sandy Run Novella Competition. “Jade Disease” was a finalist for the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize and a semi-finalist in The William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. “A Brilliant Bit of Work” was a semi-finalist in the 2017 Fish Short Story Contest. “Fair and Square” was a finalist in the 2018 Fish Short Story Contest. It was also a semi-finalist for the American Short Fiction Prize and the Hourglass Literary Magazine Writing Award.

Uncertain Treasure may be a standalone project or the start of a series. If you would like to contact Alison Withey about this collection, please visit the Contact page.

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.cut sapphire

~Matthew 6:21

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