Eliot Parker is the author of four thriller novels, most recently A FINAL CALL, which was named A Best Book to Discover in 2022 by Kirkus Magazine and was a finalist for The Hawthorne Prize for fiction. His short story collection SNAPSHOTS won the PenCraft and Feathered Quill Book Awards for best short story anthology. A recipient of the West Virginia Literary Merit Award, Eliot hosts the author podcast program, "Now, Appalachia," on The Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. He teaches writing at the University of Mississippi.

Conversation is more than just words begin spoken, interpreted, and acted upon by others. Conversation is also the ultimate human interest activity, bringing people into direct contact with people in all of their complexity and vulnerability. The main characters in Parker's ten multi-genre stories set in the heart of Appalachia want to be heard; to have others listen to them—really listen—and understand their needs and concerns. The characters in these stories do not always get listened to, and many of them find that the need for attention comes from aggression. A woman confronts her father about his dementia. Two fathers whose guilt and shame over the disappearances of their sons hide more sinister motives. A young boy frustrated with a ring appraisal learns a lesson about how people and things can be valued equally. Each of the characters in the collection is faced with a balance of talking and listening with a need for action, which often leads to manipulation and coercion.