Set in a veteran's hospital in California,

"It struck me that a child's world is made up of such categorical imperatives. Experiences are unique. Laws are absolute. You cannot have any candy. At Tillie's age it meant you can never have any candy. You must go to your room meant you must go there forever."

Discover a new way of seeing the world with L.J. Schneiderman's latest short story collection, "Have a Beautiful Day Hot Air Balloons."

Readers will move fluidly through the lives, loves, and dramas of various different characters, all of whom nevertheless evoke a deep sense of compassion as we witness some of the most precarious moments of their lives.

Whether it is a grandfather attempting to comfort his newly fatherless granddaughter or a nurse who finally reveals the mystery behind her patient's secretive visitor, each story contained within "Have a Beautiful Day Hot Air Balloons" deftly examines the struggles and triumphs that make life worth living.

Glimpse the lives, deaths, fantasies, humor and memories that shape the individual experiences we call "human" with this moving short story collection that will linger long after the last page is closed.

A father struggling to reconnect with his estranged son. A fading writer dealing with the sudden success of his younger pianist wife. A Jewish man who pulls away from his group on a guided tour of Vienna.

These are just a few of the characters you'll find within the pages of "Termites: Their Deeper Meaning"-each inspired by a hundred real and imagined people from the life of family doctor L. J. Schneiderman.

Far from your ordinary "doctor book," "Termites" blends reality and imagination to explore a variety of complex stories and life issues. The result is a collection of literary fiction that is always moving, often thought provoking, and laced with more than a pinch of dark humor.

In the vein of Anton Chekhov or Richard Selzer, Schneiderman draws upon years of experience listening to and watching the lives of patients, friends, and strangers, which he then weaves together, extending these observations with the help of his imagination. The resulting stories provide a deep and compulsively readable glimpse into fascinating characters and events-one that will appeal to adult readers and lovers of short stories everywhere.