Gross, Ted William

August 15, 2007 on 8:38 am | No Comments yet

Ted William Gross

Literary and, occasionally, some wonderful Mythic Fantasy short stories and novels

“Man plans; God laughs.”

Ted William Gross was born and raised in New York City and in 1978, moved to Israel, and currently resides in Jerusalem.

He currently has finished his short story anthology Ancient Tales, Modern Legends which is shopping for an agent; started the next short story anthology Chimera Of Existence containing short stories in the fantasy realm based upon his fantasy trilogy Chronicles of the Children of Heaven; in working on another non-fiction book entitled Last Times and on a humorous cooking book entitled Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen which has an award winning companion Blog of the same name. He is also working on the novels The Sabbath Candles of Kotzk and The Thirty Six.

Ted maintains a popular blog for authors, publishers and agents, called Cobwebs of the Mind which can be found at http://teddygross.blogspot.com/. He also maintains the award winning blog, Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen, at http://fireinmykitchen.blogspot.com/ which is a recipe/story blog of single parenting and for parents trying to just deal with life. Help! I Have A Fire In My Kitchen was one of the 5 world finalists for the best Food Blog in the 2007 Weblog Contest, known as the Bloggies.

Usually one can find Ted either putting out fires in his kitchen, drinking coffee in a cafe musing about the great “what-ifs” of life, dealing with one of his six children, or walking the byways of Jerusalem with Rainbow, his golden retriever, pondering the silence of the heavens.

 

Ted William Gross Short Stories

Addiction, Obsession, Love by Ted William Gross

The power and poignancy of real love, can we survive its aching, turbulent reckoning upon our very soul and essence? (Literary)

Editor’s Note: This is probably one of the most difficult pieces I’ve ever had to edit, and, if my editing lacks aplomb, for I know I have not done this story it’s true justice, I apologise. This story ached in me as I read it, then ached even harder as I tried vainly to seek out comma splices and faults, to take that which was written with such exquisite passion and honestly and bring it to some grammatical cohesion that would render it whole and globally comprehensible in its entirely to its any audience.

Some could say this is a story of closure. …But it’s not. Some would say this is a tale of errant love. Again, it’s not. This is impassioned, a real story of real love, a perspective rarely glimpsed, more rarely comprehended, and most rarely ever expressed, especially from the man’s point of view. To have this most sought for, most elusive, most evasive of all experiences brought forth in full, real, raw, unfettered expression in a modern tale of joy and sorrow, of real feeling evoking real, demonstrated interplay of passion, understanding, and melancholy, is, once more, the gift Ted William Gross brings to the world with his powerful honesty in integrity of vision. —zentao

Elijah’s Coins by Ted William Gross

You will never know Elijah better than is granted by this story’s words. (Literary / Spiritual)

Editor’s Note: This captivated me completely. I wish I could convince a publisher to publish all Ted’s work in a beautifully bound and illustrated book, printed on the finest acid-free paper…like the kind you find in old, rare tomes where the pages whisper as you turn them. Zen loves Ted’s writing. I love Ted’s words and stories. The humor, the delight, the wisdom and sorrow, all roll together to bring a quiet joy to the heart. —d.l.keur for editor on holiday

The Heretic by Ted William Gross

A story of doubt, disbelief; a story of tribulation and inner conflict; a story of discovery, understanding, reconciliation and redemption — read and behold the wonder and magic spun by the hand of Ted William Gross in The Heretic.

Editor’s Note: A real treat for readers this month, Ted William Gross again outdoes himself with this delicate, yet powerful journey into the intimacy of the soul in a humble, yet powerful tale of belief and reason. (Literary)

Kapparot by Ted William Gross

Repent, Oh Lord, for thou hast sinned. (Literary)

Editor’s Note: Of all of Ted’s work we’ve published thus far, I think this one is the most entertaining, the most “fun.” I’ve been harboring it in safe holding for this, our Holiday issue, because it certainly is a rich delight. Thank you, Ted. Magnificent, once again. —zentao

Love in a Cafe by Ted William Gross

For a shy man, speaking to a woman is impossible. Until the impossible happens…or will it? (Literary / Romance)

Editor’s Note: Be patient and read. Savor and experience. It bites…nicely, with keen edge and exquisite poignancy. —zentao

Memorial Day by Ted William Gross

NonFiction

Editor: accepted by D.L.Keur, owner

A Pot of Gold by Ted William Gross

Life in the Lomza shtetl in early 20th Century Poland is cloistered, protected, and relatively peaceful…or so it seems. While differences between the mystic Hassidim and the pragmatic Misnagdim exists, true enmity is rare. Until Misnagid Reb Moishe’s wife dies. Then hatred born of grief threatens to destroy, not only Reb Moishe’s life and livelihood, but the lives of his daughters, especially that of the very youngest who has fallen in love with a young man of the Hassidic faith. (historical literary crossover)

Reverieing by Ted William Gross

“Abandon every hope, ye who enter here.”” From heaven to hell, from hope to hopelessness, a hero measures God while God sits by his side and smiles. (Literary)

Editor’s Note: Ted William Gross has to be one of the preeminent literary writers of this new century. There isn’t a word in his letters to me, a moment in his work, that I don’t sit stunned, in awestruck admiration…for the man, for his perspectives, for his literature. —zentao

The Sunflower by Ted William Gross

A seed takes root, a bomb is hidden, the flower blooms, and seeds of hate bear fruit in a burning land. (literary)

A Tapestry of War by Ted William Gross

Duty, honor, country. Lives held in the balance. Who will survive? What matters? What is fear? (Mainstream)

Editor’s Note: Live from Israel. War. What it really feels like. A powerful, intimate view from the inside, this is a fictionalized dramatization of a very real, very actual event. —zentao

Tenuous Webs by Ted William Gross (Vol1, #3)

She is his rib. Inexorably, their souls embraced, twined, combined, but, now, doubt brings a foreboding challenge to their union. Will they survive intact or will schism cleave?

Editor’s Note: Insight, balance, comprehensive understanding of what it means to be alive and human — this is Ted’s gift to his readers and fans, myself numbered among those who wait in high anticipation of his masterworks. (literary )

Tiny Slivers from a Silver Horn by Ted William Gross

From ancient mythos and the pages of the ancient testaments of Even comes the story of the magical, blessed Unicorn in all its hope and glory. (Literary Fantasy)

Editor’s Note: This one will bring tears, hope, and quiet joy forever. —zentao, Kaff, Minerva, and womblin

Who Will Die Tomorrow by Ted William Gross

“Perhaps that is just the scheme of things — accept the inevitable, or curse impotently at the laughing wind.
…Who will die tomorrow?” (Mainstream / True-Life)

Editor’s Note: I can find no better words than those of the author himself: [to find oneself] “adrift in a raging ocean in the midst of a hurricane, bathing the heart in the mean bitterness of hate — hate for those who would kill children in the name of God. Grabbing every fiber and becoming drunk with its intensity, that plague, once unleashed, ravages the mind, painting the soul an evil black.” —zentao