Short Story Collection Tells Eclectic Tales of Sexuality, Obsession, Religion and Death

In award-winning writer Orlando Ortega-Medina's debut short story collection, Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions [Cloud Lodge Books], 13 eclectic tales take the reader from Los Angeles to the eastern townships of Quebec, and from Tokyo to Jerusalem.

Gripping and intriguing, the stories are sometimes bleak, occasionally violent, and often possessed of a dark humor, with flawed characters trying their best to make sense of their lives as they struggle with sexuality, death, obsession, and religion.

Now available throughout North America, Jerusalem Ablaze explores the imperfections of life and the unpredictability of death. An emerging author to watch in the contemporary literary fiction landscape, Orlando Ortega-Medina has a very diverse background as Judeo-Spanish via Cuba and incorporates his heritage and life experiences into the collection.

"The stories in Jerusalem Ablaze are inspired by four periods of travel in my life: California, Quebec, Israel, and Japan," reveals Ortega-Medina. "The Israel stories are the most biographical of the whole collection, and are firmly rooted in my experiences and time I spent searching for myself in the land of my ancient ancestors."

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