For this anthology, Muddy Backroads: Stories from off the beaten path, the editors asked for stories that moved away from the norms of daily life to explore the side roads that take us away from the known. What do your characters do when they step away from what's seen as normal or usual? What happens when they find themselves in unexpected situations or locations? What if nothing about their lives is what most consider typical? When a character takes a "muddy backroad," he, they or she moves away from society and out into a place where anything can happen. Where will those backroads and back alleys take us? CONTRIBUTORS: Dorothy Allison, Hillary Behrman, Henri Bensussen, T.C. Boyle, Elizabeth Bruce, Ulrick Casimir, Michael Darcher, George Drew, Stephanie Dupal, Michael Gaspeny, Roger Hart, David Hartshorne, Suzanne Heagy, Jen Knox, Mark Lammers, Robert McBrearty, Jayne Anne Phillips, Heather Mateous Sappenfield, Lee Scharf, Misty Skaggs, August Tarrier, Melanie Rae Thon, Luis Alberto Urrea, Siobhan Wright, Paula Younger NO MUD WAS ACTUALLY REQUIRED. the editors are LUANNE SMITH & BONNIE JO CAMPBELL. the judge is Alan Heathcock, author of Volt: Stories.