"You run or you fight. Pick either one, but do something." In this powerful collection of 17 linked short stories, E.J. Runyon traces the raw, lopsided trail of hope that winds through the hearts of people caught between flight and confrontation... and all the impossible ground in between. The characters of Claiming One are deeply loving and tragically flawed. We meet them in the wake of upheaval: a moment when something has already broken, shifted, or been quietly lost. What follows is the slow erosion of once-solid convictions, creating a cycle of belief and doubt that exposes the fault lines of ordinary lives. These are people who run toward burning buildings as often as they try to escape them. Each story captures a single, irreversible moment of choice: perilous options, startling discoveries, and decisions that reveal the stubborn, resilient humanity underneath. In the tradition of Flannery O'Connor, John Fante, Bret Harte, and Raymond Carver, Runyon writes with unflinching regional honesty to ground her fictional worlds so deeply in reality that the line between story and lived experience begins to blur. "Runyon tells her stories with an unashamed truthfulness. The work is edgy, but never gratuitously so... there exists a compelling emotional accessibility. If you are willing to risk reading, it will challenge you, capture your attention, and dare you to continue till the very last." - Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward From a Golden Crown Literary Society-shortlisted author, Claiming One is essential reading for fans of literary short fiction that doesn't flinch.