Weirdo Simpatico: Little Stories for Short Attention Spans

“She was a kooky dingdong who could schmooze with the best of them. She had a six-inch beehive and generous breasts. Her bright red lips and nails were ferocious, and she moved through the room with a decisive lady swagger. She was a killer. He’d let her do all the talking.”


Welcome to Weirdo Simpatico! Katy Bourne’s playful collection of 50, very short stories that explores the peculiarities and nuances of the human experience and celebrates the weirdo in us all.

Each of Bourne’s one-bite narratives ― from Roxanne refusing to friend her grandfather on Facebook to Gloria’s strained relations with the neighbor’s dog ― presents a snippet of a larger conundrum and reflects the idiosyncrasies of human nature. “I like to think of the stories as tiny pokes that give the reader a mental double-take and inspire further reflection as to the who, the what and the why,” says Bourne. “We all have our quirkier tendencies and unique ways of being in the world. I see Weirdo Simpatico as a microcosm of those tendencies.”

The stories in Weirdo are freakishly representative of the kinds of things that are running through Bourne’s mind at any time. “My brain is a perpetual circus of inane drivel, entertaining observations and ridiculous speculation. Our fellow inhabitants on this planet are an endless source of intrigue for me. I make up stories about people I see around me all the time. When I celebrate, I take everyone along with me. My hope is that Weirdo is an extension of that celebration.”