Short story writer Stephanie Vaughn. Her first collection of stories is "Sweet Talk." Most of these stories chronicle the childhood, youth, and adulthood of Gemma, the daughter of a career army man. The New York Times says Vaughn "emerges as a thoroughly original writer, blessed with a distinctive voice, by turns witty and lyrical, wisecracking and nostalgic." Vaughn's stories first appeared in "The New Yorker," and in the O. Henry and Pushcart Prize collections. ("Sweet Talk" is published by Random House.)