Falls the Shadow (Paperback)

In Falls the Shadow and other stories, readers are invited to participate in the writing process. Each short story stops before the climax and invites the reader to consider how the story ends before continuing on to the author’s original ending. This is a technique that the author used as an English teacher at T.C. Williams High School (if you “Remember the Titans”). A separate teachers’ guide for this book (along with other educational materials) is available on Teachers Pay Teachers. The Shadows Fall includes the same stories with vocabulary and educational exercises together in a single volume. Comments and alternative endings are welcome at craiglancto@gmail.com.

Craig Lancto is a veteran teacher and journalist, who taught high school English, journalism, and drama for more than 20 years. In the early-80s he began contributing to a variety of publications, mainly on topics relating to education. In the mid-80s, he added writing a weekly opinion column for a string of newspapers in Northern Virginia to his already heavy publishing schedule and teaching. That column continued through 1999. He also hosted talk-shows that focused on educational issues on radio and cable television . By the mid-90s, Craig had permanently traded chalk for a pen, when he became a full-time freelance writer and editor. That changed in the late 90s when he was offered a position at the Washington Times, where he coordinated educational programs, consulted with local school systems, taught media literacy, and published either three half-pages or two full pages a week on issues relating to education. His educational guides and tabloids were being used not only by the Washington Times, but also many other newspapers throughout the country. In 2002, he eagerly accepted the position of education editor at The World & I Magazine, where he remained until the magazine's 18-year run ended in 2005, when he returned to freelancing and writing and editing special publications for The Washington Times.. Between 2005 and 2009 he served as executive editor at the Sun Newspapers of Alexandria and the Alexandria Times. From 2009 to 2012 he served as deputy chief of outreach and director of communications at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. Since 2014, he has lived in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, where he writes, kayaks, and foments general mischief.