MacLeod's published works include the 1976 short story collection "The Lost Salt Gift of Blood" and the 1986 "As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories". The 14 stories in these two volumes appear in "Island: The Collected Short Stories of Alistair MacLeod". The book, which also contains two new stories, was released in 2000 the year after the publication of his successful first novel "No Great Mischief". When asked why, as a master short story writer, he had suddenly turned to the novel, MacLeod smiled and replied: "Well, nothing I do is very sudden. I think I just wanted more space. I needed a bus rather than a Volkswagen to put my people in."