Many readers will remember that noted author Richard Ford was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, and some will also recall that he won the PEN/Faulkner Award, too -- both of these achievements for his 1996 novel, Independence Day. With his latest work, Women with Men, Ford returns to short-story writing -- a form in which his contributions have also been singled out. In 1995, he won the prestigious Rea Award (other past winners include Eudora Welty, Grace Paley, Tobias Wolff and Joyce Carol Oates). Women with Men, which is the author's first collection since 1987's Rock Springs, was published by Knopf on June 20; there are 42,000 copies in print following three trips back to press. Ford just concluded a 12-city tour, on which standing-room-only crowds greeted him at every appearance. Major newspaper interviews were done in practically every city; and a USA Today interview ran last Thursday. Ford also did a guest spot with Charlie Rose.