PinnedDescriptions of HeavenAs a child, I shinnied the coarse trunks of trees, carrying a book in a backpack or clamped resolutely between my chin and chest. I’d sit in the boughs of shady retreat and dappled light up there where the wind blew through leaves, and the leaves were an instrument, accompanied…Fiction6 min readFiction6 min read
Mar 3Member-onlyI Landed a Publisher Without Even TryingThis is not advice. This is simply what happened. It’s a story about obsession. And it’s a story that ends with me landing a publisher. Let’s roll the clock back to 2018. I’m newly married. My spouse and I rent a house with a bat problem on the Iowa side…Publishing5 min readPublishing5 min read
Published in The Junction·Jun 25, 2021Member-onlyFor When No One Does Social Distancing AnymoreWhy in the world did I ever let another human being within six feet of me? Unless, of course, maybe we were going to make potential love. Then proximity is necessarily permitted. Appetizers sizzle on a plate. The seating is fresh lemon- scented sanitizer. …Poetry2 min readPoetry2 min read
May 16, 2021Member-onlyUnpopular Opinion: Slaughterhouse-Five is a Bad NovelUnpopular Opinion: Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a bad novel. While taste is subjective when it comes to classics of all stripes, I found Slaughterhouse to be littered with problems from start to finish, from form to content. The novel is the story of a man who unwillingly begins jumping through…Kurt Vonnegut5 min readKurt Vonnegut5 min read
Dec 29, 2020Member-onlyNazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño is a book of sly humor and dry wit.Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño is a book of sly humor and dry wit. It masquerades as a catalog of short author biographies - authors who happen to be fascists and Nazi sympathizers. …Book Review2 min readBook Review2 min read
Dec 15, 2020Member-onlyCharles Dickens short novel A Christmas Carol is the perfect book for the holiday season.Charles Dickens’s short novel A Christmas Carol is the perfect book for the holiday season. Reading the classic after only knowing the story from its various film adaptations was a treat. …Christmas Reads1 min readChristmas Reads1 min read
Dec 9, 2020Member-onlyRalph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a novel written as much for our time as for his 1950’s America.Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a novel written as much for our time as for his 1950’s America. …Black Lives Matter1 min readBlack Lives Matter1 min read
Dec 7, 2020Member-onlyHow do you read today’s books without a passing familiarity with the classics?How do you read today’s books without a passing familiarity with the classics? All the best contemporary writers allude to these timeless tomes constantly. And I’m continually finding more depth in the classics to draw from. They’re classics not because they’re old, but because they’re timeless human stories. Medea Naked on the Golden Fleece Lit Up — April’s Prompt: Transitionmedium.com Not all…Reading1 min readReading1 min read
Published in CRY Magazine·Dec 23, 2019Member-onlyRemembering to Celebrate Our SuccessesIn the lives of ambitious and creative people, the view is often forward. The view, in fact, is often tunnel-visioned in the sense of the next project, the next step in the process. What we forget is that the process is likely to only end when we do. …Creativity16 min readCreativity16 min read
Published in Ascent Publication·Aug 28, 2019Member-onlyReflections on a Decade-long Journey to Getting a Flash Fiction Story PublishedThis story took a long time to place. I don’t think it took so long because it was poorly written. In fact, I’ve had some compliments on it over the years. The editor at 34thParallel (one of the first magazines I ever submitted to) sort of gushed over it: Dear…Writing5 min readWriting5 min read
