When Thomas opened the refrigerator in search of milk, the only thing he saw was an enormous block of government cheese, a nearly gelatinous rectangle of off-brand Velveeta. In his mother’s latest spiral into insanity, she believed that God appeared to her in a grilled cheese sandwich. He had a hard time imagining why God would choose fake cheese as his communication medium. If he were going to speak through a dairy product, wouldn’t he pick something with a bit more panache, like say Brie or Camembert?
The Rules of Loneliness
BOOKS & STORIES
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"Ten to No"
(published in Peregrine)
A border control agent's job of turning away refugees has left him jaded. Rather than focusing on the needs of each applicant, he raises a mental smokescreen as his thoughts drift to his next cigarette. During the ten minute countdown to no, we learn more about the agent than the refugees he describes.
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Available from:
Humonstromous
(published in Bedtime Stories)
Stick to the path,
Still the troll's wrath.
Set off to roam,
Never come home.
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Maddi knew the warning well.
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Maddi didn't listen.
When Maddi heads off into the Forbidden Forest in search of her very first troll, she gets a little more than she bargained for. The wind warns her. The trees watch her. The stream lulls her into a stupor, and when she awakes, she finds herself deep in the heart of the woods. Unable to determine her location, she climbs to the top of the rocky ridge to gain a better view, right onto the head of a slumbering troll.
Maddi soon learns that some trolls are kind, some trolls are wise, some trolls have a sweet tooth, and little girls are as sweet as can be.
Available from:
The Spy Who Grounded Me
(novel excerpt published in the Undiscovered Voices 2018 anthology)
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Winning entry in the 2018 Undiscovered Voices competition!
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When a mysterious baby photo leads eleven-year-old Ian to question his family’s past, he pieces together the clues to come to the obvious conclusion—his dad must be a spy! The signs are all there. His dad is a crime-writer with a super-spy alter ego. He knows a gazillion languages. He reprograms Ian’s computer to self-destruct if he doesn’t do his homework. Whose dad does that? To prove there’s more to his dad than meets the eye, Ian recruits multilingual Euronerd, Elliott, and math genius, Meili, on a mission. But someone at Seattle’s Alki Elementary is meddling in his investigation. To blow the case wide open, Ian launches an undercover operation at an all-school assembly, but what he learns may blow his mind. Who’s really under investigation? Ian’s dad or Ian himself?
Excerpt available from:
"Appearances" and "Guests for Dinner"
(aired on Ara City Radio's 26/10/2017 Happy Hour -Ghouls Night Out)
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Just in time for Halloween! Host Wendy Winn and the Lux Writers Who Talk group present scary, creepy, and just plain gross works of microfiction in 100 words or less, including my two pieces, "Appearances" and "Guests for Dinner".
Available from:
"Our Monstrous Family"
(published in Volume 1 Issue 2 of The 3288 Review)
Nominated for the Pushcart Prize!
When Nate and Mark agree to adopt two young brothers from the foster care system, their decision may just come back to bite them. Soon after the boys arrive in their home, five year-old Andy and three year-old Ben begin to exhibit strange behaviors that Mark believes have only one explanation. They must be vampires.
Unsure how to proceed, Mark and Nate develop a series of comical tests to determine if their new kids come with underworldly baggage.
Available from:
Caffeinated Press (US)
Amazon.com (Worldwide)
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