New Fiction in Redivider

Today is my birthday and I'm so happy to have a story in the new issue of Redivider, a publication I have long admired. They've published my story "The Demo" in issue 13.2, along with a ton of other great work. I'm humbled to be in the issue.

Being honest, "The Demo" is one of my favorite stories that I've ever written. I wrote a first draft in the MFA workshop at UC-Irvine when novelist and Irvine-alum Glen David Gold was our workshop leader for the quarter. I was so lucky Glen read this story. He said it was a good first draft, but I needed to make everything get worse for the main character. That's one way to write comedy. Glen turned me on to Thomas Berger, said I needed to read him. So I did, immediately. And Berger has been a guidepost for me ever since. That was in the winter of 2012, and it only took about four years for this story to find a home after countless revisions. But I'm so happy with the story, that I kept after it, and that Glen knew what to say to me. So thanks, Glen! You can purchase a copy of issue Redivider 13.2 here, and I hope you do! Thanks for reading!

Book Review

I reviewed Dan Cluchey's debut novel, The Life of the World to Come, for the Washington Independent Review of Books. Cluchey's debut is chock-full of heart and humor and a dose of sadness. You can read my review here.

New Fiction in Faultline

I'm honored to have a story in the new issue of Faultline, along with new work from Ismet Prcic, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Venita Blackburn, Patrick Ryan, Patricia Engel, and Ryan Ridge.

A million thank yous to my friend Jenni Milton for including my story and for working with me on several rounds of edits to get my story "Picketers" just right! If you'd like to order a copy of this issue simply click here. As always, thanks for reading!

New Fiction in Booth

My short story "Steve Harvey & Carlos II" was published by Booth today. Thank you to editors Robert Stapleton and Chris Speckman for publishing my story.

"Steve Harvey & Carlos II" is another short story in a series I'm writing dedicated to my best friend, Army 2nd Lieutenant Peter H. Burks, who was killed by an IED just outside the Green Zone in Baghdad on November 14th, 2007. You can read my story here. As always, thanks for reading!

New Fiction in The Boiler

My short story "The Quiet" has been published in the just-released Winter issue of The Boiler. There is a lot of stunning work in this issue. I can't thank Sebastian Hasani Paramo enough for publishing my story, a tale about a girl and her father and an oil spill in Alaska. I started writing "The Quiet" in Seattle when I felt just close enough to Alaska to set a story there. I hope you like it! You can read my story here. As always, thanks for reading!