Stories & Novels

First published in Stonecoast Review “Again?”

First published in Doric Literary Out on the deck of the express ferry, Elias wills the woman in the billowy blue windbreaker to return inside so he can drop the backpack that is at his feet into the sea.

First published in Oyster River Pages While on our drive to meet Sara’s folks in Port Angeles, the three of us stop at a lodge so my son can use the bathroom.

First published in Summerset Review Troubled by the ferry’s pitch and heave, Hillary lies awake in her dormitory capsule surrounded by a hive of snoring women.

First published in Brink First the rain, tapping and animating the hazel trees, the bellflowers, the chamomile and chokeberry, the yarrow, the lilac, the raspberry and self-heal.

First published in Hawaiʻi Pacific Review My parents naming me Royalty wasn’t enough.

First published in Craft “My stepdaughter is a horse.”

First published in The Table Review The man walking up the gravel drive looks to be in his fifties, sixties when nearer.

First published in Two Thirds North Clara leaves me for Bruce, an art history professor who invites her abroad for a semester of extra-curricular activities.

First published in The Masters Review Jakub enters the nightwatchman’s cottage after his first evening patrol and hears a woman laughing behind his bedroom door.

First published in Redivider Martin is smitten the first time he sees the woman with the sexy nose.

First published in Bull A hurricane is turning Florida’s peninsula into an exclamation mark.

First published in Vita & the Woolf Dyson finds Cherish the dog walker to be pure spirit and bounce, a dependable five-foot wonder to his wife’s exhausting six.

First published in Event “He was on a package tour with a stop at the Rhine Falls,” the solicitor says over the phone, long-distance.

First published in Maryland Literary Review .I met Christine on my flight back from Berlin while helping her restrain an unruly passenger.

First published in Chaotic Merge Marlee’s father shoves a slice of carrot cake into his mouth, his teeth plowing through icing.

First published in Yolk Derek didn’t come in last night.

First published in Straylight When I arrived at his estate on the morning of our interview, he was, in my mind, still a hulking immortal.

First published in Potomac Review Penny pats the trail marker on the other side of the stream.

First published in Hobart “Dr.

First published in Apple Valley Review Dr.

First published in Waxwing When I was fifteen, I was abducted and driven into the mountains to the site of an abandoned school overlooking a valley of jungle.

First published in The Stand Dahlia and Pepper, newly married—her third go, his second—clatter north to San Luis Obispo by train.

First published in Bridge Eight Cynthia Scoffs maintains a list of people she’s met who also have verbs for last names, including: Terrance Beat Jill Bent May Blanche—extra points for the modal auxiliary verb Oscar Cumming Cynthia plays with the idea of e…

First published in Baltimore Review Ms.

First published in The MacGuffin In the summer of 1929 I was part of a crew hired to paint the Heritage Arms, a two-story apartment building with smooth gray walls perforated by sharply carved windows set high up from the street.

First published in Hawaiʻi Pacific Review The drives to Clayfield used to take only a few hours, back when Beth and Mira visited their husbands once a month.

First published in Great Ape Uneventful 13-hour drive to drop zone for Digital Detox Experience.

First published in Santa Fe Literary Review Like dozens of girls who came of age in the early 1980s, Sasha was smitten by Christopher Cross.

First published in The Saturday Evening Post As she does every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Jade floats up the rotting stairs with my lunch order.

First published in Montana Mouthful The week after I turned eleven I was placed in the care of my aunt while my parents drove to New Mexico for a funeral.

First published in Louisiana Literature Picture Madison Ness in the ferry’s bar chatting with passengers, her head ale-foggy and happy despite having lost her backpacking partner last night in Aberdeen.

First published in Chiron Review Outside Staunton, Virginia, birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, with his son Sam asleep beside him in the car, Duke turns on the radio and hears the news.

First published in The Sextant Review Our usual summer stay at my grandparents’ place was cut short over some squabble about Nixon and The War.

First published in Pigeon Review After waiting for a few potential buyers to enter the on-the-market home of Eric and Erica Sweet, Kirk and Leigh head up the balloon-lined walk hand-in-hand, casual-like.

First published in Orange Blossom Review Until the trespassers appeared and forever altered Kathleen and Ed Beckman’s past and present lives, the couple had never considered divorce.

First published in Bull Roused by the cacophony of a weather alert on his phone, Rudy Gantt stared out the RV’s windshield and noted that the space between earth and sky had gone matte gray during his nap.

First published in The Lindenwood Review Young Marjorie Claremont, who until that evening had never caused anyone a moment’s trouble, keyed one-hundred and twenty-six and a half cars and pickups parked bumper to bumper down the hillside from the amphithea…

First published in Crab Creek Review ★ Pushcart Prize nominated Rudy leafs through the auction paperwork as Verner drives them—and the two vintage Corvettes in the trailer—to the cars’ buyer in Estonia.

First published in Amsterdam Quarterly That Susan.

First published in Love in the Time of Covid With his two daughters ordered home from college and reoccupying the house, Elias Sutherstrom spent endless hours exercising in his garage.

First published in Lunch Ticket For Martha Kaas, half the thrill of going bohemian was not letting her husband suspect that she had.

First published in Hedge Apple ATTN: All Academic departments An off-campus individual impersonated a professor on the first day of class.

First published in Fiction International Ten years old.

First published in Tilted House It’s winter break, I should be home, but I prefer coming in to my office.

First published in The Avenue Journal Ah, but is there anything more liberating than nakedness, your honor?

First published in Paris Lit Up See, Annie.

First published in Pilgrimage The memory of the howling stayed with Harold through the endless winter and the spring floods.

First published in The Westchester Review Noah only notices the faded yellow Mercedes in front of him because the driver is dry shaving with a disposable razor.

First published in Blueline In college, Carmen charmed Ray with her stories of boating on the Rideau Canal.