Tag: magazines

City Filled with Expectant Mothers – published by In Parentheses Magazine

My short story “City Filled with Expectant Mothers” was published in the “Crowds” edition of In Parentheses Magazine (v. 5, issue 4, Spring 2020). You can purchase the magazine here (digital download, print copy, or both). Below is an excerpt from my story:

They’re everywhere, they’re all I see, and no matter how far I run I know I’ll never escape. What started on the train continued in the grocery store and followed me on my run along Riverside Drive. This city, suddenly filled with expectant mothers. They’ve sprung up like weeds, their stomachs so swollen I wonder how they keep from falling over.

Purchase the latest issue of In Parentheses here to read the full story. It’s a great magazine filled with poetry, prose, and photography!

Make sure to check out In Parentheses, based here in New York.

The Waiting Fire – published by Slippery Elm Literary Journal

My short story ‘The Waiting Fire’ has been published in Slippery Elm‘s 2019 edition.  Visit their website to buy a copy of the journal now!  Here’s a brief excerpt from my story:

This can’t be happening. I feel the colors draining from my body, leaving nothing behind but the outline of what might have been. I can’t feel my heart, I can’t find my next breath. I’m lost in a world burning bright. All I can see are the flames eating my house.

Visit Slippery Elm‘s website to buy a copy of the journal now. Let me know what you think!

Eggs – published by Gravel Magazine

My short story ‘Eggs’ was published in the April 2019 issue of Gravel Magazine.  Follow this link to read the full story.  Here’s a brief excerpt:

While fighting through the throng of passengers on the train, I started panicking.  The cramps were so bad I feared I’d never make it in time.  Out on the platform, I doubled over, gripping my stomach as I wondered what in the hell I could have eaten that would wreak so much havoc, like my insides were being ripped apart.  No one offered to help or glanced my way at all despite the fact that I was clearly in pain.  Not that I expected them to.  In New York, it’s best not to get involved.  Even making eye contact with a stranger can lead to trouble.  Holding my stomach, I shuffled along, hobbling up the stairs to the sidewalk.  By the time I reached my block, the cramps suddenly stopped.  I wiped the sweat from my brow, relieved I hadn’t had an accident on the street.  Now that would have been embarrassing, though I’m sure my girlfriend would’ve got a kick out of it.  She laughs at all the bad things that happen to me. 

Continue reading here.  Please let me know what you think in the comments below!

Grasshopper – published by Jonathan

My short story “Grasshopper” was published back in 2013 in Jonathan Issue 04: A Journal of Gay Fiction.  Click on the link if you’re interested in ordering a copy from Sibling Rivalry Press.  Here’s an excerpt from the story:

For such a violent act, he did it with the most delicate precision I’d ever seen, snatching a grasshopper up from the ground and flicking it against our electric fence in one swift move, watching its twitchy little legs pop off.  A single line of juiced barbed wire enclosed the pasture, keeping the cows and lone bull safely confined.  “You got your eyes open?” he’d ask, hunching down near the fence, his left hand balanced on one knee as he searched through the grass.  They were everywhere, so it never took him long.  Wade liked performing such tricks, all to the morbid delight of my eleven-year-old eyes.  I wouldn’t touch the alien insects, no matter how many times he tried to show me how to flick them just right.

I wrote this story a number of years ago .. I really like it and hope you do too! Again, if you want to read the full story, the issue it ran in is still available for purchase.  Just follow this link.

Year in Review: Writing in 2017

The past year has been a great one in writing for me.  A few of my stories have found homes with some great journals.  It’s also the first time my work has been nominated for awards.  Below are highlights of things that have been published over the past year.  I’ve included links, so make sure to give my stories a read – and check out all the wonderful journals that have published them!

  • My short story Be a Good Girl was published by Cold Creek Review (Issue 3). I’m happy to report that they’ve nominated the story for a 2018 Pushcart Prize!
  • Oyez Review published my story No Splashing in their Spring 2017 issue. Read the full story here.

This year, I’ve also made significant progress on a novel I’ve been working on.  I’m still writing the first draft, but I’m over 300 pages in and nearing the end.  I don’t want to say too much, but it’s a dark story set in the South. It centers around a group of high school students during their senior year. The story opens with the mysterious death of two of the characters, who are also twin brothers.

A close friend has been reading over another novel I wrote to offer notes and general feedback.  It’s much further along in the drafting process.  This story also takes place in the South, but the narrator is much younger.  I describe it as my Southern Gothic novel that doubles as a coming-of-age story.  No Splashing, the short story mentioned above, is a reworked version of one of the chapters from the book.

I’m always working on various projects, so it’s wonderful to see them reach an audience, big or small.  2017 felt significant in a lot of ways – I hope 2018 is even better!

“Big Cat Head” – a short story of mine published in Sun Star Review

A short story of mine called “Big Cat Head” has been published in Sun Star Review (Volume 1, Issue #3).  The issue is free to read online, so go check it out!  Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

While drying off in the bathroom, I heard the strangest noise coming from the living room.  I had just finished showering after one of my regular runs along Riverside Drive and froze in place, listening closely.  It wasn’t a single noise, actually.  A loud whooshing sound erupted first, like a large, extraordinary bird beating its wings against the sky.  Then, the creaking sound of springs, like someone taking a seat on my couch.  It’s an old piece of furniture that cries out as you settle into a comfortable position.  It’s not so much the sounds that were strange in and of themselves, though they were; it’s the fact that they existed at all.  No windows were open, ruling out a gust of wind as the source of the whooshing sound.  And who would be sitting on my couch?  I live alone and never have guests over.  The noises couldn’t have been coming from the television since I rarely turn it on.  I don’t even have cable.  Nothing came to mind that could explain the unexpected disturbance.

Read the full story here – and let me know what you think!

“Saving Ben Affleck” – a short story from 2006

Back in July 2006, The Blotter Magazine published a short story of mine called “Saving Ben Affleck.”  Below is a brief excerpt; click here for the full story (it’s a pdf of the full issue, so just scroll down to find my story):

I just saw Ben Affleck. Ok, well, he’s not really Ben Affleck, who I don’t find attractive at all. But let’s call this guy Ben Affleck. You see, when I met him, I let him know how much he resembled Mr. Affleck … but not in a bad way.

From then on, I’ve referred to him as Ben Affleck.

At times, I can’t remember his real name. If I happen to be with a friend and see him some where around campus, I might say, “Oh my god — there’s Ben Affleck.”

Then, I have to explain that, no, Matt Damon’s celebrity friend isn’t hanging out at our little university herein North Carolina – it’s his younger, more attractive doppelganger …

[full story]