‘No Splashing’ – A Short Story of Mine Published by Oyez Review

My short story “No Splashing” was recently published in Oyez Review, volume 44 (Spring 2017).  Visit their website for more information about getting your copy of the issue.  It’s not yet available for purchase at Amazon, but I’ll update this post when it is.

In the meantime, enjoy this excerpt from the story:

Jake wonders if the girls and guys are paired off into couples.  It seems everyone in high school is obsessed with finding someone to go steady with — a boyfriend to hang all over, a girlfriend to paw at when no one’s looking.  Jake can’t believe he’s on the cusp of such a strange new world, where going steady and driving and parties are everything — a place where full grown adulthood is the next step.  If he finds it challenging to fit in and act normal now, he can’t imagine how much harder it will be when he’s older.  It’s like there’s this set of rules he never got a chance to read.  Even when he figures out what he should be doing, it’s usually too late.  When he leaps into the deep end of the pool, nothing pleases him more than landing the perfect dive with little to no splash, which is the exact opposite from all the other boys who aren’t happy unless they’ve soaked innocent bystanders.

Again, visit Oyez Review for more information about getting your copy today!  Enjoy!

“The Price You Pay” – a short story published in Glitterwolf Magazine

A short story of mine called “The Price You Pay” was published in Glitterwolf Magazine, Issue 6 (July 2014).  Check out their website for more information.  You can also order a copy on Amazon.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

The smells are the worst.  Each morning, it’s not enough that I wake on the very edge of the bed, bleary-eyed from another restless night caused by his ungodly snoring, frustrated and cold as I try to pull just one sheet back from his greedy hands; no, I must also face the awful stench emanating from his crotch.  It’s subtle but always there, this sour smell that reminds me of curdled milk, lingering no matter how often he showers.  Anytime I catch a whiff of that foul odor, I nearly gag, vowing then and there never to have sex again, not with him or anyone else.  That odor makes the idea of even touching another human being repulsive.

He’s my husband, but I didn’t sign up for this.

[Order your copy on Amazon to read the full story.]

“Sweet Lips” – a story published by The Gambler

Check out my short story “Sweet Lips,” published by The Gambler.  It’s free to read online!  It was published in March 2015.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

On her way to the steak house, she thinks about what a nice, polite boy Buddy seems to be. He can’t be more than seventeen or eighteen. He’s so different from the other boys, the ones who hang around the parking lot at Simon’s every Friday and Saturday night, always waiting for something to happen. Or maybe she’s the one who’s different. The current batch of boys represent the new generation of rednecks with nothing better to do than park their pickups and shoot the shit with their friends, not exactly looking for trouble but not shying away from it either. With round canisters of tobacco stuffed in their back pockets and cigarettes handy on the dash, they’re largely indistinguishable from the boys who hung out there when Tiffany was a girl, which wasn’t that long ago.

[full story]

“Grow” – a short story published in ImageOutWrite v.5

My short story “Grow” was published in ImageOutWrite Volume 5 (September 2016).  Check out their website to order a copy: ImageOutWrite

You can also order your copy on Amazon

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

The botanical gardens look different at night, or so John imagined.  Even though the grounds were part of the university, only a mile or so down the road from his dorm, he’d never actually visited before.  As the trees rattled in the wind, he looked over at their crooked, knobby branches hanging over the gates like claws.  From there, his eyes landed on the thick, rusty chain padlocked across the front entrance.  There was something ominous about the place.  Still, seeing as how it was so removed from the bustle of campus life, it seemed like the sort of place one could use to take a break from all the noise – that is, in the light of day, during regular visiting hours.  At the same time, a certain comfort comes with the cold dark of night.  Beneath a silent, black sky, secrets can remain hidden in the shadows where they belong