The Commencement Version
Lucas and Clarabelle know they’re not healthy enough for a relationship. They drink too much in Pittsburgh bars and are prone to self-sabotage. To outrun their troubles, they head to Europe, and at first things seem to be okay. But as Germany bleeds into France, and France into Belgium, the truth about their private histories begins to emerge in dangerous ways. Each reluctantly, and then enthusiastically, confesses the lies they’ve built their so-called love upon. The truth is intoxicating, even freeing, but their confessions eventually threaten not only their relationship but a safe return to Pittsburgh.
Coming soon from Brandylane Publishers. |
The Bounce and the Echo: Dying to Love a Game
In May of 2011, in a small arena in Hungary, Ian Johnson played the last game of his professional basketball career. He'd long blamed the sport for his OCD, his insecurities, and much else that was bad in his life. But he quickly understood that retiring from basketball wasn't the same as starting anew. The only way to evolve, the only way to shed the "basketball player" label, was to go back and confront the influences that made him who he was, both on and off the court. Welcomely devoid of self-glorification, Johnson, with deep insight and elegance, explores what it means to win, lose, and identify as an athlete in the twenty-first century. Brutally honest, and weaving the broader history of basketball into memories of his own career, The Bounce and the Echo is "a game-changer for sports memoirs" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
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Memories of an Island
Byron Tatterman pulled open the big church doors and stepped inside. He was early, but Father Holm was already in the lobby, a hand raised in greeting. He wore khakis and the standard black shirt and white collar, and approached Byron with the step of someone comfortable on his home turf.
Continue reading at Idle Ink Magazine.
Continue reading at Idle Ink Magazine.
Together We Can End This
They refused to pin their love wholly on the arrival of spring, as they didn’t consider their love to be seasonal, but neither would they dismiss the seasons entirely. As it began, the weather was an accordion, drifting in and out between what had been dormant and what promised to stir, the tiny icicles of the dawn melting into the sun-simmered streams of late afternoon, the frozen bark on monochromatic branches beginning to pimple with the promise of fresh green buds. You could still read on the porch at 4:30, even if you shivered and lit a fire before dinner.
Continue reading at Bright Flash Literary Review.
Continue reading at Bright Flash Literary Review.
Caleb Green Gets Happy
Caleb Green tried not to stare at all the people sitting before him, but there was nowhere else to stare. It was his big day, after all, and they were mostly staring back at him. Weddings were a lot of things, but first they were storms of self-consciousness. His hands were stacked in front of his manhood as instructed by the wedding planner. A bead of sweat clung to his hairline.
Continue reading at Isele Magazine.
Continue reading at Isele Magazine.
Dear You
Dear You,
You touch down in seven days. I looked at your itinerary, and all of a sudden there was a digital clock with red numbers counting down in my head, the kind you see at movie theaters in the weeks before a big release. Saturday at one-fifty-two. I’ll be there. Can’t wait.
Continue reading at Empty Sink Publishing.
You touch down in seven days. I looked at your itinerary, and all of a sudden there was a digital clock with red numbers counting down in my head, the kind you see at movie theaters in the weeks before a big release. Saturday at one-fifty-two. I’ll be there. Can’t wait.
Continue reading at Empty Sink Publishing.
In Session
I was thirteen when Mom and Dad became Mom, and Dad. While we transitioned, my mother signed my sister Hannah, and I up for therapy. I battled to avoid it - minor tantrums, tepid threats - all the way up until the inner door in the waiting room swung open and into my life Dr. Kingsley stepped.
Continue reading at Rind Literary Magazine (Flip to Page 52)
Continue reading at Rind Literary Magazine (Flip to Page 52)