By the Wayside

  She’s a woman who discards anything which causes sorrow or blocks her path. A man she cares for does both, and she leaves him. She takes only what she really values, an old set of books, a few china plates of her mother’s, an abstract painting she’d found in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She […]

He Said, She Said

originally published in New Pop Lit     It was where movies stars used to go and rest up, be pampered, and consider the next script their agents had just sent over. A series of modest bungalows set around a beautiful turquoise pool. A pleasant young man in a white jacket ferrying trays of drinks—cocktails, […]

How She Was Found

originally published in The Useless Degree & later included in the story collection, By The Wayside, published by Unsolicited Press   Fiona was a mouse. Everyone said so. As a child she’d been bookish, lonely, with little to contribute conversation-wise. Her brother, Finn, was outgoing, popular, now the owner of a Mercedes dealership in Pasadena. Why […]

Artichokes

originally published in Spartan, and later included in the story collection, By The Wayside (Unsolicited Press, 2017)   My mother loved artichokes. She trimmed the stems and steamed them in a shallow pan. When cool, she paired them with a vinaigrette sauce. One by one we gently peeled off the leaves and dipped the tender […]

The Fall

originally published in Prime Number Magazine; All The Roads That Lead From Home, stories (Press 53, 2011); and By The Wayside, stories, (Unsolicited Press, 2017)     Suicides shot up that winter. By Valentine’s Day there’d been four. The victims walked out when the light was low, usually in late afternoon, say three or four […]

The Meaning of The Hat

                The Meaning of The Hat originally published in Knee-Jerk Magazine   Even before she became the wife, she was said to lack ambition, direction, and drive. She was happy just to sit and think her own thoughts, scribble in notebooks, try her hand at drawing and watercolors […]

When Every Part of You Breaks

  originally published September 1, 2004 in Carve Magazine. I let Gary hold my hand because he wants to so much. Love is one reason. That I might fall on this bumpy trail is another, though it wouldn’t matter if I did. A lot of me’s  already broken. Gary doesn’t see that. He sees a […]

Flash Fiction: “Here’s Why” and “A Thing Of Beauty”

these previously appeared on May 6, 2016 in New Pop Lit “Here’s Why” You slump, shrink, curl down in your seat, never stand up straight. As if an arrow might pick you off. Not an arrow, a bullet. Not a bullet, a blow. Not a blow, words. Not words, looks. Here’s why. You’re a freak. […]

The Comforts Of Home

  this story first appeared on February 17, 2011 in the Issue 1 of C4, which sadly no longer exists, and later in my debut collection, ALL THE ROADS THAT LEAD FROM, published by Press 53 in 2011 In the Finger Lakes town of Dunston, New York, the spring rain had fallen for four straight […]

FANCE

    This story first appeared in Clark College’s 2003 Fiction and Poetry chapbook as their first place fiction winner, chosen by judge Gina Ochner   Fance thought she could get it done over in Odessa. A girl from the coffee shop went there for hers, and was back to work the next day.  She […]