9/19 New story in Del Sol Review “Company Man”

Painting featured in Falls Church Arts All Member Show. Meet the Artists Reception – 7:30 pm, Saturday, Feb. 23. 2019. Show dates: Feb. 24-Mar. 23.

12/13/18 New story in Maryland Literary Review

“Our Fine Old Flat Chested Gal”

“She liked to fool people. This was part of her charm.

In our family, there are many tales of how Gigi successfully disguised herself as a youth, as long as she didn’t speak and kept her hat low and a scarf over her face, and her hair tucked away. She spent hours in saloons, on her secret “spy” missions as she called them. I am sure she was just listening for mentions of her own name, of which there were many.

After half a dozen of these adventures, she no longer donned the costume and would not reveal why. Her cousin Amory suspected she had been found out, for she avoided certain streets for the rest of her time in Glenford."

On February 4, 2018, I read at Epicure cafe in Fairfax VA.

I read as part of the Fall for the Book festival in Fairfax on October 11, 2017 at 3 pm.

My short story "Petunia at the Tip Top" is included in the anthology Noir at the Salad Bar, available from Level Best Books.

Billy, the invisible regular, feels the electric sparks of danger in the diner where he is eating his Sunday special. An abstract menace, a wild-eyed man, enters holding a bulging beige tote bag. He grimaces and struggles to keep it over his shoulder.

The small diner, lined with six booths along the walls, has a counter that sits ten. Billy is in his regular spot, in the first booth to the right of the entrance, facing it, always attuned to how quickly the restaurant's atmosphere could change with each swing of the door.

Billy's spoon hovers between a sunken slice of lemon meringue pie and his mouth, still smudged with lipstick. He forgets the tart delight is on its way. He forgets the opened, drooling creamer containers scattered around his half-empty coffee cup, and the scratch of polyester against the back of his thigh and that his hairdo has started to collapse. He is proud of his hair, and stands up for it when he's in the club, happy to convince others that it is not a wig.

Billy used to be an innie. Now, sitting in the Tip Top diner, his shy navel protrudes below a belly shelf. While its permanent emergence was depressing, he was not dissuaded enough to avoid the late, luxurious lunches or the powdered sugar on his fingers.

But for this uncertain moment, when the frail, angry man stands so close to him, breathing heavily under the weight of his bag, none of these things are real.

Piece included in the show "Beyond the Black Light" at Olly Olly gallery in Fairfax.

July 22--August 19, 2017

Because sometimes the darkest hour calls for the brightest lights, Olly Olly presents Beyond the Blacklight, an all-blacklight group show curated by Tariq Omar.  Because we can’t allow every moment to be an existential crisis. Because we need to heed the call of playfulness and light. Because night. Because summer. Because love. Because we know you’re truly dazzling and deserve to be bathed in glowing purple and surrounded by vibrant fluorescent sensations. Join us for our opening reception on Saturday, July 22, 2017 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm as the artists share their most vivid works:

The gallery is located at 10417 Main St., 2nd Floor, Fairfax, VA 22030