Salamander

Bruises

Published in The Hudson Review (Fall 2024)

Winner of The Hudson Review’s Short Fiction Contest

Just released from prison, Clay tries to avoid parole violations while also navigating the tricky dynamics of family, all the while hoping to catch a glimpse of the real-life sea monster that used to live in his backyard.

Link (20 minute read)

Published in Red Fez (Fall 2020)

A woman who has worked for years to overturn her brother’s murder conviction has a revealing exchange with him during one of their visits.

PDF (20 minute read)

Graduation Speech

Published in The MacGuffin (Vol. XXXI, No. 3)

A high school commencement address is complicated by the appearance of the speaker’s brother.

PDF (20 minute read)

Steel Toe Boots

Published in Euphemism (Spring 2020)

A boy is bullied and isolated at his new school. When his mother’s boyfriend gives him a pair of work boots, this unwanted present initiates a series of events that changes his life.

PDF (20 minute read)

Grown Man

Published in Floyd County Moonshine (Winter 2022)

Having just graduated college, Caleb lacks direction. On a whim, he drives to the Smoky Mountains to visit a hermit made famous by a recent documentary. What he finds on the mountain is not what he’s expecting.

PDF (50 minute read)

Drive Like a Champion

Published in Blacktop Passages (Issue 2)

Dan Stewart, former college football star, has a failing car dealership and a daughter that won’t talk to him. He embarks on an impromptu trip to Manhattan to make things right.

Part I / Part II / Part III (50 minute read)

Tobacco Field

Published in Swill (Issue 8)

After graduating college, Dennis moves back to his small hometown to take a teaching job. The transition proves harder than he imagined.

PDF (40 minute read)

Mister Eudy

Published in Muscle & Blood (Issue 3)

A 107-year-old man in a nursing home reveals the surprising secret to his longevity.

PDF (10 minute read)

King George

Published in Rockhurst Review (Issue 28)

An orphaned boy in a war-torn city finds comfort by spying on a group of men.

PDF (5 minute read)

Hurricane Ophelia

Published in Commuter Lit

As eastern North Carolina prepares for a hurricane, a local sheriff drives out the home of an old man who doesn’t want to evacuate.

Link (10 minute read)