Seventh grade. Our teacher trying to run out the clock on a Friday. He decides to assign us “creative writing,” something we’d never done before. I wrote a story — a boy, a kingdom, a sword, a dragon —that impressed my classmates, who’d never been impressed with me before. I had acne, a speech impediment and threw like a girl, but I could write. It’s all I’ve never wanted to do. I’ve been getting paid to do it for half my life, but when I think about being a “writer,” I’m thinking of stories like these.

“Cameraman” — Haunting Season podcast, July 2021

“The Last Night at Camp St. Michael’s “ — Cemetery Gates Society, July 2021

“A Third of the Waters Became Wormwood” — Hellhound Magazine, August 2021

“How to Build a Scarecrow” — Dose of Dread, October 2021

“The Skultch” — Not Deer Magazine, November 2021

“Advent of the Clown King” — It Was All a Dream anthology, October 2022

“West Pennfield Township Newsletter, Oct. 2022” — Shallow Waters: Special Halloween Edition, October 2022

“The Real Thing” — The Vampiricon: Imaginings & Images of the Vampire, January 2023

“Five Easy Exercises You Can Do At Home” — Ooze: Little Bursts of Body Horror, March 2023

“The Last Story in the Book” — Deadly Drabble Tuesday, April 2023

“There’s Always a Road Like Me” — Deadly Drabble Tuesday, August 2023

“The Clayburn Owl” — Dark Speculations, Vol. 1, October 2023

“The Name of the Star Was Wormwood” — Sincerely, Departed, May 2024

“The Long People” — It Was All a Dream 2, August 2024