“The VOLUNTEERS” THE SELKIE, MARCH 11, 2019

When the volunteers stepped off the Air Afrique jet into the lemon light of the desert, men wearing mirrored sunglasses and holding semi-automatic rifles ushered them across the spongy tarmac to a small, cinder-block terminal. The group was silent. The heat roared.

“WINE: A LOVE STORY” Emerge Literary Journal Issue 10 January 2016

"I know we'll grow old together, shriveling into rich brown raisins."

“PRIX FIXE” Mud Season Review Annual Print Issue Vol 1 May 2015

"Each morning, the band of four set out from a B&B, each hiker silently calculating, with weary resignation, how many steps lay ahead until the next hot shower. But the fatigue would dissipate as they found the trail and rounded a bend to a spectacular view of Dingle Bay or the Blasket Islands or Mount Brandon rising out of the mist. The rhythm of breath and feet and walking stick, the drifting thoughts, the half-sentences that never materialized into conversation—these became the soothing ellipses of each day." 

“MILK AND BLOOD” Cobalt Review, Issue 11, March 2014

"I am the last to arrive, mistaking Emerald Street for Emerald Place. For one moment I catch a whiff of stale chocolate milk and floor wax. I see myself walking down a hallway lined with lockers. It is odor and vision of dread, of being the new girl in school. That feeling doesn't disappear as you age. But now it smells like candles from Restoration Hardware."

“THEIR NAMES" Three Minus One: Stories of Parents' Love and Loss” SheWrites Press, April 2014

"In those early, giddy days of our first pregnancy, I recalled a name from a beloved novel. I researched the name's origins and meaning and said it aloud to Brendan one morning.'This is her name,' he said, working his mouth around its flowing Gaelic syllables. 'This is our daughter.'

We can name the children who began their lives with such promise, whose hearts beat in tandem with mind. But we have no name for the rage, bewilderment, and unfathomable grief of losing a baby." 

“COLORADO: Up Do: Flash Fiction by Women Writers; Spider Road Press, February 2014

"Jess had met Patsy and Darcy at a canning class in Delta in September. When she came to class one Saturday with a split lip, they offered her shelter in their large tipi outside of Cedaredge. Free of charge, just help with groceries and cooking.  When she confessed a couple of weeks ago that she was two months pregnant, they told her they would like to adopt the baby. When Jess laughed, she saw Darcy’s hazel eyes fade to dull mud." 

“DULCE ET DECORUM EST” Cirque: A Literary Journal for the North Pacific Rim, Vol 4 No 1 Winter Solstice 2012

"The young man stepped away from the door. Lily turned the handle and walked inside. She saw that his undershirt drooped over military fatigues. His feet were bare, but a pair of lace-up boots waited by the side of the daybed, next to a dark green rucksack.

Lily and the soldier overwhelmed the small space. Lily often felt awkward in a thin frame that towered over most Europeans; the soldier matched her height as he stooped to allow her in. He straightened and his head nearly reached the apex of the pitched ceiling."

“THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE” River Poets Journal, Autumn/Winter 2012

"The kill sheet is damp from the chill of the slaughter floor and spattered with blood and small bits of flesh. Thick red pencil shows the weight of each side of the carcasses. A black ‘X’ indicates that a beast tested positive for disease, was isolated from the herd, and killed in a separate pen. I wipe away the gore without smearing the data that mark the passage from life to meat."

“WATER CHILD” Stories for Sendai, June 2011

"With white walls, red trim and layers of tiled roof, Kannon-do Hall sits like an elaborate confection on top of a softly sloping hill. She walks through the lower gardens, past ponds filled with golden, darting Koi, and up the steps cut into moss-laden hillsides. People funnel past her, searching for the famous eleven-sided statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy.

Past the main temple is a garden enclosed on the three sides by stone block walls. Thousands of small statues line the walls and stand in crowded rows in the rock gardens. These are the Water Children, the souls of unborn babies. They are placed in the radius of the seated Jizo Bodhisattva, who will see them safely to Paradise." 

Publications

Novels

  • THE CROWS OF BEARA. (Ashland, OR: Ashland Creek Press, September 2017).

  • IN ANOTHER LIFE. (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, February 2016).

  • UPSIDE-DOWN GIRL. On submission.

  • THE DEEP COIL. In progress.

Short Stories/Flash Fiction

  • “The Volunteers,” The Selkie, March 11, 2019.

  • “Rollerblading in Venice,” No Extra Words short story podcast, January 23, 2016.

  • “Wine: A Love Story,” Emerge Literary Journal, January 2016.

  • “Granny,” No Extra Words short story podcast, November 17, 2015.

  • “Prix Fixe,” Mud Season Review, Vol. 1, May 2015. 97-112.

  • “Milk and Blood,” Cobalt Review, March 2014. 33-37.

  • “Colorado,” Up Do: Flash Fiction by Women Writers. Patricia Flaherty Pagan, ed. (Houston, TX: Spider Road Press, February 2014): 22-23.

  • “Lovely,” flash fiction, Short Story HQ Flash of Fiction Anthology. Kate Krake, ed. (Smashwords, November 2013): 50-52.

  • “The Slaughterhouse,” River Poets Journal, Vol. 6 No. 3, Autumn/Winter 2012. 32-36.

  • “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Cirque: A Literary Journal of the North Pacific Rim, Vol. 4 No 1 Winter Solstice 2012.17-20.

  • “Water Child,” Stories for Sendai: An Anthology. J.C. Martin & Michelle Davidson Argyle, eds. (Lexington, KY: J.C. Martin and Michelle Davidson Argyle, June 2011): 97-101.

Essays/Articles/Book Reviews

  • “Honoring the Unknowable Self,” The Puritan: Town Crier, February 25, 2019.

  • "The Wild Birds, by Emily Strelow," Washington Independent Review of Books, April 13, 2018.

  • "The Atlas of Forgotten Places, by Jenny D. Williams," Washington Independent Review of Books, July 23, 2017.

  • “Everything is Love Is, by Claire King,” Washington Independent Review of Books, January 26, 2017.

  • “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” The Style Hut Book of Reviews, Vol. 1 No. 2, Jan-Feb 2015.

  • “Their Names,” Three Minus One: Stories of Parents’ Love and Loss. Sean Hanish & Brooke Warner, eds. (Berkeley, CA: She Writes Press, April 2014): 127-130.

  • “Winning Proposals: Writing a Successful Statement of Purpose for Study Abroad,” Transitions Abroad, Vol. 22 No. 3, Nov-Dec 1998.

  • “Short-Term Study Abroad: Balancing What Students Need and What They Can Afford,” Transitions Abroad, Vol. 20 No. 4, Jan-Feb 1997.

AWARDS AND HONORS

  • 2016 GOLD Winner for Fantasy, Foreword Indie Awards. IN ANOTHER LIFE. American Library Association Annual Conference, June 2017.

  • Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature, finalist. THE CROWS OF BEARA. Karen Joy Fowler, Judge, Ashland Creek Press. December 2014.

  • New Millennium Writings Award for Fiction, finalist, November 2013.

  • Short Story HQ Flash Fiction, First Prize (Romance), November 2013.

  • Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award for Fiction, finalist, January 2012.