42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42²
“When I Rescued a Hummingbird from my House”
A true story about being “Trapped” that traps you in a mere 42 words. November 2024.
Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art
“The Naked Australian”
What do you do when a date you’re done with suddenly strips down to his budgie? You reach for your boning blade. Kestrel. February 2024.
Another Chicago Magazine and an ACM Best American Essays 2024 Nominee
“The Horse Breeder’s Wife”
A lusty Amish farmer offers unsolicited fertility advice. Another Chicago Magazine. January 2024.
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
“The Greeter,” with Rick Wilber
Acclaimed Science Fiction novelist Rick Wilber and I co-wrote this short story about a single father’s relationship with his daughter, an adult woman with Down Syndrome, right after he retires from a long career seeking extra-terrestrial life. Asimov’s. Summer 2023.
Cleaver: Philadelphia's International Literary Magazine Flash Nonfiction Contest Runner-up
“Ultimately [I chose] the ones that inexplicably moved me emotionally above everything else, and that I kept re-engaging with, trying to figure out how the writer worked their magic.” Meg Pokrass, judge. Sweet: A Literary Confection 2022 Flash Nonfiction Contest Runner-up
“40-Something Sasquatch Seeking Same.”
Even a Plentyoffish dating profile can be a work of art. Sweet: A Literary Confection. May 2022.
“His Apple Pie.”
My lover leaves my dog alone with a hot apple pie, changing our relationship forever. Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. May 2020.
Clean Run: The Magazine for Dog Agility Enthusiasts
Freelance Agility Articles 2019-2020
- “Handling for Lead Changes,”
- “The Make-or-Break Trick: Stand for Measurement,”
- “100 Easy At-Home Agility Hacks,”
- “How to Rescue Your Next Great Agility Dog”
Click here to learn more about these articles and learn everything you ever wanted to know about agility by subscribing to Clean Run: The Magazine for Dog Agility Enthusiasts.
Cream City Review
And a Frank McCourt Memoir Prize Finalist and New Millennium Honorable Mention
“A Womb With a Pew.”
Nonfiction Editor Anthony Correale wrote, “Each of us, myself and the senior editors, laughed out loud as we read through this essay. The writing is propulsive and the humor in no way detracts from the weightiness of the piece.” CREAM CITY REVIEW. February 2020.
“Christmas in the Bitch’s Dollhouse.”
A newly divorced single mom, I overcompensate a wee bit as I try to keep Christmas as Rockwellian as possible.
April 2017.
Sexcapades Anthology
“Love in the Time of Collies”
My husband and I attempt “grown-up nap-time” despite a houseful of dogs who are way too smart for us. Edited by Jennie Jarvis and Leslie Salas. Condoms and Hot Tubs Don’t Mix: An Anthology of Awkward Sexcapades. Beating Windward Press. March 1, 2018.
Voices in Italian Americana
“The Beach House”
Bluebeard buys his new wife a house on the Jersey Shore in this special folktale edition assembled by guest editor Nick DiChario. Voices in Italian Americana (Volume 28 Number 2). October 2017.
Atticus Review
“This is a Test: A Personal Essay in Six Dissociative Acts.”
A gut-wrenching, mind-bending series of six micro stories that may–or may not–involve sexual assault. Atticus Review. April 2017.
Ducts
“Casey and the African.”
A South African with only his looks to recommend him emails me out of the blue, “We’re a match made in heaven.” But is he talking about me–or my dog? Ducts: A Pipeline of Personal Stories. December 2015.
A Notable Top 100 2014 Best American Essay
“Turnpike Psycho.”
Travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike in this account of a friend’s murder as I myself am being hunted. Read an excerpt here. September 2014
2014 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, Honorable Mention.
“Born-Again Anthropologist.”
The judges deemed this ‘a very funny essay,’ which makes me crazy-happy, because that’s exactly what I was going for. Winning Writers, September 2014.
Superstition Review
“The Poet and Pajama Man.”
When I go to a blues club with a mysterious stranger, a drunk old man claims he’s famous. Superstition Review. September 2012.
Tampa Review
“Shark Week.”
Although I had to disguise my date’s identity as I did all the others, I couldn’t change the fact that he really had the dental condition he confessed to me, and I’m not sure I responded as well as I should’ve. Tampa Review Online. August 2012.
Ascent Literary Magazine
“Liking Mike.”
This personal essay about my experience dating as a single mom is a personal favorite. See what you think. Ascent Literary Magazine. March 2012.
Sugar Mule Literary Magazine
“How to Love a Buzzard.”
My stepdaughter and I take a walk near a gator swamp and discover that buzzards are just as lovable as little girls. Sugar Mule Literary Magazine: Women Writing Nature. August 2012.