Other Publications

On Line

Bound to Please: Book Publishing in Wisconsin, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine, Winter-Spring 2023. A look at Wisconsin’s long history of small- and mid-sized presses focusing on regional writers, as well as new micro- and hybrid-presses.

APrayer4You.Com, Moot Point Magazine, February 13, 2023 With her new husband debilitated by a mysterious condition, Isabelle passes the hours next to his hospital bed examining their relationship, her beliefs, and the business card for a prayer chain website that has found its way into her hands.

Everything Burns*, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine (Annual Fiction Contest, 2nd Place), February 2022 “Everything Burns’ offers the reader an intimate and fascinating look at life inside communist Cuba. The young narrator feels the weight of his family, his race, and his gender as he navigates his mother’s illness and the expectations he feels unequipped to fulfill. Vivid scenes and characters in the Cuban workplace and in the domestic sphere will resonate with the reader of this fine story.” ~Fiction Judge, Chris Fink  (*Nominated for a Pushcart Prize)

Open Book, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine, Spring 2019 When Corrine’s father comes home with video surveillance equipment, planning to make what he calls the first ever “real reality show,” she is forced to deal with a dark reality.

Truth and Reconciliation for Sexual Misconduct Perpetrators, November 21, 2017, guest column appeared at The Cap Times online.

Demise, September 24, 2017 at Fictive Dream  At the end of a long teaching career, strict and exacting Miss Brill finds herself with the opportunity to break her usual pattern and show compassion toward one of her students.

Our Hoyles, June 15, 2017 at Literally Stories  Caught between her sister’s disapproval of her marriage and her “slam card playing husband,” Delores has an opportunity to take the first step toward asserting herself.

How to Play with Fire, February, 2017 at The Other Stories Podcast  Sometimes getting what you want isn’t all its cracked up to be. An interview with host, Ilana Masad, follows the story.

Night Vision, July 15, 2016 at Solstice Literary Magazine In a fit of insomnia, Iraq war veteran, Brad takes to the streets of his Midwestern city wearing night vision goggles.

Nothing to Lose, June 1, 2016 at Stonecoast Review When Marilou, obese and insecure, is laid off from her job, she takes the “Dove Vow,” to follow through on each bit of advice on the wrapper of the Dove chocolates that are a staple of her diet. (Also in the print publication.)

Deer Camp, July 1, 2011 at Full of Crow Fiction A deer hunting weekend takes an unlikely turn.

Necessary, July 1, 2011 at Full of Crow Fiction Cuban sugar cane harvester, Luisa, deals with the conflict between her creative (and romantic) passion and the cultural expectation of making herself “necessary.”

Equals, April 28, 2011 at Staccato Fiction A work of microfiction that touches on what a mother and daughter don’t tell each other… and what they do.

Cigar Reader, June 2, 2010 in Foundling Review, A Literary Journal After losing his wife to “the disease that no one survived,” Rolando returns to his job at the cigar factory only to find more worry awaiting him there.

In Print

Photo by Reilly Suhr, 2016

Bound to Please: Book Publishing in Wisconsin, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine, Winter-Spring 2023. A look at Wisconsin’s long history of small- and mid-sized presses focusing on regional writers, as well as new micro- and hybrid-presses.

Everything Burns*, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine (Annual Fiction Contest, 2nd Place), Winter/Spring 2022 Issue “Everything Burns’ offers the reader an intimate and fascinating look at life inside communist Cuba. The young narrator feels the weight of his family, his race, and his gender as he navigates his mother’s illness and the expectations he feels unequipped to fulfill. Vivid scenes and characters in the Cuban workplace and in the domestic sphere will resonate with the reader of this fine story.” ~Fiction Judge, Chris Fink   (*Nominated for a Pushcart Prize)

Jewel Tea, The Hal Prize (3rd Place), November 2021 “I read with great interest this tale of a daughter’s apprehension as she observed her mother becoming increasingly interested in the Jewel Tea Man whose periodic visits enhance her days. The ending is quite funny.” ~Fiction Judge, Lan Samantha Chang.

Open Book, Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine, Spring 2019 When Corrine’s father comes home with video surveillance equipment, planning to make what he calls the first ever “real reality show,” she is forced to deal with a dark reality.

Dry Spell, Rosebud Issue 64, Spring 2019 After Rodney loses his job, he quits drinking and decides to open a “Paintball for Jesus” range only to find that there is at least one thing more valuable to him than sobriety.

Numbered Days, September 21, 2018, Creative Wisconsin, What happens when your calendar gets the best of you.

Brush Strokes, September 8, 2018, Pink Panther Magazine, Abstract artist, Anna’s creative spark takes a surprising turn in response to the misogynistic paintings of Max, the assistant at a gallery where Anna would like to show her work.

Wind the Fabric Tighter, micro fiction that appears in Family Stories from the Attic, Hidden Timber Books, April, 2017

Unhappy With the Election Results? Run! guest column appeared at The Cap Times print and online newspaper, Madison, Wisconsin, November 23, 2016

deforestation a poem that appeared in Creative Wisconsin, 2016

How to Play With Fire, April 23, 2016 at Midwest Review Sometimes when you’re about to get what you wish for, you see the situation with new eyes.

Leave Taking, July 1, 2011 at Grey Sparrow Press (in their online journal, too) Pilar visits the voudou healer–despite his “drug-addict red eyes and his shabby rooster”–to try to restore her health, or at least put her mind at ease before she dies.

…Just When… appeared in the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Calendar, January, 2011

To Cap It Off,  appeared December, 2010 in Creative Wisconsin: Wisconsin’s Writing Home This essay about a son’s fascination with bottle caps earned 1st place in the Florence Lindemann Humor Writing Contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Writers’ Association

imagesOn the Air

Peace in the Trailer, September 3, 2012, 89.7 WUWM Lake Effect Squeezing the last delicious moments out of summer on Labor Day, with young children who have slightly different plans.

Bury the Saint, June 27, 2011 at WUWM 89.7FM Lake Effect This tongue-in-cheek essay recounts a last-resort method to sell a house.

Mom’s Last Drive, January 21, 2011 on WUWM 89.7FM Flash Fiction Friday A mother, a daughter, understanding and freedom.

Sweet-Scented Place, November 10, 2010 at WUWM 89.7FM Lake Effect A mother-child hike offers a glimpse into the future of letting go.