What began as a lyric essay on purpose, lifemaking, communication, mindfulness and more, headed south, came unhinged and ended up in a moat with a damp man in the rubble. I consider this one of best, most personal, things I have written. Thank you for reading. 

This is a piece that grew out of a workshop exercise assigned by writer and teacher, Peter Markus. It is at once “surreal” and “grotesque,” hence my decision to submit it to the relatively new magazine, Surreal Grotesque. This particular issue features many writers, whose work I am not yet familiar with, and features an interview with the great editor, Ellen Datlow. Overall, it is an intense issue and one not for the mild-mannered or weak-of-stomach. However, with that said, I hope you can read and prosper from the tale of “Drowned in Girl.”

i have a short piece in issue #20 of Mud Luscious Online Quarterly. I am happy to be a part of such an influential publishing house and recommend you spend time with their publications. This particular issue also features work by Zack Wentz, Russ Woods, Eric Millar, David Greenspan, Travis Brown, Danilo Thomas, Jack Martin, and Ben Spivey. I hope you enjoy “The Horizon Regained.”

Bartleby Snopes picked this one up. Thank you, Nathaniel. I’m honored. A student of mine confessed to me that his worst fear was being attacked by a group of women and that’s exactly what goes down for poor Ben in the story. This one gets quite surreal. Also, I had a lot of Italian horror tropes floating around in my mind that needed release (cue the title). I hope this is a great read for you. 

Sometimes people do unexpected things in desperate situations. We catch our main character at that pivotal point in his life when everything he holds sacred is on the verge of collapse and watch him squirm. He surprised me.