Storytelling is about exploring the nuances of life—the anguish within beauty and the wisdom within pain. When we hold our stories inside, they weigh us down. When we release them, we find not only our voice but perspective and a different way of engaging with the world.

I was once a high school drop-out who wasn't fond of English. A few decades later, I've published four short story collections with presses from New York City, NY, Hollywood, CA; and Detroit, MI. My short stories have won awards and appear in textbooks and classrooms. I've also authored two novels, We Arrive Uninvited, which won the Steel Toe Books Award and the Winter Goose Publishing Award, and Chaos Magic, which was a finalist for the Joshua Tree Prize. My memoir in essays, which focuses on various working roles I occupied as a confused young adult is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press UWSP as part of their "Back Home" series.

Publications aside, I know what it is like to have misdirected creative energy, to believe I don't have time, to feel alone on the journey, and to think that no one will care. I even know what it is like to be publication-hungry and make bad decisions as a writer. But sharing our stories in authentic ways (through writing and other modalities) is power leveraged for positive change, both internally and externally. I hope to share that with as many people as I can.