Short fiction
1991–1997, 2002
In my twenties I was a feminist cad. I think most of these stories were my attempt to reconcile that romantic confusion. I have trouble owning up to being the guy who wrote all these crumpled little stories about drinking and pregnancy and getting dumped. (So many Carveresque non-conversations through cigarette smoke!) But that guy was me, half a lifetime ago. Occasionally there are aliens, or ghosts, or sex. But mostly: drinking and passively-aggressively arguing.
I quit writing stories like that when I started grad school. When I reread these things now I realize the author avatar in them is usually the villain.
2002 burned away that caddish boy. I have included here a few pieces I created that year. They are maybe tone poems, fragments of a years-long static design experiment.
“Eliak Falls” won an award and was published in a literary journal. I wrote “Ellen Ahead” 20 years before I knew what it would mean. “Seven Eleven” is my favorite. “Strange Books” is a good one too, and was published nationally. A few other stories were published in literary magazines of regional (midwestern) interest.
- Equinox (1991)
- Mr. Arane’s House (1991)
- Cute & Cuddly (1992)
- Eliak Falls (1992)
- The Bastards are Everywhere (1993)
- The Oven Light (1993)
- Seven Eleven (1993)
- Empty Middle (1994)
- This is Not New Orleans (1994)
- Strange Books (1995)
- Ellen Ahead (1995)
- The Miracle of Toast (1995)
- Walrus (1995)
- ckONE (1995)
- Fishy (1995)
- Lovely (1995)
- Severe Weather Warning (1995)
- Another Beautiful Margarita (1995)
- It Would Remind me of your Sunglasses (1995)
- Kelp (1995)
- Pat (1997)
- After Kealakekua Bay (2002)
- She was lost (2002)
- Heaven™ (2002)
- You cannot stop (2002)