*If you were in a Creative Writing class with me, this was originally shared with the title ‘Systemic Risk.’ This is Part 2. Part 1 was published last week. Part 3 will be available next week.* I met her when I was a trader. A consolation prize, an apology—that’s all she was ever supposedContinue reading “How Twisted A Man Is Can’t Be Judged By The Knot In His Tie – PART 2”
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How Twisted A Man Is Can’t Be Judged By The Knot In His Tie – PART 1
*If you were in a Creative Writing class with me, you’ll recognize this story as originally shared with the title ‘Systemic Risk.’ This is Part 1. Part 2 will be available next week.* Fifty-two times a year, I buy a lottery ticket. Usually I wait until Friday afternoon, unless it’s a bad week. I stopContinue reading “How Twisted A Man Is Can’t Be Judged By The Knot In His Tie – PART 1”
If You Give Away The Punchline, Why Bother Telling The Joke?
*This is a tiny excerpt from a novel I’m currently querying. My favorite rejection so far? I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t.* … The speakers crackle mid-sentence and fall silent. There’s a monotone buzzing. Heels click against the concrete floor and reverberate off of the walls. Vega imagines someone approaching in stilettos.Continue reading “If You Give Away The Punchline, Why Bother Telling The Joke?”
The Circus Tightrope Guy Sells His Act As An Art, But He’s Really Just Hoping To Make It Across Without Falling.
It’s been three years since I last saw Grandpa. Audra and I brought our (then) nine-month-old to Galveston at my father’s insistence. “He’s ornery,” Dad had conceded. “But he won’t be around much longer and he needs to meet his first great-grandchild.” After a debilitating fall that broke his hip, GrandpaContinue reading “The Circus Tightrope Guy Sells His Act As An Art, But He’s Really Just Hoping To Make It Across Without Falling.”
Even If You Can’t Swim, Jump In The Water And Save That Kid.
When I’m really scared, I think about the time you held a gun to my head. I still don’t know if it was loaded. I know now that it doesn’t matter if it was. I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was afraid of living. There were boys who loved the Beatles and me. They hadContinue reading “Even If You Can’t Swim, Jump In The Water And Save That Kid.”
In A Movie Theatre That’s On Fire With No One Screaming Fire.
I thought you might be dead. You have a dangerous job and you hadn’t posted on Instagram in days. You didn’t answer your phone, you wouldn’t answer texts, and I began to wonder if you were dead. I even Googled your name with “obituary.” Nothing came up, except your dad. Of course, you weren’t dead.Continue reading “In A Movie Theatre That’s On Fire With No One Screaming Fire.”
Portia July 