Writing Samples

Hey – yeah, you – what’s the craziest profession you’ve ever served a drink to, because I bet I can beat it. I’m – well, I’m not really  a bank robber, truth be told – first and foremost, I am and always will be a performer. Doesn’t matter if I’m an actress like I used to be, or a comedian like I am now. Being on the stage is the love of my life. I like to think my parents named me after “Romeo and Juliet,” because they knew I was destined for the theater. If they did, they n

As much as I like the place, seeing someone throw up in Songbird Café wasn’t exactly what you’d call “out of the ordinary,” and so we didn’t pay it any mind at first. Jonas did, but he’s got a thing about vomit. He mumbled something like “I’m gotta – I’m gonna use… mm. The bathroom,” and he got up and ran with a hand over his mouth. Some of the wait staff must’ve hurried over to help clean up, and the family of the old man who yakked were probably pretty concerned. Tick and I

Through her round glasses, Tess looks at me from across the table, her face tensed just enough to reveal the pain beneath, a visage of steel beginning to rust. She asks again: “Why?” I look out the window of the restaurant, and a wave slams against the pier below. A fisherman outside ducks away from it. When I used to come here with my family as a kid, the waves were scarcely able to climb their way up the sand. I guess they’ve grown alongside me, in a way. “Owen,” Tess says.

Katie Cabara had always thought it would be nice to be a psychopath, to have the highs and lows of emotion, the treacherous peaks and valleys of human existence, replaced with the steady, numbing reverb of nothing. And when she discovered that she was one, it gave her a sweet pinch of relief, maybe even happiness would be a better word for it. If nothing else, it seemed a time saver. Without the pressure of adhering to the social expectation of mourning, Katie would be at a s

Liz and I stopped talking and started watching him as soon as we saw him cross through the front door. I was actually getting ready to leave pretty soon, since I have to give some time to sober up on Thursdays before I go into work later that night. Liz was talking about this job she got offered out in Chicago, writing for some sports magazine. She turned it down. Originally, she just said she didn’t think it was going to work out, which I thought was pretty stupid. She would

Julian hated the beach at night. A shiver ran through him, gazing into the claustrophobic darkness around the bonfire. He inched closer to its warmth and tried to focus on his friends, chatting and laughing, still riding the high from graduation ceremony. He was too. Of course he was. Just occasionally sobered by the bitter seaside breeze that whipped his jacket against him. A man’s voice outside the circle of firelight made him jump. “You guys have to leave. Beach is closed

The bus was running late. Mike checked his watch, only to find a bracelet of slightly paler skin, a reminder that he had exchanged it for a pair of portable phone chargers four days ago. Or five? Hard to tell now. Days had melted together. The watch had been helpful, but now the power outages had become more sporadic, and he needed his phone charged. Even without his watch, however, he knew the bus was behind schedule. Ordinarily it arrived five minutes or so after Mike did,

As far as first dates go, that one went pretty smoothly… what’s her name, Janelle, she seemed even cooler than I expected. The thought...

The two men exchanged fists on the platform, missing frequently, and she watched them from the subway car. It only took a few garbled words for them to begin swinging, which had startled her. It seemed strange in retrospect, but she had never seen an altercation turn physical in her life. The closest had been her aunt smashing a plate at Thanksgiving when she was sixteen. Could problems really be solved like that? Certainly none of her own. If only. The train lurched forward

Out of everything they had lost due to the harsh economic times, Madeline missed making pie more than anything. Her ache of longing had...