"I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying where the eyes, nose, and mouth are." --Flannery O'Connor

“Are you a reader? If you aren’t a reader, you might as well forget trying to be a writer.” —Wallace Stegner Read The Paris Review 1990 interview with the American writer here.

“In general I think you usually do write for someone. When I’m writing I’m always aware that this friend is going to like this, or that another friend is going to like that paragraph or chapter, always thinking of specific people. In the end all books are written for your friends.” —Gabriel García Márquez

“One reason for writing, of course, is that no one’s written what you want to read.” —Philip Larkin Read the Paris Review 1982 interview with the English poet.

I am pleased and honored to report that my editors at Swarm have included my short story, "Smoke" among the nominees for Best of the Net 2013. A link to my story, along with the other distinguished poetry and prose from the mag, is here.