My Writing

I write mostly creative non-fiction and fiction, and I try to tell both of these genres in the exact same style. My creative non-fiction work focuses on the snippets that journalists leave untouched because they don't tell a simple story. They are the types of things that emerge an hour or two into a narrative interview. When I write fiction, I write as if these characters are real. Sitting in front of me, talking into my microphone, what stories could they tell? The works of Groff, D'Ambrosio and others have taught me to see great pain in the commonplace and characters of infinite depth in the housewife and office worker. These are the stories that I'm trying to tell, whether fabricated or completely true. If they come from the eyes of a killer whale trainer, so be it. If they come from a hog farmer in a Podunk town, I'm here for it.

I've benefited immensely from the mentorship by many incredible people. Jonah Willihnganz and Laura Davis taught me how to structure a story. Rose Whitmore taught me how to excavate. Richie Hofmann taught me to write as if everything was sensual and erotic. Jenn Trahan saw straight through my stories to parts of myself that needed healing. Adam Johnson taught me nearly everything I know in fiction, and he is a personal hero. He inspires me to sit down every day and work on meaningful stories.