Short Essay in Heimat #4

The Heimat Review publishes work focused around the idea of home, of centering, and of belonging. I’m happy to have a short creative nonfiction essay in the summer issue. You can read online and for free by clicking the title of “A Big Quarry in a Small Place Named Genoa.” Check out some of the other work while you are...

M.Y.O.P.I.A. # 33: Zombie Convergence: How Movies and Videogames Funneled this Monster into Focus

By sheer volume alone, zombies have become popular culture’s dominant monster over the last few decades—of course there is admirable irony that the monster known for overwhelming through volume has also saturated the market. Zombies are everywhere, and though it may seem like the story of surviving amidst zombies would have become cliché long ago, creators still manage to tell...

NEO-OPSIS issue #34 is now available

I’m very pleased to have a story published in the latest issue of Neo-Opsis. My story, “In the Shade,” is inspired by a love of gardening, the many historical villages my parents drug me to when I was a kid, and my imagination for a future where plants have reclaimed dominion over the world. It is about many things, but...

MYOPIA # 31: The Lasting Legacy of 80’s Toys and the Politics that Helped Birth Them

The 1980s were a time of many pop-cultural shifts in the US. There was MTV, the proliferation of neon, movies aimed at youthful angst, even a brief fixation with Australia. It was a distinct decade for certain, and something rather drastic happened regarding children’s toys. At the beginning of the 80s, laws previously shielding children from television marketing were loosened....

MYOPIA #30-Tip of the Triangle: A Lifelong Fan’s Ranking of the Best Zelda Games

I’m a big fan of The Legend of Zelda. My first MYOPIA was about Zelda. I’ve always seen the series as being the pinnacle of adventure games. With many titles in the series, I’ve naturally categorized my favorites. I’ve tried to approach ranking these games based on experiences when I first played them–usually playing in pretty near proximity to the...

Story in Snarl Journal

I’m very excited to share my story, “Doll,” is published in the Spring 2022 issue of Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art (#3). The issue just came out. There are other stories, poems, and art in the issue. I’ve really enjoyed I’ve everything I’ve read in it thus far. You can get the issue in digital or print at...

M.Y.O.P.I.A. 29: Robots 101, as in, Robots Have Been Around for 101 Years

As big a fascination as robots are in popular culture, as much as an absolute mainstay that they are in science-fiction, it may seem odd to think of robots as fairly young. At the time of this posting in 2022, there are very elderly people who’ve been alive longer than the word “robot.” Robots have quite the history when it...

M.Y.O.P.I.A. # 28: Slightly Lamenting the Loss of Indoor Shopping Malls

There is a slew of content on the internet about shopping malls closing, about the loss of what was once a societal staple of American culture. Many of the articles are primarily about the changing retail landscape, and often come off as an attack on the hub of commercialization shopping mall’s once represented. The term “mall” can apply to different...

M.Y.O.P.I.A. # 27 Gremlins: A Recent Monster

Within oral and written records of early stories, supernatural creatures are abundant. Did people really believe in fairies in the forest, or that leprechauns could be found near rainbows? These things may have been mostly entertaining, but such tales also tend to have some inkling for inspiration, perhaps some small bits of misconstrued truth. Even contemporary “myths” about Bigfoot and...