Ph.D., English, Creative Writing – Fiction: University of Wales, Aberystwyth
MFA, English, Creative Writing – Fiction: Texas State University
BA, Journalism: Baylor University

 

Areas of Interest & Expertise

• short story

• novel

• hybrid fiction

• experimental fiction

• formalist fiction

• magic realism

• environmental writing

• personal essay

• the intersection of dance and creative writing as a tool to produce hybrid multimedia published material

Recent Courses Taught

• Introduction to Creative Writing

• Fiction Workshop

• Advanced Fiction Workshop

• Creative Nonfiction Workshop

• Composition I

• Composition II

• American Literature

• World Literature

Selected Publications

Books:

• Step Lightly, Livingston Press, 2019.

Selected Journal and Anthology Publications:

•  “Apotropaic.” The Good Life Review, December 2020

• “Be a Clown.” Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest 2018 Kindle Ed. 2018.

• “Cheaterz.” Black Fork Review, Issue 5, December 2021.

• “Come Dance with Me.” Fiction International: World in Pain, November 2018.

• “Puzzled.” Solstice, Summer Contest Issue, 2021.

• “Reading Lint.” Broad River Review, December 2021.

• “Squirrels in the Attic.” Pithead Chapel, Larry Brown Short Story Award Issue, January 2018.

• “The Caregiver.” Etched Onyx and The Story Discovery Podcast, Fall 2021.

• “The Obituary.” F(r)iction Award Issue, 2021.

Selected Conference Presentations

• “Balancing Self with Argument through the Acknowledgment of Community: Incorporating Essays from Emerging Writers into Composition Classes.” 2015 Student Success in Writing Conference, 17 April 2015, Savannah Hilton, Savannah, GA. Panel Presentation.

Professional Appointments and Professional Service

• Co-chair, Diversity Committee, Department of English, Kennesaw State University

• Editor, Flycatcher online literary journal

• Organizer of Sapelo Island trip for Fulbright Scholar Sr. Dr. Dominica Dipio, Kennesaw State University

• Designer of multi-genre creative writing course presented to and revised for Curriculum Committee, English Department Faculty, and College of Arts and Sciences, Kennesaw State University

• Judge of top ten short story entries for the Richard M. Sirota Prize and Scholarship, Antioch Writers’ Workshop

• Speaker for Teaching Assistant Practicum of the Master of Arts in Professional Writing Program, Kennesaw State University

Awards and Recognition

• Winner of Tartt First Fiction Award for Step Lightly

• Nominated for a PEN America Literary Award for Step Lightly

• Nominated for a Pushcart Prize for “A Professional Male Ballet Dancer in Twelve Steps”

• Nominated for a Pushcart Prize for “Pavlova”

• Winner, First Prize, Heavy Feather Review Fiction Contest for “Heaven”

• Winner, First Prize, 2020 F(r)iction Fiction Contest for “The Obituary”

• Winner, First Prize Puerto del Sol Short Fiction Award for “The Dancing Plague”

• Winner, Runner-up Prize, Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Award for “Pavlova”