Most of the stories in Xennial are loosely based (and in some instances very loosely based) on my life. They are all set at various points from the mid-nineties through the early 2000s in Northeastern Ohio. Highlights of the collection include: “Dropout,” about a newly minted former college student returning home for the summer to begin the rest of his life, “Truck Shop” about a 12-year old boy living at his parent’s middle-of-nowhere semi repair shop,fighting boredom and trying to stay out of trouble, and “Greasy,” about a McDonald’s worker and rock star-in-his-head dreaming of one day escaping his redneck town, biding his time by pursuing what he loves the most—sex, drugs, & rock n’ roll, of course. Xennial, my seventh book, is an honest look at the struggles of someone from the “new lost generation" trying to navigate life in the Rust Belt around the turn of the 21st century.
My past four published books are now on Gott Press: my 2014 novel, Escapes, my 2016 flash fiction chapbook, The Ever-Present Moment, my 2017 poety collection, Live Organ Transplants, and my 2017 flash fiction chapbook, Dispatches from the Information Age.
Idiot Parade is my second collection of poetry. Many of the poems included were written during my March 2018 Akron Soul Train Fellowship and are a mix of blackout poetry and traditional free verse poetry. Out now!