Words

Hi. It’s been a while. Here’s something I’ve been working on from a new novel project. I hope you like it. In an upstairs dressing room of the opulent estate just outside Moscow, Feodora sits in an antique wooden chair facing the window, the skirt of her wedding dress draped carefully around her. Outside, a white tent has been staked into the grass for the reception, tables and chairs beneath…

Hi, book lovers! In the U.S., today (October 5) is the start of Banned Books Week. Organized by the American Library Association, among other groups, this yearly campaign highlights books that have been challenged or banned from school curriculums and libraries and celebrates the freedom to read. Learn more about their mission and see the top ten banned or challenged books from 2024. What might…

Hi. It’s been a while. I wrote a thing. There will be more things. And in early 2026, I’ll be publishing “Boychik Take Two,” the sequel to…you guessed it. In the next few weeks, I’ll have excerpts, title reveals, and more info. If you haven’t already subscribed to my newsletter, it would be a good time to sign up! As always, thank you for reading. The Council: Phone Call Edition “I tried to…

After “How are you?” the second question my father asks me whenever we speak is “What are you reading?” We swap recommendations and talk about favorite authors and what’s next in the TBR list. He knows I like books set during the WW2 era that have a different angle on historical events. So he suggested I look into “The Invisible Bridge” by Julia Orringer. We meet Andras Lévi, a young, pre-WW2…

Warning: Satire. Adult content. His assistant said it would be easy. Open the vacuum pack, stick it in, press the plunger, and she’d be on the way to knocked-up city. None of the others had a problem with it. But Jess, knees splayed on the pink toilet seat of her Barbie-inspired bathroom, froze. She’d never been scared. Not like this. She ran marathons, she’d jumped out of planes, she’d always…

A recent contestant on Jeopardy! inspired me to write this bit. And I thought it was just time to have a little fun. Mostly. In other news, I expect to publish the sequel to “Boychik” in early 2026. Title to be “Boychik Meets Girl.” Have a nice day. This dude, he buys cereal. Boxes and boxes, whether or not there’s a sale, two for ones, generic or brand names, doesn’t matter. Every Saturday he…

If they made her disappear, she worried most about the cat. The slender young calico, the runt of a litter gone feral, had chosen her rickety front porch to make his home. She’d named him Oliver. She left food for him. Sometimes by the end of the day it remained untouched, other times it was gone by noon. But she always made sure to refill the bowl, to watch out for him, to try to care for him if…

A few words that sat heavily on my heart.

I am a citizen. I was born here. I have a wife. I have a child in school. The words screamed in Marco’s head, but he could neither speak nor hear, not since the accident so many years ago. He knew something bad was happening when the bay doors swung open and a horde of men in black, faces covered, spilled onto the factory floor. He saw their mouths contorting in anger, eyes flashing like cold…

New installment of The Council. Thank you for reading.

They were still in the dim back room of the restaurant; it was late and the owner hovered from the edges like he wanted to start putting chairs on top of tables. Forty-three and a half turned to Forty-three, the ex-president from Texas, who hadn’t yet recovered from her stated intention to fight the devil. “So where do I find this joker, anyway?” “Uh. Don’t know,” Forty-three said. “He always…