Stories

***Winner of the 2013 Readers Choice Awards for the Best Story by a Promising Author ***

Please note: I'm no longer a Promising/Signature Author! I don't want readers to think I'm misleading them.

Story: The city is full of all kinds of people. Being a bartender, Asher Burkhart has seen them all. At least he thinks has until Michael Waters shows up.

Jackson is a Senior in high school. Everything seems to be coming together to make this the best year yet.

What if the man who broke your heart suddenly came back into your life? What if he laid dying on the surgery table in front of you? Do you forgive him? Do you bring him back to life? Do you put the pieces back together? Or do you let it all stay broken?

Kyle Howard is a young district attorney who has a relentless passion for the law. But when news from home reaches him, he finds himself questioning his past decisions and wondering if he made an error in judgment. Can he live with himself if he misses his last chance to set things right? Five friends reunite after years apart to see if mistakes made in the past can be forgiven before it’s too late.

After getting out of the military, Mark is unsure what he wants to do with his life. Then he meets Trey, a current soldier in the US Army. Sometimes it seems like everything is conspiring against them. Can they make it or will they be... thwarted.

Portento is a town hiding a huge secret. A secret the Morgan Family has worked for generations to keep. Outsiders are not allowed in without the Portento Council's approval. Until the Takeda Family moves in unnoticed.

Milan Takeda has been sick all his life. Rory Morgan just turned eighteen and is looking forward to taking on his birthright. Then he meets Milan, and his world changes.

Cory, 18 year-old walking Texas stereotype who swings both ways, comes to Virgina Tech to play football and hopefully be less of a closet case. There he finds a sophomore wide-receiver who likes to bite, a pretty boy pre-med with a talent for name calling, and a grad student with a big...chip on his shoulder. (Formerly "Efrain and Cory")

Palouse is a coming-to-maturity story of a half-Navajo boy who is a virtuoso at violin. The story traces his rise, fall, and reemergence in the context of a domineering mother. It is a story also of a developing love between the boy and a gay friend.

Imagine your perfect life. What’s it like? Are you rich? Are you popular? Do you have a million cars? Well 17 year old Teddy Haner doesn't have to imagine. Being student body president, and captain of his lacrosse team…he has everything! However when a new mysterious friend flips his world upside down, and starts to ascend to stardom, he finds that there’s a lot more to life than popularity.

Jett Huntsman has his business straight, which is to scare schmucks into paying back what’s due. And yeah, he’s making shit tons of money while at it. Mostly because he’s good at it. Not that he brags.

What he’s not good at, though, is how to deal with seeing a crying baby left in front of his house with the self-explanatory message: “Assume responsibility, asshole!”

Jett has no time to think things through. He has schmucks to shake for money. So his kid, if that’s his kid, will have to come with him.

(Full summary inside.)