I’ve had some luck with poems lately, and you’ll find new ones in the following three publications…
Being On Submission: In the Backrooms of an Almost Debut Novel
Understand that even before I landed an agent this last spring, I’d heard how stressful it is to be “on submission” with a novel. Especially a debut. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years, sometimes never, sometimes right after you give up when a random publisher decides to double-back and jump in with an offer. There are thousands of ways it can go down, and most of them involve an excruciating amount of waiting.
This Is Poetry, Volume 5
I’m pretty pumped that I‘ll have four poems included in a new anthology called This Is Poetry Volume 5: Poets of the Northeast later this year alongside some incredible writers (and friends!) including Bud Smith, Ally Malinenko, John Grochalski, Puma Perl, Cheryl A. Rice, Rebecca Schumejda, and many others.
Officially Signed with Falkin Literary
This weekend I signed a representation deal with Mark Falkin of Falkin Literary after a great chat we had last week about a book I wrote, currently titled IT WON'T LEAVE. It's a horror novel set in Texas, about a cancer patient named JJ who moves back to San Antonio, into his father's new house. As his chemo treatments begin, he realizes a malignant presence is hiding within the bones of that house. Something that wants him out. Something that sees HIM as a cancer in need of eradication.
"Variations of Blue" Now Appears in Trampoline
My poem “Variations of Blue” now appears online in a three-poet issue (#31.6) of Trampoline, alongside the works of Naa Asheley Ashitey and Sally Huggins Toner. The poem is from a small collection I wrote in (and about) the rugged and beautiful island nation of Iceland that I’m putting together, so you may hear more about that soon. But this is a great representation of what that collection is aiming for, so I hope you enjoy. My thanks to editor Justin Lacour for including this piece in his excellent online journal.
Roadside Assistance Anthology
Roadside Press has released a new anthology called Roadside Assistance, containing a sampler of poetry from books they’ve published over the last few years. Four of the poems within (“Transference,” “Pastoral,” “Wane,” “and Prophecy”) are from my book Cistern Latitudes, which is also still available from Roadside Press for $15. Digging into this anthology is a great way to see who else the press has published and experience a wide range of poetic styles in one place. In a world that increasingly glamorizes the shallow depths of AI “creativity”, buying from a press like this is a great way to support the authenticity of the indie underground.
New Interview on the Meat For Teacast
In late 2025, I had the pleasure of joining my poetry writing partners Gabriel Ricard and Kevin Ridgeway on an episode of the Meat for Teacast, a podcast hosted by Elizabeth Macduffie.
My Top 10 Books of 2025
As with all my annual lists, these aren’t all new books but they were all new to me in 2025. And re-reads do not count, so some incredible favorites like Train Dreams by Denis Johnson or Dark Voyage by Alan Furst don’t appear here. A couple of these were audiobooks, but I say those count, especially when you’re life gets busy as hell and the country is falling apart into the dumbest plutocracy of all time and you just want to escape, lie in bed in the dark, and listen. Anyway, these are some damn fine reads. Enjoy!