The Jumping-off Place

A novel-in-stories set in Boston, 2009–2011. Podge O’Leary, a disabled alcoholic submarine veteran, endures the trials of early sobriety — false prophets, stolen apartments, new friends, old loves, and the slow work of staying alive. The Jumping-off Place encounters themes of addiction, trauma, endurance, and redemption.

Currently being developed as an M.A. thesis at Johns Hopkins University.

Lollipop

A flash story set in 2007 Greater Boston. A college student visits his younger brother in hospice care while detoxing from opioids. Currently unpublished.