As a writer, I'm always drawn toward character-driven Upmarket & Literary fiction with a touch of the inexplicable and a distinctive inner-city vibe. A fan of fabulism and magical realism with literary prose and commercial appeal, I believe my work would sit comfortably alongside titles by authors like Claire North, Susanna Clarke, David Mitchell, Emily St. John Mandel, V.E. Schwab, and others, as well as socially conscious literary works by authors like Colson Whitehead, Douglas Stuart, and Celeste Ng.
Upmarket Fiction
on submission with agents
Time has not been kind to Tris and Macie. Once teenage partners in love and late-night graffiti, they’ve reunited years later as a homeless addict and his guilt-stricken drug dealer. Bound by a broken past, a tangled present, and a love neither dares name, Macie vows to stop doing him harm and start helping him heal. While Tris, seeking solace in his Art and trips to the MFA to see Macie, is tormented not only by addiction, but by the bickering voices of Gauguin, Cézanne, Degas, and the compassionate Van Gogh, who implore him to rise from his wreckage.
With a half-cocked plan to bring his talents to light, Macie posts a painting in an online forum. But the piece goes viral, sparking a search that spreads through the Art world like wildfire. Soon a slick art dealer, a worn-out PI, a flawed forum mod, and a groundskeeper tasked with eviction all circle in on the door beneath a Charles River bridge where Tris paints in secret.
As the net draws tighter, Tris is forced to face down his demons or surrender to them, while Macie must fight to break the cycle that binds them together—not for their sake alone, but for the daughter he never knew. A haunting story of art and addiction, ruin and redemption, love and loss—where the greatest work of the masters might be saving one man from himself.
BLACKTOP SKY is character-driven upmarket fiction debut where the social commentary of The Soloist meets the surrealism of Midnight in Paris. It features features a flawed protagonist, the complexities of addiction, and the transformative power of art as in Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, the undercurrent of fabulism as in David Mitchell's Utopia Avenue, the intergenerational trauma of Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain, and an unconventional story structure as in Emily St. John Mandel's The Glass Hotel with interwoven third-person storylines laced with second-person scenes depicting paintings as moments from the artist’s life.
Omniboz: Tales from the Land of Oz
Stars & Sabers Publishing
My short story, THE INN AT THE EDGE OF OZ, will be featured alongside authors like Adrian Tchaikovsky, Eugen Bacon, Cynthia Pelayo, Ai Jiang, and others in the upcoming anthology: “Omniboz: Tales from the Land of Oz” from Stars & Sabers Publishing.
You’ll recognize some of Baum’s more obscure characters coming together with some new faces in a clandestine meeting over a single night that fits snugly into the Oz canon, while putting a fresh, new spin on some backstory Baum never really explored.
Who really invented Tik-Tok? What lurks in the past of the Tin Woodman’s creator? Can a Wheeler become human if they truly believe they are in their heart? And who really runs the Inn and the Edge of Oz?
These answers and many more will be revealed when “Omniboz: Tales from the Land of Oz” releases on May 15, 2026!
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