Sneak Peek

Excerpts from my upcoming book…..

Into the Heat

They had no place to go, no room, no private bed, just a car, front or back, parked behind Pie House, 90 degrees in the shade, each of them pantsless and panting, yearnings impossible to ignore. And by God, they didn’t.

Last Call

After Katie gave last call, a customer – a regular of Katie’s – bought her a beer. Katie set the bottle down next to herself on the bar and counted out what she owed the house, aware that this woman was asking her a question.

T’aime Moi

Sixteen and fat, I wear baby blue angora sweaters, smoke a brand of Turkish cigarette and pop the Pill out of no real need. Friends – one friend – says it’s essential.

 Tiny Red Dot of Light

“Ok,” she says, “here we go.” She was Dawn, her boyfriend was Jack. Jack at the crack of Dawn. Ha ha ha. There was a can of Bud propped in the waistband of Jack’s underwear. Many more awaiting in a dresser drawer, hiding in plain sight. Dawn has already written this story and hates it. It was time for a new story.

Eleven Jewish Korean Vets

“You come from a family of addicts,” her mother warns her. Amy’s been slipping away to the alley behind their Chicago apartment for many more purposes than her mother knows. But her mother has just washed Amy’s favorite jacket, and behold! (oy!) found a soggy remnant of a cigarette stub in the pocket.

We’re Not Them

They knew some people who knew some people. The people they knew, who Ted knew from his high school days, were married with a couple of kids who were almost teenagers now. Elizabeth called Ted’s friends the J’s, for John and Jill. Though predictable and usually agreeable, Elizabeth found the J’s somewhat tiresome.