I've been writing stories, poems, and songs from as far back as I can remember, and books have always a huge part of my life. 

I remember getting in trouble in math class for hiding a novel behind my textbook - which probably explains why I still mix up mean, median, and mode. But that book (Stephen King's The Stand, if memory serves) was totally worth it. 

I mode mean it! (If you stop reading after that terrible dad joke, I understand.)

I started playing guitar when I was 11 and had the good fortune to play guitar or bass in bands throughout high school and college and beyond. I still play when I can - a guitar is never too far out of reach and a new song tumbles out every now and then. 

You can check out a few of them here if you'd like. 

I'm originally from the Chicago area but now live with my wife, daughters, and scruffy dog Henry in south Louisiana. 

Did I mention I've been writing stories for a while? Here's proof!:

You'd never guess it, but I was writing a twisty mystery filled with murder and mayhem!

• For publishing-related inquiries, contact Stephen Fraser at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency

• To read some of my writing about books and music, go here.

• For anything else, my email is slimchancepress[at]gmail.com

 The incredible team at Books for Maui have put together an auction to raise funds for those impacted by the wildfires, and it's an honor to offer an auction item to support it.

Check it out (along with many other amazing items!), or support the relief efforts directly

Auction item (personalized song): https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/111641/auctions/148492/auction_items/4735504

Relief efforts:

• Hawaii Community Foundation - Maui Strong: https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong 
• Kamehameha - Ho’ōla Maui: bit.ly/3DXIMMY 
• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement - Kāko’o Maui https://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/ 
• Maui Food Bank: https://mauifoodbank.org/

*Update that the winners were recently posted on Vivian's blog, and my story placed 16th out of 756 entries - pretty neat! The entries were really incredible - amazing to see the stories that can be told in only 50 words.

Here's my #50PreciousWords story - dedicated to the middle-school student I saw bravely speak up at a recent library board meeting.

 I had a blast thinking up and writing this 200-word story for Kailei Pew's 2nd annual Kids' Choice KidLit Writing Contest. 

The word count limit led to some tough choices for what to include and what to omit - like building a Jenga tower, adding and taking away words to see what would work without making the whole thing collapse. 

With about 30 min on the deadline to spare, I hit my final save and sent it off. Hoping the kid-judges enjoy it and all the other entries. Such a neat idea, and I'm sure it's a lot of effort to put together - so thank you, Kailei!

The Wishes

Middle Grade (200 words)

The Wishes

We found the note on the way to school, rolled up inside a glass bottle Marcus threw in the air and let smash to the ground between me and Arden.

He was always doing dumb stuff like that. 

We were his best friends anyway.

The ragged paper stuck out. I picked it up and read its faded words aloud.

TO WHOEVER SEES: YOUR FIRST WISH WILL COME TRUE

Marcus and Arden laughed and walked on – but something stopped me.

“I wish I was a bear.”

I said the words softly, picturing my bear-self roaming the halls of Roosevelt Middle. 

Roaring in the faces of bullies. Clawing my way through the rest of the school year. 

Finally fierce.

I saw Marcus and Arden turn back and see me. Their eyes wider than bike tires. Their mouths frozen O's.

“Ca-Calysta?” Marcus said, collapsing to his knees.

Arden sprinted towards me, diving to grab the piece of paper. 

I heard her whisper. Then she was gone.

Not gone. Transformed. Above my head, I watched her soar. Eagle-Arden.

Marcus walked forward, shaking.

He picked up the note. 

“I’m sorry Calysta. Arden too.”

He closed his teary eyes.

 “I wish to have my friends back.”

Update 3.1.23: 

Just learned that my entry was an honorable mention in the contest - what a neat thing! Congrats to all who entered.

 I wrote about Mike Chen's (very good) Vampire Weekend for this month's Performer Magazine.

It's hard to write realistically about music in fiction, and Mike nails it here - along with a first-rate, original vampire story with heart (...and a little blood).

Check out the full review and the book!