Five Pictures of the Same Thing

Forgive me for this – but it's different and beautiful from every angle. This is Sólfar, or "Sun Voyager," by Reykjavík artist and welder Jón Gunnar Árnason.






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My Books

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"If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

-Toni Morrison



Jane, Unlimited is my fourth release, a kaleidoscopic novel about grief, adventure, storytelling, and finding yourself in a world of seemingly infinite choices. It's also about umbrellas and umbrella-making :o). It comes out on September 19, 2017. I hope to have more stuff up about it soon, including reviews and foreign release info! For now --
Jane has lived an ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia—an adjunct professor and deep sea photographer. Jane counted on Magnolia to make the world feel expansive and to turn life into an adventure. But Aunt Magnolia was lost a few months ago in Antarctica on one of her expeditions. Now, with no direction, a year out of high school, and obsessed with making umbrellas that look like her own dreams (but mostly just mourning her aunt), she is easily swept away by Kiran Thrash—a glamorous, capricious acquaintan…
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Swans and Boys in Tights and Puffy Shirts

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So, I went to a lovely performance of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake by the Russian National Ballet Theatre this weekend. (In case you don't know the story: the Evil Dude Rotbart has turned a bunch of Lovely Girls into swans. One night Prince Siegfried goes hunting with his buddies, sees the swans, falls for the Most Beautiful Swan, and professes his undying love. His promise of eternal love breaks Evil Dude Rotbart's spell and the Most Beautiful Swan and her friends are free to be girls again. But shortly thereafter in a moment of male forgetfulness Prince Siegfried swears his love to Random Girl [who, in his defense, does look an awful lot like the Most Beautiful Swan]. M.B. Swan's heart is broken and Evil Dude Rotbart's spell descends back upon her. Then the Prince realizes what he's done! He fights Evil Dude Rotbart! He wins, killing E.D. Rotbart and freeing M.B. Swan forever! They all live happily ever after!)

Anyway, the scene in which Prince Siegfried go…
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Brother Cansrel, Father Leck

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Trigger warnings: priests, rape, suicide.

First disclaimer: I was not sexually assaulted by a priest. That is not the story I'm about to tell.

Second: If you were raised Catholic and your experience was not like mine, I am relieved for you and glad. I respect your different story. I only ask that you respect my story, realize that I am not an isolated example, and believe me.


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Last week, the Pennsylvania Attorney General released a grand jury report listing 300 Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children across the course of seven decades while a hierarchy of Catholic Church leaders covered it up. Since the report was released, hundreds more people have called Pennsylvania’s clergy abuse hotline.

I grew up in Pennsylvania. My kindergarten, my grade school, my high school, and the high school to which most of my friends matriculated are all represented on that list of predator priests. The bishop who confirmed me, James Timlin of the Diocese of Scranton, a man I …
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