Read my new short story and come hear me read at the Columbus Arts Festival!
June is shaping up to be an exciting month! I’ve got two fun updates for you.
1) I’ve got a new short story up at Exposition Review!
Last summer, one of my best friends and fellow writers, Harmony Cox, and I decided to go on a weeklong road trip through Appalachian Ohio. Throughout the trip, I couldn’t help wondering what it would’ve been like if Harmony and I had grown up together in one of the towns we visited along the way.
Though heavily fictionalized, I wrote a short story called “Holler General” inspired by the experience. It’s an ode to small-town summers, best friends, and queer chosen family. It’s especially ideal that it was published during Pride month because the story combats several stereotypes about queer stories. There’s no coming out story, there’s no bullying, and the small town isn’t hell just because a character is queer. This seems like basic stuff, but those are all tired old tropes that I’m tired of reading in queer stories.
2) I’m going to be reading from my forthcoming book, Midwest Shreds: Skaters and Skateparks in Middle America, at the Columbus Arts Festival on June 11th!
The Columbus Arts Festival is one of the best parts of summer in the city and I’ve sorely missed it during the pandemic years. One of the reasons I love Columbus Arts Fest is that it highlights as many mediums of art as possible, including the written word. There’s a whole stage dedicated to writers who come to read their work.
So on Saturday, June 11th, from 4-5pm ET, you can hear me reading an excerpt from Midwest Shreds on the Word Is Art stage at the Columbus Arts Festival! I’ll be there with fellow writer-skaters Jonathan Russell Clark, who has a skateboard book coming out this fall; Andrew Miller, who gave me my first skateboard wheels; Samantha Tucker, who has a roller derby book coming out; and Brittany Moseley, who is a freelance writer for magazines and copywriter whom I skate with regularly.
If you’re in Columbus this weekend, come out and see us! You can find more info on the festival website.
I appreciate any and all support. I’ll be back with your regularly scheduled programming next week. :)
