I’m officially seeking representation for my contemporary young adult novel Colorful, Ordinary, Existing.
Colorful, Ordinary, Existing is a coming-of-age adventure told by an anxious, self-admittedly neurotic eighteen-year-old navigating a summer in Camden Town—the punk, misfit borough of North London—amidst counter-culture and queerness, panic attacks and punk rock, relying only on the wisdom of his favorite artists, friends new and old, and his psychiatrist 4,000 miles away.
Colorful, Ordinary, Existing, complete at 78,000 words, is comparable to the musicality of The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley and the expat adventures of As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper. After my own pilgrimage through London’s finest dive bars, I earned my B.A. in English and a Bachelors of Journalism from the University of Missouri - Columbia. While I now work as a writer in advertising, I still carry the magically weird spirit of Camden Town within me.
Published in the poetry collection Life As It Happens.
"Cry Till We Laugh"
It’s funny how I kissed your face
And I can’t remember it
How I fell off the bar
And can feel the pain in my leg
Days, days
After
After I broke free
Free from the loneliness
The littleness
The only-gay-they-know-ness
But on the phone late at night
Miles, hours, cities away
You told me even if I never talked to them again
I’ll still have family in you
Because we have the unique privilege
To choose our own family
A privilege forged from reddened eyes
Slit wrists
And plagued bodies
But a privilege nonetheless
Because we made it one
And it’s funny how I kissed her face
Because I thought I was supposed to
And it’s funny how I kissed your face
Because I needed to breathe
Because I may have tasted like rum
And you may have tasted like a mystery
But your lips on mine felt like hope
Hope I never thought I’d have