Faith. Family. Friends. Fun.
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POETRY
My debut collection of poetry, NO SAMARITAN, was published in April 2016 by Tebot Bach a non-profit poetry press that among other things provides therapeutic poetry workshops to the homeless, battered, and war-ravaged. The book can be ordered by clicking here. A selection of poems included in the book can be viewed by clicking the Poems tab above. Thank you for your support - I really appreciate it.
NON-FICTION
I'm currently pursuing publication of a non-fiction account of a pilgrimage I made to the Holy Land a few years ago. IS THIS MAN MY BROTHER? describes some of the most sacred shrines in all of Christianity from a perspective never before published – through the eyes of an Irish-English everyman Catholic with a poetic sensibility and a dry sense of humor, waging a daily internal war to be less judgmental and more like Jesus. Decidedly non-preachy, and infused with admiration for the inner beauty and strength of women, readers feel the narrator’s restlessness, share his thoughts and humor, and sense things unfolding over 11 days in late-February/early-March, as if beyond his control. The narrator travels with his wife, her Mexican-American parents, a very Catholic Dutch couple who own a Catholic gift shop, a know-it-all Chechnyan schoolteacher married to a avid Mexican cyclist, two young Brazilians learning to be Tour Guides, some Americans, a priest dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and 30 Filipinos – always wishing he had more time to feel the presence of Jesus before being herded on to the next destination. Readers are transported to one of the most fascinating places in the world to experience the unexpected beauty of Israel; the ubiquitous hawkers and noise; a pre-dawn re-enactment of the Way of the Cross; a night-time lovers’ tiptoe across the rooftops of the Walled City of Old Jerusalem; and the narrator’s impromptu solitary afternoon odyssey through the Arab district of Jerusalem, where, searching for a way to move beyond the anger he still feels about 9/11, he receives a gift he never could have imagined - an Arab car mechanic poses for an impromptu photograph that places the narrator in such a state of euphoria he momentarily floats outside of himself and later comes to believe he was in the presence of the spirit of his long-deceased younger brother.
I've written the book to be accessible to believers and non-believers, male and female, young and old, and American and non-American readers alike. This story is not just for Catholics who wouldn’t dream of reading a religious book, it’s a story for anyone struggling to find a more loving heart.
FICTION
I've also completed a novel called THE BLACK SEA, which is about a small town No Cal journalist dealing with minor PST after an ill-fated, out-of-his-depth attempt at war reporting in Iraq; a Bulgarian girl with a penchant for drawing and hopes of a career in fashion vacationing in L.A. as a reward for doing well at college in Bulgaria; and an English ex-professional goalkeeper working as a coach for the L.A. Galaxy trying to keep his marriage together. The three storylines converge when the girl enters the Irish pub the two men work at part-time. Set in Long Beach, California in 2007, the story touches on the difficulties of recovery from trauma, finding a soul mate, holding on to the soul mate you thought you had; and what happens when a US Marine on leave from active duty struggling to feed his young son after his wife abandons them, and dealing with the Corp's unwillingness to accept his claim for PST benefits, "mugs" the journalist and manipulates him into appearing on a local cable TV news program with startling results. It's a story about beginnings. The beginning of a romance. The beginning of the end of a romance. The beginning of a recovery. The beginning of a descent. The beginning of a friendship. And the beginning of the end of a friendship. As with everything worth writing about, at the heart of it all is love. In all its disguises.
SHORT STORIES
My short stories are about love, too, in one way or another.
Sláinte.
POETRY
My debut collection of poetry, NO SAMARITAN, was published in April 2016 by Tebot Bach a non-profit poetry press that among other things provides therapeutic poetry workshops to the homeless, battered, and war-ravaged. The book can be ordered by clicking here. A selection of poems included in the book can be viewed by clicking the Poems tab above. Thank you for your support - I really appreciate it.
NON-FICTION
I'm currently pursuing publication of a non-fiction account of a pilgrimage I made to the Holy Land a few years ago. IS THIS MAN MY BROTHER? describes some of the most sacred shrines in all of Christianity from a perspective never before published – through the eyes of an Irish-English everyman Catholic with a poetic sensibility and a dry sense of humor, waging a daily internal war to be less judgmental and more like Jesus. Decidedly non-preachy, and infused with admiration for the inner beauty and strength of women, readers feel the narrator’s restlessness, share his thoughts and humor, and sense things unfolding over 11 days in late-February/early-March, as if beyond his control. The narrator travels with his wife, her Mexican-American parents, a very Catholic Dutch couple who own a Catholic gift shop, a know-it-all Chechnyan schoolteacher married to a avid Mexican cyclist, two young Brazilians learning to be Tour Guides, some Americans, a priest dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and 30 Filipinos – always wishing he had more time to feel the presence of Jesus before being herded on to the next destination. Readers are transported to one of the most fascinating places in the world to experience the unexpected beauty of Israel; the ubiquitous hawkers and noise; a pre-dawn re-enactment of the Way of the Cross; a night-time lovers’ tiptoe across the rooftops of the Walled City of Old Jerusalem; and the narrator’s impromptu solitary afternoon odyssey through the Arab district of Jerusalem, where, searching for a way to move beyond the anger he still feels about 9/11, he receives a gift he never could have imagined - an Arab car mechanic poses for an impromptu photograph that places the narrator in such a state of euphoria he momentarily floats outside of himself and later comes to believe he was in the presence of the spirit of his long-deceased younger brother.
I've written the book to be accessible to believers and non-believers, male and female, young and old, and American and non-American readers alike. This story is not just for Catholics who wouldn’t dream of reading a religious book, it’s a story for anyone struggling to find a more loving heart.
FICTION
I've also completed a novel called THE BLACK SEA, which is about a small town No Cal journalist dealing with minor PST after an ill-fated, out-of-his-depth attempt at war reporting in Iraq; a Bulgarian girl with a penchant for drawing and hopes of a career in fashion vacationing in L.A. as a reward for doing well at college in Bulgaria; and an English ex-professional goalkeeper working as a coach for the L.A. Galaxy trying to keep his marriage together. The three storylines converge when the girl enters the Irish pub the two men work at part-time. Set in Long Beach, California in 2007, the story touches on the difficulties of recovery from trauma, finding a soul mate, holding on to the soul mate you thought you had; and what happens when a US Marine on leave from active duty struggling to feed his young son after his wife abandons them, and dealing with the Corp's unwillingness to accept his claim for PST benefits, "mugs" the journalist and manipulates him into appearing on a local cable TV news program with startling results. It's a story about beginnings. The beginning of a romance. The beginning of the end of a romance. The beginning of a recovery. The beginning of a descent. The beginning of a friendship. And the beginning of the end of a friendship. As with everything worth writing about, at the heart of it all is love. In all its disguises.
SHORT STORIES
My short stories are about love, too, in one way or another.
Sláinte.
Me My car in London Sea of Galilee, 7 AM