For works in progress and musings on identity, identity, embodiment, and the magic of creativity in the process of healing, see my blog.
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
“Lessons I Learned From My French Grandmother’s Woods” The Ethel from AARP, Fall 2021
- “As a child, I loved Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and they made perfect sense. After all, my grandma lived in a little château in France. To visit her I crossed some woods, called La Garenne, and then trekked to the ancient farmhouse where I spent weekends. From grandeur to green darkness, La Garenne was the transitional space after the light and noise of the family living room…”
“The Shock of Self Love,” Memoir Magazine, Fall 2021
- “I pay attention to her and we keep talking, but a tiny part of my brain looks inward. I have a belly, yes, but in that moment my main experience is one of profound comfort. Sitting, feeling relaxed, underneath my comfort I notice joy. Surprising to note the years of battles are behind me, replaced by love.”
“Epic Love Story,” 10:30 Midsummer Night, Fall 2020
- “How and why my grandparents came to be married is the mystery at the heart of my American family. Some facts are established, but key details are missing from the sketch like a body without a face. I assume this is normal of all family stories: every relative has sometimes contradictory information and theories.”
“Eulogy,” Beyond Words, Fall 2020 (narrative poem)
“My father died three days after my birthday.
His earthly body was done for—a glance would have told you…
It was hard to see him clearly, through the fog that surrounded him: one part tobacco smoke,
One part delirium and decay.
The joyful moments: The unbelievable sweetness he held within
That he would share, like heaps of colossal riches,
If the desire struck.”
“I Choose My Husband Again and Again, Despite Our Childlessness,” MotherShould?, Fall 2016
Mother Should is now defunct, so here is a PDF.
- “In June, I went sea kayaking in a bio-luminescent bay in Puerto Rico with my husband. We shared a two-seater kayak: he sat in the front of the boat and I sat in the back. There were other couples in other boats. As the sun set, we navigated the mangrove in the near total dark guided by the tiny amber lights at the sterns and bows, marking our group of boats. This seemed like the ultimate metaphor for marriage—navigating by faith, in the dark, with partial information, but with the support of a chosen companion.”
“Invoking the I,” Forge Journal, Summer 2012
- “When you started writing, everything was in the second person. You lived in a faceless world with generic people. Trying to describe something, it would inevitably fall out in a tumble of You’s. When you were clinically depressed, when you were in love, when you had moved cross-country: when you tried to write your stories, but were invisible in them. This went on for years. You had no awareness of the situation; you comfortably fell to the back of the frame. A writing teacher had to tell you about your curious habit, and it seemed so strange, you were an I every day, so why did you become a You when you wrote?”
“The Baby,” Philadelphia Stories, Spring 2010
- “As I turn 38 and keep stocking drawers full of dreams and half-completed projects, I’m pushing forward with one big initiative: I’m having an imaginary baby. Why not? My friend Laura and I share imaginary cocktails via instant messenger at work. I talk to my guardian angel a lot (if shadows are angels). I sometimes comfort myself with the idea of alternate universes where I’m adored and published, or in prison, maybe all of these.”
FICTION
“Rosamond Wakes,” FRiGG Issue 36, Spring 2012
- “At her first birthday banquet, Rosamonde was cursed to death by one fairy and then, in another fairy’s attempt to counter the magic, Rosemonde was condemned to sleep a hundred years if she touched a spindle. When Rosamonde turned sixteen, the curse came true in its own form. Rosamonde appeared asleep, her body lying on silken covers in a room deep in her father’s castle. But instead of sleeping, she was cast into knowledge. She saw through others’ eyes, feeling what they felt, thinking what they thought, always knowing herself as a helpless observer.”
“The Woods,” Quail Bell Magazine, September 2011
- “When the battle-hardened warrior we ironically call Little Red Riding Hood speaks to me, I have to notice–I’ve been lied to. She is really tall and slightly menacing, sword at her side. She slouches and leans sideways to talk, but as soon as she’s not dealing with peers, superiors, or press like me, she stands straight and has that determined, efficient walk found in athletes and trained soldiers.”
LITERARY CRITIQUE
“The Cheater’s Guide to Loneliness,” The Cheater’s Guide to Loneliness, November 2012
- “As a story, “The Cheater’s Guide to Love” isn’t memorable for Yunior’s separation from his fiancée. In fact, the story is neither particularly about cheating, nor about love—it’s about Yunior’s struggle with loss and his attempt to find a way to integrate the unending echoes of his past. What’s beautiful about this momentous existential struggle is that the crux of it remains mostly unacknowledged by our narrator. But the greatest trick Junot Diaz plays as an author is slowly morphing the reader’s point of view into the mindset of the departed fiancée.”
SOCIAL WORK ARTICLES
“Client Suicidality and the New Social Worker,” PSCSW Newsletter, Fall 2015
- Resources and approaches to managing suicide risk at the beginning of the social work career.
“Working with the Medical Team during the Transplant Journey,” Gift of Life Family House Newsletter, Fall 2014
- Tips on collaborating with the medical team before, during and after transplant surgery.
“Asking for Help,” Gift of Life Family House Newsletter, Summer 2014
- Tips on seeking out the help you need as caregiver and patient navigate the transplant journey.
“Journaling for Emotional Health,” Gift of Life Family House Newsletter, Spring 2014
- Using journaling to take time care for yourself if you’re the caregiver for a transplant candidate or recipient.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ARTICLES
“Why Do Entrepreneurs Get MBAs?” Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog, June 8, 2012
- “It’s a perennial question – if you’re an entrepreneur, why would you get an MBA? After all, MBAs take time and money, so what does an education add to the entrepreneurial success equation? Here in our Venture Initiation Program (VIP), we have a suite full of students (about 50 of them from all over the university) who think that their years at Penn provide the best possible opportunity to network, learn, develop leadership, and invent and launch a new business concept.”
“The Difficulty of Harvesting Seed (Capital),” Wharton Magazine, August 10, 2012
- “Student entrepreneurs face specific hurdles particular to their dual status (as company founders and full-time students) when it comes to raising seed capital for their startups. Here are some reflections from several Wharton graduate students/recent alums, Samir Malik, founder of 1DocWay and dual degree MBA and Master of Biotechnology, Steve Lau, co-founder of Cloudable.me and Wharton MBA, and Austin Neudecker, Wharton MBA.”