SELECTED WORK
Writing
I write across forms—fiction, journalism, interpretive work and institutional storytelling—but the work always begins with curiosity, questions, and the search for meaning inside complex subjects.
fiction
American Gothic Mystery
LEVIATHAN
A cultural-heritage interpreter undergoing cancer treatment is drawn into the decaying world of a Florida roadside attraction, where ambush predators, buried history and an appetite for spectacle threaten the park and the people trying to save it.
Leviathan traces the line between stewardship and exploitation
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
BURIED IN THE BACK OF BEYOND
A forensic wildlife scientist and a game warden’s estranged son are drawn together in Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom, where danger drives them into untouched wilderness and their survival depends on how well they work together—and how quickly they learn to trust.
Buried in the Back of Beyond asks where we belong and who we choose to stand beside.
American Gothic Mystery
GRAVEDIGGER’S BALL
To find her missing grandfather, antiques restorationist Samantha Gideon returns to the haunted Mississippi River village she once loved and embraces a cursed gift she left behind—the ability to see the traumatic past of ancient objects.
Gravedigger’s Ball explores what the dead leave behind and what the living choose to bury.
JOURNALISM & ESSAYS
THE SOUTHWESTERN · MAY 2025
Living History
Cross a threshold into the past at Carlinville’s J.C. Anderson House
Volunteers preserve an 1883 mansion and the local history at home inside it.
READ STORY →
THE SOUTHWESTERN · MAY 2022
Plugging Into Yesterday
EVs are poised to offer the historic Route 66 commerce corridor an economic push.
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THE SOUTHWESTERN · JUNE 2022
A Bird in the Band
Hummingbird festivals reveal the science, ritual and wonder of bird banding in Southwestern Illinois.
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THE SOUTHWESTERN · MARCH 2023
End Note
A failed attempt to photograph eagles becomes a lesson in seeing small miracles readily within reach.
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THE SOUTHWESTERN · NOVEMBER 2025
Autumn Is Ever in Season
A roadside market in Calhoun County becomes a meditation on color, stillness and finding a place that quiets the noise.
READ STORY →
Selected articles reproduced courtesy Southwestern Electric Cooperative
INSTITUTIONAL STORYTELLING
20+ YEARS · ANNUAL REPORTS & EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Translating Complexity Into Clarity
Editorial Strategy · Executive-Message Development · Writing & Editing · Content Architecture · Publication Coordination
CHALLENGE
Explain a rapidly changing energy landscape—including legislation, rate restructuring, resource planning, new technology and power-supply pressures—to a diverse membership without sacrificing accuracy, context or trust. The 2025 report had to make subjects such as CEJA, MISO capacity costs, integrated resource planning and rate design understandable to our members.
WORK
Developed Board President and CEO communications, structured the leadership report as an extended Q&A, shaped the publication’s editorial narrative, and translated technical, policy and operational material into clear member-facing language. The resulting conversation ranged across legislation, rates, resource planning, meter deployment, easements and the cooperative’s evolving energy portfolio.
RESULT
A cohesive annual report that gave more than 24,000 members a clear view of the forces affecting their cooperative, the decisions leadership was making and what those changes would mean for them.
VIEW ANNUAL REPORT SAMPLE →
CULTURE · PUBLIC EDUCATION · SAFETY COMMUNICATION
Building Cooperative Safety Culture
Public Education · Culture & Values · Executive-Message Development · Community Engagement · Event Storytelling
CHALLENGE
Show how safety culture is built through trust, mutual responsibility and the promise that everyone gets home safely.
WORK
Developed the editorial framing, interviewed leadership and event organizers, documented the event in words and photography, and translated technical demonstrations into a human story about education, culture and community.
RESULT
A feature that made co-op safety culture visible: connecting employees, families, first responders and community partners around a message that was practical, emotional and easy to understand.
VIEW SAFETY DAY FEATURE →
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT · EMPLOYER BRAND
Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today
HR Partnership · Employer Brand · Recruitment Strategy · Institutional Storytelling
A recruitment challenge became a story about relationships, culture and long-term talent development, demonstrating Southwestern Electric Cooperative’s shift from reactive hiring to proactive employer branding.
READ WORKFORCE FEATURE →
INNOVATION · ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Troy Story
Strategic Messaging · Economic Development · Stakeholder Partnerships · Campaign Development
An EV infrastructure project became a broader communications effort linking new technology, community partnership and local commerce—including the “Recharge in Troy” campaign developed around the charging-station rollout.
READ TROY STORY →