I wrote my first practice novel, a thriller, in 1992. I gave the protagonist a job much like mine and two children much like my daughters. Then I sent her into the field to supervise an environmental cleanup where a body was found in a buried oil barrel. It’s not a terrible manuscript, and I think of it fondly.

My second practice novel was my 2007 MFA thesis. It isn’t terrible either. I may revisit this one.

Here are some of the short stories I’ve written along the way: