Previous Works/Juvenilia

Title: Janine and the Jedbeast
Year Completed: 1995
My age at the time of writing: 15
Begun: May 1995 Finished: August 1995
Page Count: 160 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Description: This was the first book in my "Magic Fantasy Trilogy," and the first book I wrote out by hand on folded up sheets of paper. It was heavily inspired (that is, ripped-off) by the Super Nintendo video game Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan). It was also very much inspired by Star Wars. (Note: the front cover of this book is currently missing). The plot revolves around an epic war being raged between the cruel Empire and the freedom-loving Crusader rebel alliance, and how magical creatures named Jedbeasts influence the course of this struggle.
Opening Sentence: "Lightning purpled the clouds above the mountains of Marshe."
Concluding Sentence: "So do I, kid, so do I," sighed Ray.


Title: Rise of the Empire
Year Completed: 1995
My age at the time of writing: 15
Begun: Late August 1995 Finished: November 1995?
Page Count: 128 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Description: This was the second book in my "Magic Fantasy Trilogy," and the second book I wrote out by hand on folded up sheets of paper.
Opening Sentence: "Here we are," said Ray calmly. "Monarch Castle."
Concluding Sentence: "To the people of Magic Earth!"


Title: War in Magic Earth
Year Completed: 1996
My age at the time of writing: 15
Begun: November 1995 Finished: January 1996
Page Count: 260 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Description: This was the third and final book in my "Magic Fantasy Trilogy," and the third book I wrote out by hand on folded up sheets of paper. This book also had a strong Star Wars influence in that it featured a weapon of war known as the "Doom Star." (Note: the front cover of this book is currently missing).
Opening Sentence: "As far as most things went, it was a beautiful morning, especially as Jonathan Crane saw it."
Concluding Sentence: "Then she let the wind blow through her hair."


Title: Bullet Games
Year Completed: 1996
My age at the time of writing: 16
Begun: August 1996 Finished: August 1996
Page Count: 280 pages
Genre: Sports Thriller
Description: With "Bullet Games" I decided to set fantasy aside and focus on reality, or what passed for my own twisted notion of it when I was 16. The plot revolves around the 1993-1994 season of the basketball team known as the Washington Bullets, and their struggle to win the championship that season, while fending off attacks carried out by the Irish Republican Army and the insane GM of the Boston Celtics. This book was heavily inspired by the novels of Tom Clancy, who I was reading at the time, especially Patriot Games (which inspired my own title) and Debt of Honor.
Opening Sentence: "It was a cold night at the palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan."
Concluding Sentence: "Then he smiled."


Title: The Hornet Queen
Year Completed: 1997
My age at the time of writing: 17
Begun: July 1997 Finished: August 1997
Page Count: 312 Pages
Genre: Sports Thriller
Description: A sort of follow-up (though not a sequel) to my previous basketball novel. This one follows the 1996-1997 season of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team. When the team bus explodes in a freak accident a few days before the start of the season, the Hornets have to quickly rebuild their team, and they make history by hiring the NBA's first female coach. With this book I tried hard to focus on characterization, and it was my first book to feature both profanity and sex (both heterosexual and homosexual). It was inspired by the novels of John Grisham and by the Pulp Fiction screenplay, though I didn't actually watch the film itself until a few months after the book was completed. Out of all my early works, this one is one of my favorites. (Note: the front cover of this book is currently missing).
Opening Sentence: "Muggsy Bogues sat on the sidewalks of Charlotte, head in his hands."
Concluding Sentence: "She fell asleep, and she smiled."


Title: Arthouse
Year Completed: 1998
My age at the time of writing: 17
Begun: November 1997 Finished: March 1998
Page Count: 270 Pages
Genre: Erotica
Description: This book, which I started shortly after the completion of The Hornet Queen, is probably my favorite of all the books I wrote while in high school (and this was the final book I wrote as a high school student). Essentially a character study, it had almost no plot and consisted of meandering, naturalistic dialogue and endless pop culture references. The "story" revolves around suicidal artist Iris Brant and her small circle of slacker friends, and how Iris realizes she's a lesbian upon falling in love with her model, Xenia Maijenski (who I imagined to look like Lucy Lawless, who I had the hots for at the time). This book also featured a lot of "erotic" sex scenes.
Opening Sentence: "Iris Brant lived in Providence, Rhode Island."
Concluding Sentence: "Iris pushed it open, and the two women walked out into the morning light, walked out to a new life."


Title: Season of the Butterfly
Year Completed: 1998
My age at the time of writing: 18
Begun: August 1998 Finished: September 1998
Page Count: 282 pages
Genre: Surrealism
Description: This very strange book was a sort of bizarre tribute to the films of the Coen Brothers, and also the first book I wrote as a college freshman. The "plot" revolves around a basketball team that hires a fixer to rig their games, and all the weird things that happen to them that season. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and it's kind of silly. I hated this book at the time I completed it but in hindsight it has a kind of quirky and offbeat surrealistic charm that sets it apart from my early works. (Note: the front cover of this book is currently missing).
Opening Sentence: "The Target Center was home to the Minnesota Timberwolves."
Concluding Sentence: "She rested her head on Dinah's shoulder as she looked out the window... and the sun was bright, the birds chirped, and the butterflies flew through the flowers..."


Title: Twist
Year Completed: 1999
My age at the time of writing: 18
Begun: February 1999 Finished: March 1999
Page Count: 230 pages
Genre: Noir
Description: A very concise book that I wrote during my Freshman year at college in a period of 13 days. It was inspired by the Coen Brothers film Blood Simple and also by Scott Smith's novel A Simple Plan. It's probably the most tightly-plotted thing I've ever written. The plot revolves around 3 corrupt cops, a double-crossing private eye, and four million dollars in illegal drug money. Naturally, by the end almost everyone is dead. The front cover art is a direct copy of the cover art of the Bauhaus Swing the Heartache: The BBC Sessions CD.
Opening Sentence: "The police station in Green Springs, Ohio had a single spiral staircase that twisted up to the top floor like a corkscrew."
Concluding Sentence: "Deep in her heart, Melissa still felt like a decent human being..."


Title: Red Cherry
Year Completed: 1999
My age at the time of writing: 19
Begun: August 1999 Finished: September 1999
Page Count: 360 pages
Genre: Serial Killer/Police Procedural
Description: This book was inspired by the novels of Thomas Harris and the film Se7en, and it was written prior to the start of my Sophomore year at college. I spent about three months researching it beforehand, and included a three page bibliography at the end. It's probably the most conventional book I've ever written. The book takes place in Boston and revolves around a serial killer named the Photographer, who kidnaps supermodels, kills them, then takes photographs of their dead bodies. It's up to a lesbian homicide detective named Marsha Garland to stop him. The front cover art was inspired by the work of Francis Bacon.
Opening Sentence: "A small apartment in Boston's Back Bay District, located on the fourth floor of an apartment house on Massachusetts Avenue."
Concluding Sentence:"And in a world as bleak as ours, that's quite an accomplishment."


Title: Illuminated Shadows
Year Completed: 2000
My age at the time of writing: 20
Begun: July 2000 Finished: October 2000
Page Count: 316 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Description: the first book in the "Trinity Trilogy" and the last book I wrote out by hand... also the final novel I wrote during my college years. It was inspired by goth and industrial music (especially Nine Inch Nails), Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic, the novels of Poppy Z. Brite, and the Thief computer game series. Recently I've begun work on the long-delayed sequel, to be titled The Marble Index.
Opening Sentence: "Night falls on the city of Zone like an inky black curtain encrusted with stars."
Concluding Sentence: "A shadow fell over Oment's face."


Title: PunkModernist
Year Completed: 2004
My age at the time of writing: 23
Begun: Spring 2003 Finished: March 2004
Page Count: 391 pages
Genre: Occult Thriller
Description: This book started out as a 23 page short story entitled "The Supermarket" that I wrote for an advanced creative writing class during my final semester at Rhode Island College. After graduating I started expanding on it and it eventually became a giant novel, that to date is still the longest book I've ever written. The story concerns a disgruntled supermarket employee named Susan Curtis, who gets initiated into a secret society of bizarre terrorists known as the PunkModernists. She finds out that the governments of the world are controlled by a reptilian conspiracy, and soon finds herself battling alien lizards, Gnostic archons, pretentious vampires, and the President of the United States, as she struggles to discover the secrets of reality itself. The book was a homage to the comic books of Grant Morrison, Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! trilogy, and the wacko conspiracy theories of David Icke. This was the first book I ever typed out using a computer.
Opening Sentence: "Reality Bites. That's my first motto. My second motto is 'Fuck You.'"
Concluding Sentence: CLASSIFIED


Title: Confusion
Year Completed: 2006
My age at the time of writing: 25-26
Begun: April 2005 Finished: July 2006
Page Count: 302 pages
Genre: 80's Historical Fiction
Description: Confusion was the second novel I've ever typed out on computer, and I liked it enough to self-publish it through iUniverse in 2006. A homage to the novels of Bret Easton Ellis (who I was obsessed with at the time), the main character is pretty much the decade of the 1980's as a whole and my thoughts on it. The story revolves around the existential angst of ultra-materialistic gay pop star Sypha Nadon, and all of the odd people and adventures he experiences while living in Miami from 1985 to 1986. I think it's probably my funniest book, and while it has many flaws (including a lot of typos I wish I could have caught), I quite enjoyed writing this book. I'd love to get it published for real one day, in an edition where I could fix some of these flaws. The front cover art was done by Grant Cook.
Opening Sentence: "This is a journey..."
Concluding Sentence: "I don't care."