Though my nonfiction began as an outlet to cope with a personal tragedy and to analyze my familial relationships . . .
I must say, I discovered a talent for it. This is some of the best prose I’ve ever written, but it’s also highly personal, and I’ve decided it would be a betrayal of privacy if I were to share it on a public site. Instead, these pieces may be made available upon request for interested readers, but otherwise they will remain private.
“Maybe that’s just what anger is: sadness lit on fire.”
Awarded the 2020 Toby Thompson Prize in Literary Nonfiction, “The Cracks in the Dream” explores themes of anger, guilt, and shame as it tells the story of my relationship with my brother Patrick in the aftermath of our stepfather’s death.
“Where would we be if our mothers were there to protect us always? We would never leave.”
A continuation of the nonfiction series centered around my stepfather’s passing, “The Heart-Shaped Hole in Things” shifts its focus to my mother, her history, and our interactions following the death of her husband John.
“Conflict has ways of making itself the lowest common denominator, dragging every side into the whirlpool it creates.”
“The Other Father” focuses on the contentious dynamic between my mother’s half of the family and my father’s, and the conflicts and bitterness that divorce can create when it splits a family. A story of spite, divided loyalties, and above all, misunderstanding.
“And, just as in the myth, there was a sense of tightness running through the halls of the Hendrick house, like someone had taken the magical ball of yarn and pulled its strings taut.”
A departure from my other nonfiction, though exploring similar themes of loss, familial tension, and sickness, “The Hendrick House” focuses on the Hendrick family and their rickety, labyrinthine manor as they deal with the newfound knowledge of their mother’s resurgent brain cancer.
Mike's Writing Portfolio 