My Works in Progress
HISTORICAL FICTION
Missing, Presumed Dead (screenplay & novel)
At 9:58am on Thursday, 19 February, 1942, the same Japanese task force that had perpetrated the attack on Pearl Harbor swept out of the clear morning sky to sneak attack Port Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Alex Stark, 19, a sailor aboard the USS Peary, finds himself in the middle of the attack against a people and a town and a land that have become as important to him, as much family, as the loved ones he's left behind in rural northern Virginia.
Mr. Washington's Spies (novel)
MAINSTREAM
The Cotton Gin (novel)
Two people aimless: Gerry, because his focus is far too narrow and bitter; Myja, because his focus is far too sweeping.
Dirty Windows (screenplay)
Three gay teenagers run away into the South Carolina woods and are stalked by one boy's father, leader of the KKK and self-proclaimed "soldier of God".
Down to the Sea (screenplay & novel)
Ted Rhobus, 22, totally alone in the world, decides to accept the dubious windfall of the inheritance of a fishing boat from a long-lost relative in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and leaves his native Omaha, Nebraska, hoping he'll finally find a ramp off of the highway of disappointment he's found himself on for a long time. Unfortunately, all that awaits him is a battering boyfriend, a descent into domestic violence, and the Halloween Gale (the infamous "Perfect Storm") of 1991.
From Baja to Barrow (novel)
After his time depicted in The Cotton Gin and before his new life depicted in Shooting Star, Myja thumbs his way from the Baja Peninsula to Barrow, Alaska, working odd jobs along the way, meeting his share of oddballs, and leaving more than one girl in more than one port. Unfortunately, his close encounter with his biological father, James, who rejects him, mars this adventure of a lifetime, and Myja spends many a night, staring at the ceiling or at the stars and feeling the rejection -- and its blow to his self-esteem and self-image -- gnaw at him.
The Funeral (novel)
Love, Marriages, & Baby Carriages (novel)
My wife, author Kate Shahan, and I have been co-authoring this multi-family saga for a couple of decades now. At the center of the story is the elderly couple, Berk and Jessie James, who have taken in many a human stray at their large Montana home, Fairwinds.
Shooting Star (screenplay & novel)
Myja Beecham, having graduated from Forrest College and satisfied his wanderlust in From Baja to Barrow, ventures to Vermont, where he decides to become a police officer. After his tour in the Vermont Police Academy, he goes to Milltavern Township, where he becomes their newest rookie and comes under the wing of the irascible Officer Carl Trussel, who puts the young police officer through his paces. It's all okay with Myja, though, especially since he's distracted by Carl's beautiful daughter.
MYSTERY
Crime in the Streets: A Luke Hastings, Crime Photographer, Mystery (screenplay & novel)
SCIENCE FICTION
Huracan (novel)
Taking the Lakderein (novella)
The Leb Testament (screenplay & novel)
The Party (novel)
Tears of the Thirds (screenplay)
The Test (screenplay & novel)
Logan Peterson, 20 years old and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, thinks he just might be losing his mind one day when Bashshar appears literally out of thin air, shoves him to the ground, and sternly orders him, "Leave it be, Peterson" then disappears back into that same thin air. Logan cannot even begin to imagine the path on which this encounter puts him, a path that leads him to the very fate not only of the human race but of the galaxy.
The Trench (novel)
The Vagabond Club (novel)
Who Collects the Collectors? (screenplay)
YOUNG ADULT
The Date (novel)
A high school boy learns a lot about himself and life on his first real date.
A New Day (novel)
An emotionally-stuck man can't rescue his self-destructive nephew or his bullheaded son until he at last takes the risk to rescue himself.
Rebel Cause (novel)
The Score (novel)
Episodes of the Journeys Young Men Take
Activity Bus #61 (screenplay & short story, mainstream)
A high school senior football star must decide if he has the real strength to survive the aftermath of a traumatic school bus accident.
Asher, James, Glenn & Gregg (screenplay & short story, mainstream)
A rash act of revenge tears at a band of college best friends, leaving one at the fork of two roads: hate and forgiveness.
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT)-themed story (short story, mainstream)
Dickie "Sully" Sullivan has suffered physical and psychological abuse at the hand of his father all his young life, and, now, at 15, he's turned into a sullen, hard-eyed, "look out for number one" bully. There is help, though, and Sully can reclaim the safe, happy childhood his father had no right to take from him.
Boots (screenplay & short story, mainstream)
Class Project (short story, young adult)
Chance Encounters (short story, mainstream)
A recent college grad, on the way to a great adventure, seeks out his biological father and doesn't get the reception he expected.
Colin and Jonathan's Picnic (short story, young adult)
Dancing Under a Buzzing Streetlamp (screenplay, stage play, LGBTQ+ coming-of-age)
Darkest Before the Dawn (screenplay, coming-of-age)
Filming Citizen Kane (short story, young adult)
A mentally-disturbed adolescent in high-school film class channels Charles Foster Kane with dire results.
Finding the Path (screenplay, mainstream)
A childless couple in their late middle age adopt a neglected, horrifically-abused, half-starved teenager off the mean streets of Detroit—and change his life forever.
Genie in a Bottle (story story, fanfiction)
Getting the Taxes Done (short story, mainstream)
Gramma Loves Mohawks (screenplay, mainstream)
Myja Beecham, 14, is at that awkward age. His solution? He dons costumes (one months, it's "Beat Generation Myja", the next month it's "Springsteen Myja", then it's "Mohawk Myja") in an attempt to find an identity that will finally allow him to feel at peace in his own skin. The problem? Dickie "Sully" Sullivan, who's been bullying him for years, because of his name, now because of how Myja's shot up.
Gwen Story (short story, mainstream)
A Language in Common (screenplay & short story, mainstream)
James and Charlie Gustafson, father and son, just have never known how to talk to each other, so, for twenty years, they mostly haven't. This strategy has worked, but, now that a revealed secret threatens to destroy their family, communication is the only thing that's going to save them.
Ya Gotta Break a Few Eggs... (short story, young adult)
A reckless teenager with an uncanny ability to heal endangers his buddy and infuriates his dad with a thoughtless stunt and must prove he can at last think of others.
A Pocketful of Change
On Martin's Lake (short story, mainstream)
A father tells his three sons some tragic news.
Table for Two (screenplay, mainstream)
A young American must overcome his lifelong insecurities in order to ask the hand of his British girlfriend.