And Banjo was his name-o.

Just a quick note to celebrate that I’m being published again this year. My short story, “Banjo,” was included as a finalist in the 2023 Saints + Sinners Literary Festival Short Fiction Contest, and will be published later this year in an anthology with 19 other authors.

“Banjo” is a story about grief. It centers on Arturo, a gay man whose husband Ben died suddenly from a brain injury. Ben’s childhood nickname was “Banjo,” and so it was a bit of a shock for Arturo when he’s visiting a dog park near his home some weeks after Ben’s death and meets a border collie puppy with the same name: Banjo. The dog seems to know him, or at the very least wants to get closer to him. Could this be his husband, reincarnated? Is that crazy? Maybe so, but it’s also an opportunity for Arturo to say goodbye, something he never got a chance to do months ago.

I’ll note on this site when the 2023 Saints + Sinners Short Fiction Anthology is published, along with a link to purchase it. Other authors in the collection include (alphabetically): Jamey Baumgardt (Poulsbo, WA⁠), Ariadne Blayde (New Orleans, LA⁠), Powell Burke (Atlanta, GA⁠), Marco Carocari (Palm Springs, CA⁠), Anil Classen (Switzerland⁠), John Copenhaver (Richmond, VA⁠), J. Duncan Davidson (Seattle, WA⁠), Mary Fox (Epsom, England⁠), Philip Gambone (Boston, MA⁠), Spencer George (Durham, NC⁠), J.R. Greenwell, (Coxs Creek, KY⁠), Judith Katz (Minneapolis, MN⁠), Joshua Randal Leonard (New York, NY⁠), James McCoyne (New Orleans, LA⁠), Kendal McGinnis (Chicago, IL⁠), C.A. Munn, (New Orleans, LA⁠), Carrie Smith (New York, NY⁠), William Christy Smith (New Orleans, LA⁠), and John Whittier Treat (Seattle, WA).

For more information on this good looking bunch, click here.