The last few years have separated people, physically and mentally. This isolation has not been healthy. Human beings are social creatures. Even so, many people were lonely or isolated long before the pandemic. My writing, despite itself, constantly toys with experiences of isolation, be it a physical separation from others, or that sense we get of being alone in a crowd. Loneliness and isolation have been near constant partners in my life, to more or lesser degrees, so the fact I find them showing up in my writing shouldn’t really be a surprise.

Noticing thusly as I stare into the mirror, I decided to face isolation and loneliness directly, with a book of short stories orbiting these ideas, examining them from different angles like the facets of a cut diamond. My Crystals of Dead Lakes.