I conduct scholarly research and publish book chapters and articles on topics related to American literature, composition and rhetoric, popular culture, and sports. I am also an active creative writer. This page includes some examples of my most significant and/or most recent publications. Check out the bottom of the page for a free full-text, digital copy of Dreaming in Wildflowers.
The Literary Legacy of the Kennedy Assassination: True Crime Tragedy (Routledge, 2026)
The Literary Legacy of the Kennedy Assassination: True Crime Tragedy, is the first book-length scholarly study of literary representations of the 1963 JFK assassination in Dallas. Inspired by years of study and firsthand research in Dallas, the book discusses the assassination as a keystone event in ongoing theorizations of the true crime genre. The book also analyzes John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald as literary characters; literary symbolism and Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink suit; the assassination in poetry, songs, and graphic novels; Dealey Plaza as a literary artifact; and other topics. Available now in hardcover and e-book from Routledge and via Kindle on Amazon. Paperbacks coming in 2027!
Iconic Sports Venues: Persuasion in Public Spaces (Peter Lang, 2017)
co-edited with Mark E. Huglen
Iconic Sports Venues: Persuasion in Public Spaces (Peter Lang, 2017) includes a collection of scholarly essays from various disciplinary perspectives. Each essay addresses an “iconic sports venue,” analyzing how the venue functions rhetorically. Venues addressed include Madison Square Garden, Augusta National Golf Course, the Superdome, the “wrestling ring,” the World’s Only Corn Palace, and others. This book is available in various formats via Amazon.
“Intro to Creative Writing,” nonfiction essay, included in The Best of Brevity (2020)
“Intro to Creative Writing” is a flash nonfiction essay originally published by Brevity in September 2010. It has since been anthologized in Flash Nonfiction Funny (Rose Metal Press, 2018) and The Best of Brevity (Rose Metal Press, 2020).
“Depictions of American Indians in George Armstrong Custer’s My Life on the Plains” (Humanities 8.1, 2019)
Many of my scholarly projects are grounded in my personal and professional connections to the Northern Plains. This scholarly article, published in a special issue of Humanities, analyzes representations of American Indians in George Armstrong Custer’s autobiography My Life on the Plains, or, Personal Experiences with Indians (1874). The complete article is available via the online issue of Humanities.
“A Mass Grave and a Massacre: Remembrances of Death at Wounded Knee, South Dakota” (in Olsen and Korstanje, 2020)
Dark tourism is a field of study focused on sites known for death, violence, or otherwise traumatic historical events. This edited collection by Daniel H. Olsen and Maximiliano E. Korstanje includes scholarly chapters analyzing various dark tourism sites. My chapter focuses on remembrances of death at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Western South Dakota is known for tourism, and this chapter explores the complex implications of tourism at Wounded Knee. The chapter also analyzes the rhetorical dimensions of the Wounded Knee mass gravesite and Memorial.
*Used above: Photo of Wounded Knee cemetery accessed via Wikimedia Commons.
Dreaming in Wildflowers Botanical Chapbooks, Paper Coneflower Books, 2026
The Dreaming in Wildflowers botanical chapbooks published by Paper Coneflower Books are authored, illustrated, designed, and assembled by me. Issue 1, “Wild Violets,” includes my original short story “Blue Violet” along with haiku, nonfiction writing, artwork, and photography. Issue 2, “Orchids,” includes my short story “Slippers on the Moon.” A free digital copy of “Wild Violets” is available below via PDF download!