Street Smart

A failed screenwriter turned private detective has his life turned upside-down when he's talked into stealing MacGuffin, an unusual Tinseltown memento, from the home of one of Hollywood's most infamous directors. This odd piece of memorabilia has had a storied and deadly chain of custody since the silent era and is prized among some of Hollywood's elite. Along the way there is murder, a beautiful woman, and a colorful cast of characters all playing their roles in the theft. Set in present-day Baltimore, Stealing MacGuffin pays homage to the likes of Dashiell Hammett and the hard-boiled detective story, while at the same time spoofing Hollywood both past and present. Number four in the Street Smart Series of short fiction from Frayed Edge Press.

Middle-aged English professor Caroline Wilson has a good job and a good husband in Philadelphia, but a restless need for a change of scene and a little excitement has her impulsively boarding a commuter bus to New York one morning. A turn down a New York City alley unexpectedly plunges her into a world she never could have imagined, where young anarchists are battling against human traffickersand they need Caroline's help. Number 3 in the Street Smart Series of short fiction from Frayed Edge Press.

A Chicago family's lives are disrupted when two young brothers and their friend discover the body of a local store owner in a ditch. The children are so used to seeing violence in their neighborhood that they don't bother telling anyone. When their mother finds out, it sets in motion a plan to move the family to a safer neighborhood. Complications arise when their father loses his job and abandons them, leaving their mother to ensure the safety of the family on her own. #7 in the Street Smart Series of short fiction published by Frayed Edge Press.

The eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii tests Officer Jenny Freitas like nothing else in her young police career. It's not enough that she finds a murder victim in a doomed house just seconds before the lava overwhelms it. A second victim draws Jenny back to the danger zone again and again. Maybe the goddess Pele isn't satisfied with owning the islands. Maybe she, and the killer, want Jenny too. Number 5 in the Street Smart Series from Frayed Edge Press.

The trials and tribulations of an American anarchist abroad: an American ex-patriot leads a life that many would envy, living and working in Paris. But all is not well for him in the beautiful "city of lights"his French girlfriend has left him, he's fallen off the wagon after decades of sobriety, and a homeless cat is now tugging at his heartstrings. Number 2 in the Street Smart series published by Frayed Edge Press.

A homeless teen working nights cleaning movie theaters at a South Jersey cineplex forms an unlikely friendship with a former high-school classmate and his sister. Their relationshipas well as his relationship with his estranged fatherculminates with a chaotic uprising during a screening of an annoyingly ubiquitous summer blockbuster kids' movie. #6 in the Street Smart Series of short fiction from Frayed Edge Press.