Anatomy of Loss contains a foreword, which discusses the place of autobiography in fiction, and five original short stories.

This collection of short stories explores the depths of human emotions as seemingly unrelated characters in an Indiana community react to tragedies, including death, divorce, abuse, financial struggles, and assault. Each character experiences intense isolation and hopelessness, and some question the presence of a God who would allow such suffering. Not only are the protagonists' stories unique, but the characters themselves are diverse, encompassing different ages, genders, races, and class levels. Each story is linked by a cause-and-effect in which one person's reaction to grief creates tragedy in someone else's life. Therefore, the protagonist of one story becomes the antagonist of the next, and readers get a glimpse into both sides of the conflict. This chain reaction continues until the final story, in which the protagonist chooses to deal with his grief through faith and forgiveness, offering his attacker redemption and exemplifying the depth of God's love. / Portrait of Jesus (1988) -- The deep end (2003) -- Wrongful death (2005) -- Double shift (2006) -- The fight (2006) -- The path (2006) / Department of English

Real Witness is a collection of poems exploring responses to loss--loss of youth, of health, of an envisioned future--particularly when loss challenges faith or foundational beliefs, or when responses seem at odds with one's beliefs. Poems push against pat or prescribed responses and look for more honest alternatives.

August Diamond is left lost after the sudden death of her father. The stories in Dance Lessons explore the themes of loss and grief, retreat and return, and finding your true self. The collection is a novel in stories, each story exposing another layer of August's past, her family, and their complicated relationships.

Serving as an unfortunate benchmark for the twenty-first century, 9/11 has completely altered society’s perceptions of personal safety, security and social identity, along with provoking intense emotional reactions. One outlet for these resulting emotions has been through art and literature. Five years have since passed and contemporary authors are still struggling to accurately represent that tragic day and its consequent impression. This paper provides an analysis of how the events of 9/11 have been incorporated into adult fiction. Variations of themes related to psychology, interpersonal relationships, political and social perspectives, and heroism were found to be used most frequently among authors.