Heimat Review released Issue 8: What I Wish You Knew today, and I am honored to be a part of this issue. My flash piece, “Our Collective Permanence,” is my first published work with a speculative/sci-fi bend.

“Our Collective Permanence” looks at memory, identity, community, shared trauma, and reliance on technology while windmills stir off-shore. As my grandmother’s memory deteriorated from Alzheimer’s over the past decade, I grappled with questions of identity and self-awareness in relation to memories. How important are memories in defining ourselves, and should we go out of our way to preserve those memories? Or should we trust a natural process that forces us to let go? While the piece does ponder innovation to address the problem, it is not intended to be anti-medical science, but instead leery of the artifice of technology—& maybe subscription services.