Creative Writing and Cultural Criticism

FOIL: A Novel

A thwarted suicide bombing at New York’s Penn Station cracks open the lives of both the bomber and hero in this gripping exploration of fame in the age of social media, masculinity, and the destructive power of performative identities. PAPERBACK & EBOOK AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE MARCH 3, 2026. On the morning of his high school field…

GOSHI: Website Copy

Wrote and edited consumer-facing copy in support of GOSHI’s new website launch in 2022. GOSHI set out to create a daily exfoliating shower towel that’s intuitive to use, easy to wash, and 100% effective at fighting breakouts and other skin conditions.

Advancing Racial Equity in Public Education as the Central Grantmaking Focus

In January 2020, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation launched a bold new strategy: Advancing racial equity in education as the central focus of its grantmaking. For the past decade, the Foundation had championed “student-centered learning (SCL),” an approach that advances rigorous and engaging learning experiences attuned to students’ individual interests and needs. Providing all students with…

Book Review: THE LOVE FOOL

Alex has just moved to Rome, and is preoccupied. His temporary PR job and overbearing boss force him to adjust, quickly, to his new city’s customs. But more than the work, it’s love that unsettles him, a past relationship that comes back to haunt him. With his old flame Emily coming to visit, Alex broods…

The Secret History of Urban Outfitters

Five years ago, I was drifting through an Urban Outfitters store in Manhattan, searching for a pair of discounted winter gloves, when a table of books caught my eye: A wood tabletop, ten stacks across and three high. As someone who considered himself to have literary interests, but unaware that the chain sold books, I…

White-Canvas Improv With Spafford’s Brian Moss

Brian Moss’ commitment to improvisation runs deep—so deep that this past November he and his Spafford band members thought up a little experiment. Instead of taking the stage themselves at Globe Hall in Denver, they asked their crew to hop up there for the first few minutes of the second set. Pretty soon the guitar tech…

Exploring Readiness: What It Means. Why It Matters: TCC Group Newsletter May 2021

A focus on “readiness”—i.e., the state of being fully prepared for something—has been ubiquitous in our sector long before COVID-19. Yet, as we take cautious steps to emerge from what feels like an endless suspension of “normalcy,” readiness has garnered renewed attention.  We at TCC Group have been hearing an increasing number of readiness-related questions including: Behind these…