I write across genres and media, including literary fiction, screenplays, stage plays, and non-fiction. My work often includes magical elements and explores folklore traditions, regional history, Southern Gothic themes, and the tension between the identities people claim and the actions they take.
I am currently a 2026–27 Artist-in-Residence playwright at New Marigny Theatre in New Orleans. This page includes selected published work and public information about current projects. For unpublished work, scripts, synopses, or other materials, please get in touch.
Current Work
Bayou Breakdown — Play in Development
Full-length Southern Louisiana ensemble tragicomedy · New Marigny Theatre Artist-in-Residence project
During my residency at New Marigny Theatre, I am revising Bayou Breakdown, a full-length Southern Louisiana ensemble tragicomedy about a bus driver who sabotages his own vehicle rather than accept forced retirement. Stranded above the Atchafalaya Basin on a hot July day in 2015, the driver, his daughter, her partner, a trainee, and a group of passengers are forced into a shared crisis as a local mechanic tries to get the bus moving again.
The first draft is complete. Through table reads, scene workshops, revision, and a public staged reading, I will continue developing the play toward a possible fall 2027 production at New Marigny Theatre.
White Fawn — Novel in Submission
Adult literary historical fiction with folkloric and magical-realist elements · 89,400 words · Complete manuscript
White Fawn is set in 1864 eastern North Carolina and follows a twelve-year-old boy’s coming-of-age journey through a murky period in the region’s history. The novel reckons with identity, moral choice, personal responsibility, and the ways people search for their own Happily Ever After when every path seems determined to lead toward tragedy.
The novel draws on the folklore traditions and historical storytelling that shaped my own coming-of-age on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. I am currently submitting it to literary agents.
“Flautista” — Short Play
Winner, STAAR Theatre’s 2026 New One-Act Play Contest
“Flautista” is a short play currently in submission and festival circulation.
Published Fiction
“The Lightning Jar”
Literary fiction · Published in Oyster River Pages
As drought ravages his family’s farm and a storm rages in his parents’ living room, a boy searches for magic in a jar of lightning bugs captured on a hot summer night, hoping to fix everything that has been broken.
“The Lightning Jar” appeared in Oyster River Pages as part of its Emerging Voices in Fiction series.
Screenwriting
Skin Deep
Feature screenplay · Thriller · 98 pages
When a struggling actress agrees to act as her twin sister’s body double on a film shoot in Guatemala, she meets a Mayan trickster god who offers her a pact: everything her sister has, in exchange for her heart.
- Semifinalist, Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition, 2025
- Quarterfinalist, BlueCat Screenplay Competition, 2025
- Quarterfinalist, The Script Lab TSL Free Screenplay Contest, 2023
- Recommended, Indie Film Hustle coverage
Dragon
Feature screenplay · Adventure · 95 pages
After a mischievous little dragon torches his New York apartment, a lonely gamer embarks on a chaotic cross-country road trip with the fire-breather at his side and a quirky cast of characters hot on his tail.
- Quarterfinalist, Final Draft Big Break Contest
- Quarterfinalist, Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition
- Quarterfinalist, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards
- Second Round, Slamdance Screenplay Competition
Journalism & Copywriting
I have written feature articles, advertorials, marketing copy, web content, technical documentation, and travel writing. My journalism and copywriting work includes features for Milepost Magazine and Outer Banks This Week, covering local culture, small businesses, destinations, and coastal life.
For copywriting samples, feature articles, and advertising work, visit this page.
Contact David about literary representation, theatre, screenwriting, creative producing, or other projects and possible collaborations.