The Dark Age

In 2014, I self-published a short story about a father and astronaut who left Earth on a one-way, lifelong mission, leaving behind a young wife and newborn daughter. "The Dark Age" was a deeply personal piece of fiction, reflecting much of what I felt at the time. I was the father of a toddler who seemed to grow up any time I went to work; I'd come home in the evenings and find she was a totally changed person. I was missing something essential about her development, about her life.

Now, years later, my daughter's just as amazing, and I find myself still thinking about everything I'd miss if something happened to me right now. "The Dark Age" never quite left me alone. In 2020 I began expanding the short story into a novel, and as of 2026 I'm still working on this.

The original short story was published in Lightspeed in 2016, and is available to read for free. It's also included in my short story collection Deep Breath Hold Tight.