The Playlist

My new short story, “The Playlist,” will be published July 27. “The Playlist” is the story of Chicago ophthalmologist Patrick Holt and his partner, marketing manager, Clayton Teal. Patrick wants to move to the suburbs, but Clay doesn’t. The two men, who share a condo together in the city, are having a hard time coming to an agreement about their future living arrangements. An argument ensues and Clay storms out of their home and heads to the gym to burn off steam. While he’s running on the treadmill, he listens to a playlist Patrick recently made for him. The playlist contains nine songs and each one reminds Clay of times, both happy and sad, that he and Patrick shared over the years.

The characters in “The Playlist” also appear in the author’s novel, Baggage, and the short stories “Three Cakes” and “Blue Velvet,” all available from JMS Books.