Ill at Ease is a collection of short nonfiction exploring awkward exchanges, random humiliations, and the absurdity and pathos of coming of age in small town Ohio. From a first day of kindergarten realization that the only other “Heidi” in town is my classmate’s wiener dog to locking my entire family in a jail cell on my grandfather’s birthday, the short stories I write explore being out of place and unfailingly "ill at ease." This collection, set mainly in rural Ohio, is similar in tone to Kim Kourson’s I Don’t Have a Happy Place.