Selected Works
SHORT STORIES
CIMARRON REVIEW
Hercules
I was growing disgusted with my own company--paper-tiger executives, guys I didn't like anyway. They displayed the American crassness that comes out best in foreign countries…
NORTHEAST CORRIDOR
The Horse
Our Trailways pulled off the macadam. I was squirming. Sitting for so long made my butt itch, so I followed the bus driver off. While he was kicking the wheel I was doing hip gyrations.
WIND
Campesino's Daughter
Juan Peten climbed the mountain, cut the wood with his machete, and hauled it down on his back. He had been doing this, two trips per day, for thirty years.
ESSAYS
NEW HAVEN ADVOCATE
Sea Captain’s Daughter
Robin said, "Poor mom, I looked so normal at birth." That was the first thing I heard her say. My first year working on the Neurosurgery service at Yale-New Haven Hospital, I was called to see Robin Crabtree.
ARBOR VITAE
Cold Case
In a small line of cars ten Meriden policemen slowly drive down a carriage path in the Walnut Grove Cemetery. One after another each car eases to a stop. It’s ten in the morning, January 2, 2014. No one is around.
ANTHOLOGIES
FEATURED IN “A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER: STORIES FROM ADOPTIVE PARENTS”
The Orphan Myth
"Gripping, rarely told tales of life as adoptive parents." - USA Today
"Illuminates both the thrilling and trying elements of adoption." - People
"Compelling, complex, and compulsively readable." - Elle
"A rewarding read for adoptive parents, as well as for friends and family wishing to gain insight."- San Francisco Chronicle
"Gorgeous writing, deeply felt and strikingly expressed." - Christian Science Monitor
"A magical and candid collection, which I found impossible to put down...I guarantee it will provoke, edify, anger, amuse, stretch, touch, captivate, or even transform you." - Adoptive Families
THE LUCKY ONES: OUR STORIES OF ADOPTING CHILDREN FROM CHINA
Hua Jun Gets Daddy
Our Silk Road
"These compelling, poignant, lovely vignettes will resonate with anyone who has ever adopted. . . . A beautiful collection that belongs in the home of adoptive families everywhere." - Jane A. Brown, MSW, creator, Adoption Playshops!
"Lucky us who are given the chance to glimpse this brave new world of families embraced by so much hope and goodwill." - Wayson Choy, author, The Jade Peony and All That Matters
"Despite this collection's upbeat tone, it doesn’t sugarcoat adoption—contributors wonder about birthparents, worry about prejudice, and struggle to parent children of a different culture." - Adoptive Families Magazine
A PASSAGE TO THE HEART:
WRITINGS FROM FAMILIES
WITH CHILDREN FROM CHINA
Going Back
An anthology of 100 lively, informative articles on all aspects of adopting from China.
The voices in Passage are fresh, direct, and informed. Read original research by Kay Johnson and her Chinese colleagues.
CHILDREN’S BOOK
The Stone Hat
It is commonly reported that farmers, digging a well, discovered fragments of pottery, weapons, bricks, and the body of a "pottery man." This eventurally led to the dig for the Terra-cotta Warriors, one of the greatest archeological finds in history. My story is based on this incredible discovery and celebrates a wonderful part of Chinese history.