Samuel Autman fell in love with narratives and personal essays while working as a journalist at the Tulsa World, The Salt Lake Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The San Diego Union Tribune.  He’s now a creative writing faculty member at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. His essay “Invisible Nails”, won first place in the SLS-DISQUIET 2015 Literary Contest in nonfiction and is now available  in THE KEPT SECRET: The Half-Truth in Nonfiction published by the Michigan State University Press. His other essays have appeared in The Chalk Circle: Prizewinning Intercultural Essays, Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam's Call, Ninth Letter, Andrea Reads America, The Common Reader, Under the Gum Tree, The Little Patuxent Review, The Naked Truth Magazine and Brevity. Find him at SamuelAutman.com.