About Miles West

The stories collected here started as scribbled notes and voice memos, gathered between document processing jobs at various law firms across California and New York. Born in Hayward, raised in chaos (as all writers seemingly must be), I spent decades formatting other people's words into perfect legal documents while my own stories gathered dust in various notebooks and laptop folders.

Then came the inevitable corporate exodus, followed by an accidentally profound stint as a rideshare driver in San Francisco. Some of these stories emerged from late-night drives through fog-wrapped cities, others from moments of clarity between coffee refills and missed exits. A few might have been fever dreams induced by too many hours breathing recycled air in traffic. The resulting collection, "Driven," is what happens when you spend too much time watching humanity through a rearview mirror while pretending to be deaf to avoid small talk.

Now working on the sequel, "Wake Up Gentle," I continue to find stories in the spaces between office cubicles and rental car air fresheners. These pieces have been shaped by various editors and writing groups who somehow saw past the coffee stains and tire tracks to find something worth saving. Together, they form a kind of cracked mirror reflecting the absurdity of trying to navigate modern life while maintaining the appearance of having any idea what you're doing.

If you're looking for profound insights into the human condition, you might want to try the self-help section. But if you're interested in stories about people trying their best to seem normal while being utterly bizarre, you're in the right place.