three writing updates

I'm kind of a last-minute person. Again and again I find myself sending things in on the day of the deadline. It tends to work for me — though I do admit there could be better ways of going about deadlines — and here I list a few fruits of my eleventh-hour mind. 

1.) My short story Snow Day forthcoming in the children's magazine Stone Soup. (January 2023) 

To be honest, I barely remember writing Snow Day... I finished it the day before I turned fourteen. It was a simple story about a nine-year-old girl learning to open up, after finding an injured bird on her lawn. 

"On Tuesday morning, a sheath of crystalline white over the bedroom window obstructed Anna’s view of anything else outside. Snow day, she thought, and without explanation, a feeling of dread crept over her."  

 

 Click here to read Snow Day.  

2.) My novella Cousins forthcoming as a magazine serial, also in Stone Soup. 

Finished the day before I turned fifteen. It's a middle-grade novella that tells the story of how an eleven-year-old girl comes to appreciate her family — primarily her rival and cousin — through the unexpected and sad events spanning a month. This story's very close to my heart :') 

"If you asked me what my biggest problem was during the first eleven years of my life, I would have told you it was Laila Alicie Kenton von Luzenborg. Also known as my cousin. Also known as the most annoying person on the planet. 

 

But the summer before seventh grade changed all that completely. And I owe it all to Ms. Fleming." 

 Click here for the first section. 

3.) My poem "freeway days" forthcoming in Ice Lolly Review. (January 2023) 

On the healing process and solace of music. Written this summer. 

"The peace lasts. I sit back, / and let eighth notes crest / over me, like waves / on a summer’s day."

I will update this post with links to my things when they come out. In the meantime, do check out these litmags. They've published some good stuff. Stone Soup is especially noteworthy, as it is one of the few venues that publish writing by kids 13 and under. (Hence my 14th birthday due date.) 

Happy new year to whoever reads this!