"The Drive" in the Adroit Journal & 2025 Veasna So Fiction Scholar

Thank you Adroit Journal for making me one of the 2025 Veasna So Fiction Scholars, and for publishing "The Drive!" Read here.

This story starts in DC the night of the 2016 U.S. elections and ends a decade later in Iceland.

I was inspired by the marriage of Clara Immerwahr and Fritz Haber. Haber had invented both the synthesis of ammonia which saved countless people from famine, and gas warfare in WWI. Clara was one of the first women to receive a doctorate in chemistry, but had devoted herself to supporting her husband's career, and was known as a pacifist. I tried to imagine what that relationship would look like today, with all its collisions, comforts and misunderstandings.

Finally, you can watch a reading of the Fiction Scholars on YouTube.

Unfortunately, I had connectivity issues joining from China, so I didn't quite finish what I intended to read, but luckily it's all available to read online, both the story in Adroit and "How to Catch the Sun" which first appeared in Wigleaf.

Dogs! Revenge! 1st Person Plural! Story "Geraldine Foggs" published in Identity Theory

There's revenge! Dogs! Mysterious illness! Yuppies! Small town crimes! Revenge by dogs! "Geraldine Foggs" is now out with Identity Theory. It only takes 12 minutes and no cost at all to read here.

This story about a cleaning woman with a crooked son and an unexplained blindness is told from the perspective of the town. I've always loved the first person plural. Anthony Doerr's "For A Long Time, This was Griselda's Story" and Jeffrey Eugenides' Virgin Suicides are gorgeous examples. It took me several drafts over the years to get the point-of-view and magical realism atmosphere right. A good reminder to keep editing and don't give up on your favorite stories. 

Can't thank enough editor extraordinaire Sophie Newman who helped me land the ending, and Matt Borondy for bringing me into the Identity Theory community, and who found the perfect photo to go with this piece.

Story "The Lady Clock" Nominated for Best Small Fictions 2018

Must be writers nomination season because here's another from Decomp Magazine for "The Lady Clock" - a story about a boy, a girl and a bouncing orchid in Geneva. OK now I can go home, eat a whole bag of chips AND chocolate almond bar, and dance like I've been drinking. Wait, I am drinking.

Read at: http://www.decompmagazine.com/theladyclock.htm

Story "The Sudden" in Wigleaf's 2017 Longlist

Last night I had the writerly blues. After a whole day of being at a standstill with my novel, feeling like I didn’t know anything about anything, and couldn’t write a single sentence worth a damn - I ended up binge watching Forensic Files on Netflix because there’s nothing like disturbing true crime stories to make you feel even worse. Then this morning, woke up to surprising better-than-bacon news: my Icelandic short story “The Sudden” made it on this year’s Wigleaf Longlist!

When it was first published with apt Magazine, it was already a joy to be alongside such beautiful and brilliant work, plus Carissa and Randolph are two of the loveliest, most compassionate and dedicated writers/editors/justice-fighters you’ll ever meet. I’m lucky that my bout of creative pessimism was disproved so quickly (thank you Wigleaf!) but it’s a nice reminder to work through the darkness,  to withhold judgment while holding yourself to a high standard. And make your Netflix choices wisely.

Congratulations to all the Wigleaf Top 50 winners!