I have a new poem up at Cagibi! It’s called “I’ve never written fiction set in a psych ward.” I know I’ve talked about taking a break from mental illness as a topic, and I have been working on some new stuff that explores other themes, but I wrote this poem awhile back and frankly, … More New Poem: “I’ve never written fiction set in a psych ward”
Issue 3 of Waxing and Waning is up! It contains a story I wrote called Won’t You Go My Way? It’s about sorrow and siblings and mental illness and perseverance, but most importantly, it’s about cats.
CutBank Literary Journal has an annual feature called “All Accounts and Mixtures,” which is devoted to showcasing writing from queer authors. This year they’ve been kind enough to include a short story I wrote called “Let’s Talk About the Forest.” I am very excited about this! It’s a story that’s pretty near and dear to me. … More New Story: “Let’s Talk About the Forest”
[Hi! Sometimes I write something in response to a specific call for submissions, and when it gets rejected, I’m not sure what to do with it. It wouldn’t necessarily be a good fit for any other publication, and usually it just languishes on my hard drive while I move on to other things. But I … More Rejected Files: Bridges All Over
I’ve never made a fiction zine before, which is weird because I love reading and writing fiction, so I decided to get on that. A “fox wedding” (or “coyote wedding,” or “[insert trickster god here] wedding”) is a common name for a sun shower. You know, when it’s storming and sunny at the same time. … More New Zine: Fox Wedding #1
Is it a strength or a weakness that I can’t control my characters for shit? When I start a new story, I usually sit down knowing the general themes to cover, plus a vague idea of how the plot should be structured. I’ve never done a thorough outline, because I’m never sure what kind of … More Fiction and Discipline
Summer is always a time of boosted creativity for me. Because I’m a Leo? Who knows! Anyway, I hope to have two new fiction zines ready to go by the time Fall comes around. Okay, technically they’re chapbooks, but I tend to use those terms interchangeably for some reason. Neither one is titled yet because … More Big Plans
I’ve signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, a special session of National Novel Writing Month with more relaxed rules. I wasn’t planning to do it this year, but then I discovered they changed the settings. Instead of aiming for a certain word count, you can make a certain number of lines, pages, hours, or minutes your … More Camp
It took months, for some reason, but I finally made it to the copy shop and re-printed two of my zines: “Loudly Dancing” and “Robbie Queers It Up.” My Etsy shop is now carrying these titles once again! Links Loudly Dancing (a collection of autobiographical mico-essays about avoidant personality disorder and adventures in mental healthcare) Robbie … More Zine Shop Restocked!
A Lonely Riot Magazine was kind enough to publish my short story Gabriel this morning. I wrote the first draft of this story two or three years ago, and I was starting to worry it would never find a good home. It’s not exactly horror or a crime story, but it’s a little dark and violent for … More New Story: “Gabriel”
Emma Atkinson 