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Since I missed Music Monday last week, I'll do two things this week! AND they're both instrumental for the crowd that doesn't much like to listen to lyrics, haha ~



First on this Monday is "The Scorpio Races", composed by Maggie Stiefvater (also the author of the novel of the same name). Not only it is absolutely-flipping-perfect for the book - which I love love love - but it's a rollicking instrumental piece with wonderful Irish/Celtic influences. I feel like it could make really great writing music for my author friends out there, so give it a try!

If you like: horse racing, sea spray, salt on your tongue, or just good music - please do listen.

Apparently, some people are good at everything. *sigh*


I don't know this violinist or this piece very well, but "Czardas" is an exhilarating musical adventure.

So, instrumentals for this (admittedly somewhat dreary) Monday!


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To make up for missing Fiction Friday last week, I'll do a special double edition for you all! Read on -


 Luna Station Quarterly is just another one of those speculative fiction magazines that is a joy to read. With sixteen issues so far of SF/F that are all absolutely fantastical (see what I did there?), LSQ is superb.

"Entry #92" by Tara Abrahams is one story that stands out to me - it's not speculative in the conventional sense. It's bittersweet, observant, and achingly human, despite its centering around a girl in love with a robot. An excerpt:
Still, he looked beautiful, arms gleaming silver in the fluorescent glow of the cafeteria lights. I thought I saw constellations in the scratches and rust on his metal plating, but I’m not sure. It might’ve been a trick of infinity.
Also, be sure to check out Tara's new serial novel, GLITCH. It just... Tara's style is so, so unique and that really shines through in this story.



And now - though I suppose this is sort of cheating - I'd like to spotlight a piece from the literary magazine that I run, The Teacup Trail. It's a short, sharp flash fiction called "The Dueling Orchestra", and it was written by E.R. Warren, a writer I truly admire. The first sentence for your reading enjoyment:
I am trapped in a timpani.
From what I've read of E.R.'s work, her style ranges from ethereal to snappy, and it can change moods in an instant. (Some people have versatility like that. *sigh*) E.R. is also on Figment, where she regularly updates The Princess and the Fox Demon - a novel loosely based on medieval Japan that I am completely and utterly in love with. (Chirikai and Asuka. DONE.)

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Lullatone is my second Music Monday pick. Although everything I've heard of theirs is instrumental, it's very pleasant, cheerful, sweet music. It's perfect for just what the album is called: everyday adventures.

Actually, Lullatone is a husband-and-wife duo - Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida. These dreamlike, happy tunes will be sure to make your day and paint nicer colors into the background of your mood.

Next is "Soften and Shake", a song by Olivia Broadfield that Lee was kind enough to recommend to me.



Apparently this was part of an episode of The Vampire Diaries, which I don't watch, but no matter. The song is actually perfect for a certain couple in On the Midnight Streets, so discovering it has made me feel very nice.

Been good been bad 
Been hard to break 
With you I feel myself soften and shake 
So please be good to me 
And I'll be good to you

So here are two bits of music for you that I hope you'll like as much as I did!

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Inspired by LiAnn Yim's "Fiction Fridays" over at Little Fictions, I'll be sharing some choice bits of fiction with you all every Friday, to go with my weekly Music Mondays.

One of my favorite literary magazines to just browse through is The Golden Key (which LiAnn actually co-edits) - described as publishing "poetry and fiction that is open to the strange and marvelous possibilities of the world around us. Each issue explores one of the wonderful things – either literal or figurative – one might find upon opening the little iron chest. Each celebrates the curiosity and enchantment of the Grimms’ tale with work that is odd, surprising, and unafraid to venture down the unknown path." It's inspired by the Grimms' story of, well, the golden key, and the work that can be found here in these free-to-read issues is just exquisite.

illustration for "Bones", done by The Golden Key's talented resident artist Libby Burns.
Today's piece that I'd like to spotlight is "Bones" by Sylvia Linsteadt. Here's a small excerpt:
They sink fast into the earth, faster than iron and glass. As the ground presses them to pieces, they first break with jagged edges and sharp ends. To become smooth, this takes centuries, this is always resisted. And then they echo and echo, like the whale vertebra reverberating its once-song.
Linsteadt does a beautiful job of bringing magic to an archaeological dig, and her prose is truly rich in quality. There's history in the curve of her words, breath in her sentences. It's awe-inspiring, really. If you've got a spare five minutes or so, I highly recommend you read it. It's one of my very favorite parts of Issue One, but honestly, I've been through The Golden Key's archives so many times because it's a wondrous literary magazine. Happy reading and happy Friday!


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As part of my 2014 resolution to post on this blog more regularly, I'm going to run a weekly feature called "Music Monday", where I share music that I've found that I love. (Fellow bloggers, feel free to join in! I'd love to see your music picks in a link in the comments or some such nice thing.)

My first found-sound (haha, that has a nice ring to it, huh?) is "Picture Perfect" by nineteen-year-old singer-songwriter Paola Bennet. I first found her on Tumblr, where synthetic-synaesthesia had reblogged a cover song of hers.

I think this song is so perfect because it's a simple, sweet way to commemorate finding yourself in a big, lonely place - and that feeling of wandering is so well-captured in these lyrics and Paola's beautiful voice.

Go on, get the keys - drive 
Until we hit the coast 
See the beach at night 
The stars I love the most 
You may be picture perfect, babe, 
But there are things you don't know

So hit play, my dears, and enjoy this bright addition to your Monday!


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I mentioned these awards before, in my post about where OtMS had gone, and now the regional results are out.

Unfortunately, since OtMS was submitted in the 'Novel Writing' category, which is a special category and therefore not regionally judged, I don't know anything about the status of that yet. However, national medalists will be announced on March 17, so there's a little over a month left to wait!

Along with my novel excerpt, I submitted a science fiction/fantasy short story and a poem collection.

While my poetry didn't win anything at all...

The short story won a Gold Key.

A Gold Key, the first year I entered.

 What that means is that the story is advancing to national judging. *squee* I'm crazy excited even though I am fully aware that less than 5% of Gold Key winners receive medals. I'm still. So. Crazy. Excited. This is the first notable award I've won for my writing and it makes me feel so good.

Again, thank you for your lovely reader support throughout this wonderful time! I love you all :)


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I'm published in two more magazines!


Germ Magazine is centered around teenage girls, offering advice, art/lit, articles, etc. at germmagazine.com. It promotes honesty about sexuality, race, and other issues that teenage girls face in the real world, and it was founded by Jennifer Niven. What's really interesting about this magazine, in my opinion, is that it was born out of a fictional Germ Magazine in Ms. Niven's forthcoming YA book, All the Bright Places.

The poem that I submitted is called "we are all significant figures", and it's been up at my new poetry/snippets Tumblr before I took it down and sent it in. I've been getting a lot more into poetry lately; I love the fluidity it gives me. I'm excited to share this wonderful magazine with you all - and my poem, which will run within the next few weeks!


The Next Post is a literary magazine "for Tumblr, by Tumblr". Since I've been on Tumblr since this summer and have loved basically every minute of it, it seemed only natural to submit.

Since the mag accepts fanfiction as well as short stories and poetry, I dug up the first and only fanfiction I've ever written. It's quite old, untouched since around March 2013, because I wrote it for a friend's birthday. My friends and I are all rabid Infernal Devices fans (seriously, though - you should all read that series), and Jem and Will's relationship is one of my favorite things about it, so I naturally attacked my feels by venturing into the fanfiction world. Look for "At the River" in the table of contents!

For those of you who would like to check this out, the first issue is hosted here.

What a great way to kick off 2014, writing-wise! I'm hoping to bring you more published writing this year as well. Thanks for reading!
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Hello there, everyone - happy new year.

Happy. New. Year.

Happyhappyhappy.

As I'm a bit tired to do a "Year in Review" post for 2013, I thought I'd start this third (?!) year of blogging off with a bang - a very clichéd bang, perhaps, but still.

Resolutions!

  • finish one of my novels, anything, hopefully On the Midnight Streets so I can jump into the sequel as well this year (yes, there will be a sequel - actually three subsequent planned books, but no, I'm not going to tell you about it yet)
  • write more (heh. oops.)
  • survive going into high school in the fall! aaahhh!
  • blog more (I mean it, really I do)
  • write more (double oops)
  • keep my grades up
  • aaand write more.
So thank you, darlings, for another wonderful twelve months - and here's to twelve more, equally wonderful.






PS: Oh, and by the way...

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[ image via tumblr ]
My breath is venturing out into the air with a wispy white coat on, and everyone walks around with a twinkle in their eye. Lately, I go to school each day telling myself firmly that I'll never be too old to wear mittens. I get curious stares from passerby nonetheless when they see me with a pair of them on. Carols that I've known by heart for years come barging into the radio again. Roads freeze over. Hot cups of tea become a staple of my diet. Particularly eccentric teachers at school deliver rants about "non-denominational winter holidays".

It's the holiday season here where I am, that fabled most wonderful time of the year - and it's also the time here at this blog when I take a moment to thank all of my readers. Near or far or in whatever place you may be right now, I'm ridiculously grateful that you use some time in your day to read and support my thoughts. 2013 is my second year of blogging and has been an incredible revelation to me all the way through. And those of you who have stuck with me in this crazy year are perfect brilliant people. Thank you.

Bundle up - or if you're in the southern hemisphere, you should be summer-ing down, I suppose - and do enjoy your holidays! Know that I'm wishing everyone well no matter what you celebrate or who you're celebrating with. Smile, if only because the world needs more of you smiling. Give this season a smile, a laugh, a day worth keeping forever.

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Hello again, everyone! It seems most of my latest posts have been about publication, which is terribly exciting, in all honesty.

First up is Foxglove Hymnal. The piece that's going in there is called "Finger Bones", and it's a little flash fiction I wrote when I was angsting about a big upcoming piano competition. (Which I ended up placing second in, hahaha.) Obviously, it centers around a piano, and it has some horror/macabre-ish elements. The reason this achievement is doubly cool for me is that "Finger Bones" was my first attempt at that genre.

Foxglove Hymnal is a relatively new publication. It's a quarterly mag focusing on fantasy and horror, and my piece will be in its first issue, tentatively slated for release sometime this winter or perhaps early spring. (Not totally sure on that front.) But apparently there are going to be illustrations and everything, so it's pretty exciting, plus each issue will be free to read online.

You can go to their website at http://foxglovehymnal.com/ for more info about this ~ :)

Next is Hogglepot. I first discovered this bi-weekly journal when I went looking for a story by Kimberly Karalius (I've mentioned her before, I hope - she's awesome) called "The Mattress Pea". It's still in their archives, by the way, if you do some digging around.

This piece, called "The Silence", was written for a contest hosted by the Figment group The Imaginarium, which I've mentioned before as well. The prompt was to use the concept of a time-left-to-live countdown (like the movie In Time) as the center of a story. I took an old idea - revolving around a violinist, aliens, and figurative fire - and spruced it up a little, ended up winning the Imaginarium contest, and submitted it to Hogglepot after a few edits.

Hogglepot has been around for a while and accepts science fiction, fantasy, the works. It's also got stories by a few other writers I admire, like LiAnn Yim, so I was really excited to get this acceptance. "The Silence" is planned to go live somewhere near the end of January, free online.

Their website is at http://hogglepot.com/, and the link to the piece will obviously be coming your way when it exists.

Lastly, there's The Plum Collection. It's a bi-monthly zine made up of submissions from 13-19-year-olds, describing itself as believing in the power of teens to make a change in art/literature and define what being young truly is. Lightly subversive, you know?

My piece in there is called "The Lexicon of Winter". It was written a little strangely - a story told in the format of "dictionary definitions". Still, I enjoyed writing it and it was a nice, fresh break from the other recent stuff that's been deeply rooted in the fantastical.

They operate out of Tumblr, so here is http://theplumcollection.tumblr.com/ - with the issue I appear in being released in January.

So that's that! Exciting publication news is always nice; remember to check out my "Pubs, Etc." page for a full list!

EDIT (January 19, 2014): "The Silence" is up! http://hogglepot.com/reading.php?date=20140119&vol=2014vol1

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If you follow me on Figment, you may have read "Pinioned", the magical-realism entry that I wrote for Figment's Homecoming Contest. Unfortunately, it didn't win, but it's just been accepted by this fun magazine for those in grades 6-12!

The piece itself is loosely based on the Russian fairytale "The Feather of Finist the Falcon". Using that, I basically wrote a little flash scene about how Finist and his lover come to homecoming ;)

Parallel Ink is run by high schoolers from all over, living in countries like Korea and Thailand, collaborating over a mutual love of creative work. And if that's not cool, I don't know what is.

Anyhow, I'll be linking you up to their "Archives" page when the issue's out (on December 1st!) so that you can read the ISSUU.

Fun, right? :)

EDIT (December 1, 2013): Hey look, the issue is up! http://issuu.com/parallelink/docs/issue1vol2
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Whoa, right?

The world continually manages to surprise me. (Needless to say.)

The first one, The Wandering Collective, published my poem "before bed" today. (My first poetry pub - wow.) The poem is basically my odd mind working with the "star light, star bright, first star I see tonight" nursery rhyme. You can probably see where that went :3

Anyhow, The Wandering Collective. They're very feminist and cool, and they "showcase the work of teenage girls". You can read my poem here - but hey, teen girls? You should totally submit. It's a place with very good vibes.

My second pub is GREYstone, a literary magazine for kids in grades K-12. Also a "good-vibes" place. And the best part? The story being published is the very same one I wrote in March - the one that I originally posted here in memory of a NaNoer named Ash who lost her fight with leukemia. So now I feel that though I never actually talked to her, Ash has given me a gift. And I'd like to thank her, wherever she might be now.

Actually...

There might be a second best part.

You see, GREYstone issues also eventually become available for print purchase. The online issue goes live on November 23, 2013, so I'll post a link once that is up, but seriously OH GOSH IT'S PRINT.

My first poetry pub and my first print appearance, all in one post.

Okay, let's all be shocked now.

EDIT (12/3/2013): Here's the GREYstone issue for online reading! http://mygreystone.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/greystone-issue-ten/


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