Writing Update: February 2025
February was the month of rejection, but also, I wrote a first draft of a book so, it wasn’t all heartbreak.
What was published in February (present & past)
Before we get into my publications, I wanted to highlight Westword’s Illusion selections here, for which I was a volunteer reader. They’re really well done and all so different from one another. You’ll be able to read the issue in April.
And now, onto my publications. I’ve included an interview and four pieces below, one from 2025 and the other three from the past few years for your reading pleasure.
in the ear with Salena Casha - Interview with Libre
Read time: <10 minutes
I have a piece forthcoming with Libre in March titled Her Better Half, and, ahead of the release, the magazine put out a call for contributor interviews. I was lucky to be their first in a series. This was done asynchronously in written format - I wish I sounded this articulate when I speak - and covers everything from writing process to mental health. Libre’s mission focuses on “brain pain & reexamining what it means to scavenge for agency in liminal states of illness” and debuted a fantastic Sylvia Plath themed issue this past fall that you can read here.
With Love - Five Minute Lit
Read time: <2 minutes (100 words)
This micro memoir was a finalist for Five Minute Lit’s flirt competition and based in the same year about the same person as Freeze (ten-year-old dramatics, am I right?). You can read the winner and my own personal favorite here as well.
The Median - Ghost Parachute (February 2023)
Read time: <5 minutes (1,000 words)
This piece was inspired by two things: a major intersection near my home and the mock trial class that my husband took in law school. Also, love a custom illustration, made by the fantastic Brett Barr.
About a Dyson - Block Party (February 2023)
Read time: <5 minutes (1,000 words)
I wrote this short fiction on the Amtrak for Block Party’s Valentine’s Day edition titled “Sucker”. And yes, I do own a Dyson.
what we are to each other and what we are not - Bending Genres (February 2022)
Read time: <5 minutes (1,000 words)
At the time this piece came to be, I was reading a lot of magical realism and nature fiction and their influence really bled into my writing. It’s about friendship and aging and I think around this time, I was still coming down from the existential crises of the pandemic and dealing with my own mortality.
It’s always interesting to observe the evolution of our own art, and I’m grateful for the progress I’ve made over the past few years and for all the progress that is yet to come.
My favorite reads of February
The streak of fantastic reads continued, and I gave out my first 5 star rating of the year to none other than the inimitable Julia Armfield’s new book, Private Rites. If you haven’t, check out Our Wives Under The Sea and salt slow. They are masterpieces of modern literature. A close second here to Armfield for me this month was Hernan Diaz’s early work In The Distance. Anyway, let’s get into the recommendations.
Non-fiction: Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
I love a good Erik Larson historical account and this one took us back to 1900 - 1910, the invention of Marconi’s wireless telegraph and the pursuit of a murderer that begins in London. In what would become Larson’s signature style, he brought two gentlemen within the same time period to collision, the chapters alternating as they raced towards one another. I found the Marconi chapters utterly fascinating, from the experimentation with how electronic signals carried to the lengths he went to in order to compete with other scientists of the era. It was also fun to see a portrait of places I’ve visited over the years: Cape Code, Cape Breton, and Ireland.
Fiction: Private Rites by Julia Armfield
There’s definitely an essay in me somewhere about The Waters of Julia Armfield that could study her focus on water as a motif across her three major published works. Maybe I’ll write it one day. All that aside, Private Rites is a modern retelling of King Lear and focuses around the inciting incident of the death of an architectural mogul and what that does to his three daughters. The book is told from the four points of view of his children: Isla, Agnes, Irene, and the city he ultimately built. Each voice is unique, and family dynamics so well-captured it hit me in the gut. It’s full of petty fights and tragic missteps, all set against the backdrop of a climate crisis which gives the entire piece an unmoored and sinister air, which lends itself to a near-term science fiction and subtle horror categorization.
Other things of note & the look ahead
I wrapped up a novel writing workshop taught by Camille Cabrera with Grubstreet and got to a full first draft at 80,000 words, which I still feel is both totally not real and also terrible. Outside of the full draft, I also wrote a smaller heavy sci-fi novellette, complete at 11,000 words that I’m looking forward to revising as well as a few shorter pieces ranging from 100 words to a 1,000 words. So grateful to both my writing routine and the current flow of stories, so hoping to continue in the months come.
A few statistics
Year to date: 15 pieces slated for publication in 2025 with 9/15 paid. 10.8% acceptance rate.
40 new submissions sent (Jan & Feb) and 44 total submissions pending with longest wait time of 135 days.