About me

I was raised on fairytales, mythology, and tall tales told at family gatherings. So in love was I with storytelling, that I wrote, illustrated (and bound) my first book at age 6– I even recorded an audio version on cassette so my family could listen to it in the car. From age 12 on, I filled countless journals with terrible, angsty poetry. I studied creative writing at the University of Memphis under New York Times best-selling author, Tim Johnston, who served as the director of my honors thesis: A collection of three interconnected short stories. After graduation, I had the privilege of working as an editorial assistant at my university’s literary journal, The Pinch. Since then I have attended writing workshops taught by judges from the Writers of The Future competition. Although, before I attended these workshops I thought I knew every thing there was to know about writing (given my education in literary fiction), now I regularly devour craft books. Two of my stories have received honorable mention from WOTF. My stories have been published or are forthcoming in the journals Made from Human Parts, Literary Yard, Down in the Dirt, and The Scarlet Leaf Review. My purpose in joining this site is to further hone my craft through the discipline of consistently posting, as well as embracing the opportunity to receive rigorous peer critiques of my work. Because I was originally trained in the literary mode, and then sought instruction from masters of other modes, such as Speculative and Commercial fiction, I believe I am becoming a more well-rounded writer. My goal is to live out the ideal Benjamin Percy proposes in his essay “Thrill Me.” “… study what works best instead. Literary fiction highlights exquisite sentences, glowing metaphors, subterranean themes, and fully realized characters. Genre excels at raising the most important question: What happens next?” “Toss out the worst elements of literary and genre fiction and merge the best.” This is my goal: to craft stories without a social hierarchy; stories which welcome in readers of every background while still challenging them intellectually and emotionally, but which first and foremost, entertain.