It's always a good day when I get to share a piece of writing that's new and finished and ready for the world to see! I am honored to announce that my SF short story "Recollection" appears in the March/April edition of Analog! Memory tech, water shortages, and the ethical challenges of a civil servant in a post-apocalyptic desert world. https://www.analogsf.com/ How to buy: Support your…
I'm pleased to present you with a new story for the new year! "Drowned Prison" appears in Galaxy's Edge #48 and is now available! I get to share this issue with talented and established SFF authors as well as with Kai Wolden and Mica Scotti Kole, two fellow Writers of the Future authors from WOTF 35. My story is a mystery set in a rather creepy…
Secrets, injustice, and magical paintings that carry the emotions of the painter. As some of you know, I have more than one novel brewing in the back of my head. One such novel idea, which I have yet to fully outline, has in the meantime trickled out into several fantasy short stories. One day, I hope to write the novel itself! But if you want a…
I have never done this before. I have never been eligible before this year! These two short stories of mine were professionally published, and thus are eligible during this season of writing award nominations. Here's where you can find them: UNTRAINED LUCK - In Writers of the Future Volume 35, buy it from Galaxy Press here / buy it from Amazon here. INHERITANCE - in Escape…
You’ll find yourself among “our kind of people,” my friend told me as he described what it would be like to attend World Fantasy Con. Just the presence of “world” in the title was enough to intimidate me. I’ve been to a handful of conferences before, and I usually feel small and overwhelmed by both the crowds and the amount of information being poured across my…
Today’s post is short! Because the link I’m going to share will take you to my recently launched Patreon page and there you can listen to the short video I recorded on my Elise Stephens Patreon Page. Basically, I’m creating a way for friends and fans to support the writing I’m doing. I've encountered many lovely people who want to help support my writing, but aren’t…
Wow...you guys. I've returned safely from Los Angeles with a full head and swelling heart. My time was chock-full of learning, making connections, learning the craft and business of writing, and (the best part!) making friends. My week got off to an awesome start when I discovered I'd been assigned the talented and wonderful Carrie Callahan (fellow writer winner) as my roommate. My exclamation of "YES"…
I have been biting my tongue for about five months (it's amazing I still have any tongue left...) but now I can finally say it! My story that will be published in Writers of the Future is titled Untrained Luck. Due to anonymity with the Writers of the Future grand prize judging, I was not supposed to link my name to the title of my piece…
It was late April 2018. James and I were hiking Little Si, a small mountain near North Bend, WA. We navigated wet dripping branches and slick tree roots as we tried to rouse our minds and spirits from a season of mental fog that had engulfed us while my husband studied fervently for his Structural Engineer licensing exam. He'd taken the test a few weeks before…
As I lay down my pen at the end of a new short story draft, I again have to acknowledge my strong affinity for mother-son themes. This makes me think of my own son, my eldest, who seems to hunger near-constantly for time one-on-one with me. He lost a great quantity of mommy-and-me time after his sister was born. Now they both fight for me. It's…