Writing

Manuscripts

Project Heartwood - 2023

Currently drafting a YA fantasy about a royal tournament, a sentient forest, and reluctant allies.

Publications

“Self-Portrait as Baby Albatrosses,” Academy of American Poets

Industry Involvement

Writing with the Soul Workshop

November 2021 alumna of the four-week WWTS workshop hosted by NYT bestselling author, Adrienne Young. The purpose of the workshop was to help writers claim their unique magic, discover their voice, and transform their work by examining weekly topics such as perspective, conviction, and process.

Crafting the YA Novel Workshop

Summer 2022 member of the Crafting the YA Novel Workshop led by New York Times bestselling author, Nova Ren Suma. This generative workshop sought to help writers find inspiration in prompts and exercises, deepen their characters, experiment with new possibilities, and gain feedback from fellow writers.

Writing Samples

Sympathy for the Devil

Lily sighed. She should ask something shallow, something simple. After all, this was just a random conversation with a stranger at the bus stop. Plus, this was her vacation time, which she had been saving for a sunny, relaxing trip without such morbid, existential concerns. But here she was, waiting for the bus to the hospital, and there was only one question floating in her mind: “Do you believe in God?”

A short story inspired by the Rolling Stones song of the same name, “Sympathy for the Devil” is an existential and philosophical investigation of what it means to die—and what it means to live. When Lily meets a strange man while waiting for the bus to the hospital, she accepts his offer to play a game. She has three questions to guess his name, but the unusual interaction leaves Lily with a perspective and a gift she wasn’t expecting. Written in 2019.

“Living in a Doubleness”: Grief and Beauty in the Anthropocene

Specifically, these works recognize beauty by showing how people can discover—or rediscover—their connection to nature, not as separate or superior, but as another animal species that is a part of nature. Creative works deconstruct human-nature dualism and emphasize the survival of nature’s beauty despite human-caused destruction in order to help us process grief and retain hope.

Written in May 2020, this academic essay explores how climate change has made the Anthropocene—the current geological age, during which human activities have made a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and environment—a time defined by grief. Despite how difficult climate change-related losses are to grieve, fictional works can offer us ways to lament and reconnect with nature. In doing so, these works remind us of the beauty of nature and foster hope that it can survive despite the damage humans have wrought. This hope is an important perspective to encourage in order to inspire action against the effects of climate change.

Wattpad

Read the collection of short stories I published on Wattpad, including tales about:

  • A desperate writer who learns the dangers of offending his Muse.

  • A young woman in a fairy tale world who learns the meaning of true love.

  • A world in which nightmares are real and fear is the scariest monster of all.