This piece was selected as an Honorable Mention in the First Chapters Contest, hosted in partnership with Penguin Random House and Electric Lit.
In the mechanized faction of Chronodale in the Velorath Coalition, humanoid dolls have been forbidden for their destructive power and lack of humanity. That’s the way it’s always been—or supposed to be, at least.
This is part of my prologue from my novel Faust and The Bleeding Hearts. It follows Faust trying to get back her mortality from death themselves.
Birthdays can be hard when you lose a loved one. But how much harder does it become when you have to remember that loss for seven hundred years?
Broken family ties and ominous crows haunt Jo as she faces the dangers of the forest.
A dreamlike meditation on loss and love.
I wrote this piece on 2020: the events that occurred then, and how it might affect people in the future. I encourage everyone to look forward—be strong, be brave, and stay safe.
The Man By Lauren Weisberg As college draws nearer, Nora’s recurring nightmares begin to catch up with her real life…
When we first met as mentor and mentee, we began exploring each other’s writing tastes. Sure, we had a lot in common but we also had our strengths and weaknesses as awesome writers. We decided to swap our favorite genres of writing, and provide rules and guidelines for each other to see what developed when we pushed ourselves out of our writing comfort zones.
“The Fountain” explores the fear of aging and being forgotten through the eyes of Lilian, a 74-year-old New Yorker who makes a surreal discovery on one of her countless boring afternoons.
A Fudged Quest is a semi-comedic ghost story detailing the misadventures of a possessed mannequin child in search of fudge. For added atmosphere, click play on the accompanying audio file while you read!
This is the first chapter of a novel I’ve been developing for about six months. It is set in a future where humanity is divided by pollution, class, and race and the world order is on the brink of total upheaval by two very spunky girls and a suction tube.
“Raspberry Heart” reflects the reality our world may soon face—a world in which technology replaces human emotions and connection.
The current environmental issues will be exacerbated in the near future if nothing is done today. This is my form of rising to speak on an issue that threatens the world.
The narrator’s family is chosen by lottery to relocate underground for 15 years once the earth becomes overpopulated. This story recounts her first trip to the surface.
