Welcome to the casual round-up of my accomplishments for the year! (At least in the publishing world)

This year I had 7 new stories published as well as 2 new essays. The stories are all eligible for the Best Short Story category for numerous awards, while the essays are eligible for the Hugo’s Best Related Work.

1) If you only have time to consider one of my works, I strongly urge you to read “A Lullaby of Anguish.” Published in Apex Magazine in July, this story is about a woman who photographed children of the sea in her own childhood, and the dark fascination we have as a culture with selling anguish in media. It’s free to read here: A Lullaby of Anguish – Apex Magazine (apex-magazine.com) At 6400 words, this is also the longest story I had published last year.

2) If you’d like to give another of my stories a read, please consider “The Ethereal Nature of Superpowers,” a story that won Apparition Lit’s Flash Fiction Contest in July. This is a flash piece, at 1000 words long and is also available to read for free online at: The Ethereal Nature of Superpowers – Apparition Literary Magazine. This story features nostalgia pretty heavily and is about a sister and brother who grew up going to the beach each summer, eating flavored ice that each gave them a different superpower.

3) I had an 1800 word short story out in the anthology Fathoms in the Earth from Air & Nothingness Press in September of this year, titled “A Bestiary of Past, Present and Future Animals.” This entire anthology is filled with retellings of The Tempest, each story using a title from Prospero’s Books. My story is told via Arial’s perspective and field notes as an assistant to the professor after they crash land on a floating island. This piece is available to read within the anthology for sale here: air and nothingness press – our catalog of books (aanpress.com) But please feel free to reach out to me if you would like a review copy of the story.

4) “The Impermanent Surface of Lake Scintillate” is a flash piece that was published in Orion’s Belt Magazine also in September. This story is about a seductive lake and all the neighborhood who uses it, but also stands as a metaphor for social media. You can read the story for free here: The Impermanent Surface of Lake Scintillate — Orion’s Belt (orions-belt.net)

5) My last flash piece published this year just came out in November in Factor Four Magazine. “The Weight of Fortunes in an Endless Labyrinth” is about a girl displaced from her planet to a moon base because of an interstellar war and the connection she makes there using paper fortune tellers. It is free to read here: The Weight of Fortunes in an Endless Labyrinth by Marie Croke – Factor Four Magazine The formatting for the issue is a little off so it’s a tad more difficult to read, but I really love this story and the specific way the characters connect.

6) I had one last short story published earlier in the year in June, titled “Secrets Locked in Metal Scrap.” This story came out in Luna Station Quarterly Issue 58 and is about a little girl who was raised by a herd of pachycephalosauruses on a planet once used for dinosaur hunting. This story is available for purchase here: Luna Station Quarterly But again, please contact me for a review copy if you are reading for the awards.

7) And lastly, I had a micro piece out this year too! “Ghost Tours of Eaden Marsh” is about a marsh with a dreadful, dried-up history and was in the anthology Strange Locations, published in July. This anthology is only available to those who backed Apex’s Kickstarters, however, again, you are welcome to contact me for a review copy of my story.

As for my essays! I wrote two this year, both of which I’m proud of for different reasons. They were both published on the SFWA Blog, the first in July and the second in October of this year.

1) “Whoops, I Wrote a Story: How to Make App Addictions Work for Your Writing” is an article that takes a light-hearted tone to help give writers tips on how to manipulate themselves and their app addictions in order to squeeze out more words, and maybe even more stories! Whoops, I Wrote a Story: How to Make App Addictions Work for Your Writing – SFWA

2) “The Dangers of Playing on Someone Else’s Heartstrings” is a more serious piece that details a situation from my younger years and then progresses into suggestions and stipulations on what writers should consider in order to be respectful in their dealings with real people and real situations when it comes to writing about them. The Dangers of Writing on Someone Else’s Heartstrings – SFWA

All told, I had 9 original pieces of work out this year. I’m proud of myself for the consistency of sales and accomplishments and so very grateful to all the editors who I’ve had the pleasure to work with. If you’re a member of SFWA, please consider adding any work of mine you’ve enjoyed reading to the nebula reading list in the hopes that others might give it a try as well.

As always, I appreciate any time you have taken to read my work. It’s the biggest compliment to a writer to have others spend their minutes with my characters and in my worlds. Thank you <3