Exciting News
It’s going to be a fantastical summer this year…
Why?
Because for the fourth time within two years, I’ll be getting one of my stories published!
Where?
In the Fantastical Summer Anthology!
What Is Fantastical Summer?
Fantastical Summer is a collection of short stories perfect for teens.
Check out the official description:
What would you do if you started growing a fluffy tail every time you felt embarrassed?
A mermaid outcast, a girl who can steal stars, and a high schooler suddenly affected by gravity in a gravity-free world—these are just a few of the fantastical premises you’ll find in this collection of short stories.
Weaving classic coming-of-age themes into magical versions of our world, fifteen Christian writers each bring a fresh perspective on childhood, loneliness, and identity.
Save a spot in your beach bag, because this collection of clean, fun summer stories is more than a fluff read. This beautifully brave anthology leads us to ask hard questions while staying grounded in the truth of the Bible. You’ll want to revisit these thought-provoking stories throughout the year.
Fantastical Summer: The Stories & Their Writers
Want to know who else has a story in this book? Well, here you go!
Presented by The Company and The Pearl, Fantastical Summer features these short stories:
“Alone,” by R.J. Catlin
“Leaving Lake June,” By Lucy Grecu
“Summer Miracles,” by K.Ann
“Closed Doors Don’t Open,” by Vella Karman
“Oh Deer,” by Adara King
“Gravitational Issues,” by Vannah Leblanc
“The Beast,” by Noah J. Matthews
“Circus of the Moon,” by Juli Ocean
“Sneakers of Joy,” by Gregory O’Donnell
“The Girl Who Lived Under the Water,” by Brad Pauquette
“Soul Marks,” by Alli Prince
“Beachcombing,” by Sarah Sax
“Goodbye to Yesterday,” by Hannah Stiff
“Turn to Face the Wind,” by Faith Tevy
“Confessions of a Mermaid Outcast,” by Thirzah
How I Got Here…
The truth is, I was not planning to submit a story for this anthology.
When I first heard about Fantastical Summer, I made excuse after excuse about why I couldn’t participate and write a story for the anthology.
There was the fact that I was busy working on the third book in my Adventures in Eldnaire trilogy at the time (stay tuned for some exciting news about that), the fact that I was going through a rough time emotionally, and the fact that I wasn’t even sure if I could come up with a story that would be good enough to submit for the anthology.
Thanks to my fears, insecurities, and emotional pain, I was more than ready to step back and let this opportunity pass me by.
So, why didn’t I?
Honestly, there’s no inspirational reason. I didn’t overcome the fear or insecurity, and my emotional pain didn’t magically disappear, or become easier for me to deal with.
Instead, I got an email. An email personally asking me to submit a story for the anthology.
Mad. Very Mad.
Confession: I have a hard time saying no to most people. Especially if I’m asked to do something by a friend or someone who I look up to.
This is actually kind of funny (and kind of embarrassing) to admit, but when I opened up my email and saw that request, I literally slammed my fist down next to my laptop and yelled “Noooo!” at the top of my lungs like Luke Skywalker when he found out that Darth Vader was his father (I hope I didn’t spoil that plot twist for you…).
I was mad. Mad at the person who emailed me, and mad at myself for knowing that I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to say no.
So instead of being an inspirational/aspirational story, this is more of a spite-filled story with a lot of reluctance on my part…
Imagine me hunched over my laptop, muttering under my breath about the fact that I didn’t have time to write a story, and that even if I did manage to finish a story in time, it would probably suck and get rejected.
Like I said, I was not doing well emotionally at this time…
Writing The Story
I made several attempts at writing a short story—which all ended in nothing but frustration. Nothing felt right, and everything felt wrong.
It was getting closer and closer to the submission deadline, and I was getting closer and closer to giving up. But then I remembered a story idea that I came up with nearly five years ago… A story featuring a mermaid, and an interesting team of marine biologists.
Once I started, writing this story ended up being a lot of fun. I did all sorts of research on aquariums, dolphins, research teams, and of course, marine biology.
In fact, I got so caught up with researching for the story that I forgot about how frustrated I’d been before.
When I finally submitted the story, I was still in a pretty negative place, and didn’t really expect my story would get accepted, but I was still satisfied with how the story turned out, and pretty glad that I decided not to give up.
The Release Date
I’ll go into a little more detail about my short story and some more behind-the-scenes information as we get closer to the release date, but for now, here’s what you need to know:
The Fantastical Summer Anthology will be released on June 19th, so if you haven’t yet, be sure to join my newsletter so you’ll get all the important details about the release.
A lot of talented writers all came together to write stories for this anthology, and I’m so excited to see this book in print!
I’d also like to give a special shout-out to Vella Karman, who worked hard to put all of this together!
Before You Go…
What genres do you have a difficult time writing?
I’ve spent so much time writing fantasy and sci-fi that now I find it difficult to write anything else, especially if the story is set in our world, and in the present time.
Would you like to get better at writing short stories? Check out this article for some tips to make writing short stories so much easier!