I have a new story out about sloth tchotchkes, and capitalism, and sucky jobs in the latest issue of Bending Genres. This issue is filled with writers I admire, and I’m so grateful to the editors for giving this piece a great home. Please check out “Booming Economy.”
Author / Chelsea
Essay About Revenge Films at Electric Literature
My essay “Can a Revenge Movie Succeed Without Violence?” is up today at Electric Literature. It’s a critical response to the film Promising Young Woman and includes my thoughts on the 2017 movie Revenge. Warning: it does contain spoilers and discusses sexual assault.
New Publications Coming Soon
Happy Lunar New Year! I’m excited to say that I will have an essay coming out next week in Electric Literature, and a new piece of flash fiction in the April issue of Bending Genres. I’ve been pushing pretty hard in terms of submissions, so I’m hoping these are just the beginning of many announcements.
Lost Balloon Turns Four!
On Monday, Lost Balloon will turn four years old. I’m so proud of the magazine, and of the work I’ve done there. I’m so happy, too, that I was able to get Madeline Anthes to join the team at the beginning of 2019. I don’t know what I would do without her.
Lost Balloon has published two hundred stories, and has been featured in both the Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies. Pieces from the magazine have also made finalist lists for Best of the Net and the Wigleaf Top 50. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish this year, and I can’t wait for people to read all the excellent work we have coming up in the next few months.
Welcome to 2021
It’s been a quiet year for me in terms of publishing flash pieces, but I did a lot of work. I finished and revised a novel. I worked with a bunch of amazing writers over at Lost Balloon. I tried my hand at writing personal essays. I signed with a wonderful agent. I’m looking forward to 2021 and what it brings. Happy New Year!
Wigleaf Top 50 Longlist for 2020
I feel so proud to say that my story “Run” made the longlist for this year’s Wigleaf Top 50. This is my second year making the longlist. I’m grateful to the editors at Gravel, who originally published the piece, and the Wigleaf Top 50 editors, who I know spend so much time and effort on this list every year.
New Story at X-R-A-Y lit mag
My story “First Kiss at the End of the World” about climate crisis and kissing is up at X-R-A-Y literary magazine, accompanied by some gorgeous artwork by Bob Schofield. Please go read!
Queries, Pubs, and Podcasts, oh my!
I started querying literary agents for my novel. It feels a little insane and ghoulish to be trying to market myself right now, but I know that the entire industry is probably in the same mental space. We’re all confined to our homes, hoping our loved ones don’t die, and simultaneously trying to pretend like everything is normal and go about our daily lives, all while wearing face-masks, plastic gloves, and enough hand sanitizer to kill an ant farm. I’ve had some good response so far, getting several requests to read my full manuscript, so at least that is something to be hopeful about.
My flash story “First Kiss at the End of the World” comes out on April 23rd. It’s about love and climate crisis, but as you can tell from the title, it’s probably going to feel topical.
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast released the episode I narrated for them, where they discuss C.L. Moore’s story “Shambleau.” The piece is about a medusa-like character, a monster I’ve always felt a certain affinity for. This episode is not one of their freebies, so you will need to be a Patreon subscriber to listen.
Upcoming Work
I have two things coming up soon. The first is a story forthcoming from X-R-A-Y lit mag, and the second is a narration for the HP Podcraft Literary podcast. I don’t have exact dates for either yet, so stay tuned!
Interview with Jaquira Díaz in The Rumpus
Ordinary Girls, the debut memoir by Jaquira Díaz, will be published on October 29th by Algonquin Books. I spoke with Díaz for The Rumpus about monsters, the duality of the migrant experience in America, and what it’s like to reject or embrace the label of being an “ordinary girl.” You can read our talk here.
