I'm a Philly artist with a rare book library day job; teacher and trapeze performer; many-projects pollinator; and queer married parent. Writing stories about demons. I love metaphor, systems, and emojis. 💐🔹 https://rilesmith.neocities.org
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Thrilled to share this first published work from my universe of demon-lover stories! 🐉🍅💥 As a disabled parent, "Marriage is Convergence" is extreme personal to me; it could have been written in my own blood. But nothing in this story is autobiographical except for the dueling top-volume iPads.
It was also fun for me to dig out my current stories - 2 forthcoming this year, 2 in submissions - and evaluate their 😈🪝✨
I so loved this practical tour of problematic opening paragraphs in short story submissions, from @devonhalliday.bsky.social - for sure, reading unsolicited submissions is a fast (and sometimes painful) education on what works and what doesn't!
devonhalliday.substack.com/p/red-flags-...
I'm setting off emoji fireworks 🎇🎆🎇 to celebrate an encouraging short-story rejection (with actionable feedback!) from a magazine I'd love to appear in 🎆🎇🎆
I'm so very very thrilled that my first demon story has found a home in print!
I can't wait to share more about this - it's a journal I'm so honored to appear in, and this story was a delight (and fever dream 😈🍗🍅💥) to create
As a writer/editor as well as theater maker, I have gotten to experience the larva-to-butterfly cycle of creative production from many vantage points. Whether it's 📖 or 🤸♀️, an outside eye who will lovingly but objectively encounter your work-in-progress is the highest gift.
Oh life! I'm hanging on! Moments pile upon each other, meaningless each by each, together resplendent and ephemeral. 🍁 Yesterday I pushed up into a bridge for the first time in 100 years, painted it, had a sweet call with my babe, then said goodbye to this foster cat who taught me what love could be
