The knight looked out over the rolling hills, hands on her knees and sword resting on the ground in front of her, ready to be snatched up at a moment’s notice. It was dark, with only the moon and the faint flickering firelight providing any visual on the surrounding area, but her eyes were sharp and well-accustomed to seeing in near pitch-black. The plains where they had made camp seemed to stretch endlessly, grass rippling...
Read moreby Savannah Jade Firm arms wrapped around my body as we lay atop a dark green crocheted blanket in the sand. Each grain molded to the contours of our figures, leaving imprints in the shape of mini sand dunes. Past his shoulder where my chin rested, my fingertips grazed the peak of the nearest dune, tracing the curvature of Earth’s natural occurring memory foam. The sand trickled down, forming a small waterfall that shimmered like...
Read moreby Meahgan Ferral In the dark of the woods, where sunbeams rarely kissed the ground and strangers never stepped, there was a small community, tucked away in the leaves and branches and dirt. I’ve lived my life there, in a cabin with my parents and sister. The two of us spent our childhood roaming beneath the trees with our parents at our heels, whispering in our ears to never wander too far, to never stray...
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Science fiction allures and enthralls because of the unique worlds each story holds. At the core of science fiction, there’s science: some new knowledge, discovery, or breakthrough. Then, there’s technology: how that science is applied, from daily life to a planetary or (inter)galactic scale. When you hear “science,” your mind might jump to physics, biology, chemistry—all those hard sciences. But don’t discount the social sciences, like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Blending together different sub-sciences leads Read more…
Romance is the genre that inspired me to write as a kid. It felt more welcoming and attainable, since I viewed it in an escapist light. I realized I didn’t have to take myself or my writing so seriously, but rather just try to write something fun, interesting and well-written. Another beauty of romance, no pun intended, is how central love is in our lives. Everyone wants to love and be loved in some sense Read more…
Our pulse quickens. Our eyes grow wide. We gasp for breath, shudder, and shrink back into our seats. Horror readers—and writers—are a true contradiction. As our favorite genre hurls us mercilessly into our deepest childhood frights, feeds us to monsters, and speeds us headlong into destruction and death, we’ve never felt more alive. What is it about wandering through words, away from the safety of the light, into the terrors of the darkness, through dizzy Read more…
Sitting amidst the woods with the golden glow of the sun, you watch satyrs run by with their flutes. Fairies zoom to join them. Well, except for one. She’s barely the size of your finger, but you still manage to see her smile beneath her wide eyes. The fairy offers a hand to you. Sound familiar? Fantasy is a genre known for bending reality in beautiful ways. Whether the world is based on our own, Read more…
In thrillers, good and evil are divided. Moral choices stay clear, though risks are high and calls are hard. For all the palpitation-inducing danger, for each acid spurt of adrenaline, what whiplashes protagonist and reader through each thriller’s plot is the knowledge that they have something worth saving. They are the ones who will fight for good. They are the ones who will face down evil. Mysteries can twist the reader’s perception with unreliable narrators, Read more…
I read all genres, but mysteries were there for me when the going was rough. During the hardest times in my life I engaged my overactive mind in high-stakes puzzles, in fictional webs of deceit, and in dropped clues and red herrings. Each mystery pointed out the truth: sometimes, life went sideways, the world went wrong, and people went wrong, too. I didn’t want to be gaslit into thinking everyone was safe. I knew that Read more…
By Arnine Weiss Suzanne stuffed a twenty into the pocket of her bike shorts and grabbed her cell phone. She saw that she had a missed call from her daughter, but she looked from the phone to the window. She had to get her twenty-mile ride in while the skies were still blue. Her grandson had had the sniffles yesterday, but she decided she could return the call using her headphones once she got on Read more…
By Evelyn Giffin On October 26, 2024, I had the honor of volunteering at the Boston Book Festival alongside many other Emerson students. This was an enriching experience for me because I come from a small town, and it was my first time at any book festival (besides the elementary school ones.) I saw so many readers and authors come together to appreciate the art of writing and show interest in a wide range of Read more…
By Ian Rossin (TW: blood, violence, graphic imagery, reference of school shooting) Blood splatters onto the hidden camera lens as the machine guns jutting out of the wall each fire a round of bullets into Senator Blake Balor’s body. A chime sounds, indicating death. “Finally,” John says, standing up at his control station to stretch. “That man was taking too long to die. What a jackass.” “What other fate would you expect for someone who Read more…
By Clarissa Janeen A dragon hungered for some fae Upon he wished to feast. Fear struck the hearts of all of them Who laid eyes on the beast. He gnashed his teeth and bore his claws. The fae were all afright. “Take heed,” said the old Faerie Queen, “We will survive this plight!” The goblins all took up the call To spread word far and wide For those the beast might gobble up To take Read more…
By Clarissa Janeen (TW: blood, violence against children) There once was a woman whose son was sickly. She took him to the fae so that he could be healed and found a faerie who was willing to help her, but in exchange, she had to make a deal to serve the faerie for ten years. The woman agreed and the faerie bound her wrist with the mark of a begonia as a symbol of her Read more…