Contest Runner-up: The Greatest of the Greeks

By Zenia deHaven The Trojans believed that Achilles’ heroics were exaggerated. Many tales of demigods were thrilling. Perseus slaying the gorgon monster Medusa? Incredible! The children frequently requested a retelling of that one. The older ones loved hearing about Perseus defeating the behemoth Minotaur in Daedalus’ dark labyrinth. The stories of demigods were not new to Trojans, but the rumors of Achilles were absurd. There were whispers that he slayed his foes without looking at Read more

The Merry-Go-Round: Queer Romance from the 1980s Onwards

By Theodore Boronkay Queer romance is a compelling example of social progress’ circularity. Instead of an incline, a hill where we become more enlightened with every step, human development is a merry-go-round where we return to a previous era after a full revolution. As Catherine, River McIntryre’s friend in the New Adult novel, Man o’ War points out, “If we could culturally lose the concept of indoor plumbing, who’s to say we won’t return to Read more

Alumni Contest Winner: Grace Land

By Sarah Pascarella Olivia discovered her bag was gone when she got up to refill her coffee. Her crucial mistake had been to place it at her feet adjacent to the café’s busiest path, easy to grab. The seat behind hers was close enough that the thief could have simply reached behind, nonchalant, as though to scratch an itch, and grasped the top handle’s durable fabric strip. Pluck. And it was gone, she made sure Read more

Contest Winner: Misinformed

By Amira Mazzawy “Apollo!” Zeus’ roar could be heard from anyone zooming through the clouds. Considering that Apollo was currently raising the sun over the northeast, he couldn’t miss it. Luckily he could call on one of the muses to take over sunrise for him. Otherwise he’d risk an eclipse, though the humans had seemed more fascinated than frightened over those in the last century. So Apollo snapped his fingers and appeared in the throne Read more

Cozy Fantasy, Self vs Traditional (Trad) Publishing, and Getting the Most Out of Your MFA with Author Rebecca Thorne 

By Zenia deHaven  Zenia: What sparked your interest in cozy fantasy? Are there other genres you want to explore in the future?  Rebecca: Cozy fantasy, at the time that I got into the market, was untapped potential. I found Legends and Lattes in a bookstore in March of 2022 and I knew based on my time at TikTok that it had just sold to Tor. I bought it because of TikTok and I knew that Read more