My Adventures in Student Writing

Take a look at those five covers up there. These are the five anthologies I worked on while living abroad. Two of them are from Bhutan and three are from Kazakhstan. I've worked on a lot of projects in my life, but these are the five books I'm most proud of, and I didn't even write them!

These books were completely written by my teen and pre-teen students in Kazakhstan and Bhutan. (For the first two, I even went on a country-wide book tour with my students, selling most of our books at Buddhist temples. But you can read about all that craziness on my Medium page.)

Anyway, I wanted to introduce each one in case anyone's interested. You'd be amazed at the amount of creativity (and weirdness) on display in these stories!

The first is We Are Bhutan, the result of my first teen creative-writing group. We even designed a little mascot to appear throughout the book, a Himalayan black bear.

Very quickly after that, my students released Scary Stories from Bhutan, a direct result of how many spooky stories I got during the first round. It was a genre that a lot of my students were interested in, which makes the (mostly-family-friendly) all-horror collection extra fun!

(We used a crane for the mascot in that one. I loved illustrating him in his various Daffy Duck-style freak-out poses.)

After those two books were out, my travels in Bhutan came to an end and I relocated to Kazakhstan. Once again, my students were giant globs of creativity, so of course I had to continue these anthologies.

This time, the participating writers were given pictures for inspiration, along with a one-hour time limit. It was structured as more of a competition, with various prizes for the winners, but the resultant stories were just as wild as before, if not more so.

The first was Crazy Stories from Kazakhstan, which had a couple stories that were surprisingly emotional. I was really impressed.

(A snow leopard as the mascot.)

We ditched the mascot for the next outing, Writers of Kazakhstan 2022, which included some really cool stuff. A lot of our writers used their stories to grapple with their post-pandemic traumas, resulting in a memorable collection.

And finally, our latest collection, Writers of Kazakhstan 2024. After being out of the country for nearly two years, I came back to attend this event. Such a great time, and even though the participating writers were no longer MY students, I think they did an awesome job.

I hope you check out these books. They were a ton of fun to make, and it's so cool that over 200 kids are now published authors! They worked hard and they earned it.

Romancing the Rainbow

I’m really excited to announce the release of Romancing the Rainbow, a short story collection about queer couples meeting for the first time. This is a whole series of meet-cutes, basically, and it’s really fun and romantic. 

My story is called “Barley.” It changed a lot in the months before publication, but I’m really happy with it. Honestly, this collection is an absolute blast.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Hey, people! I am SO excited about this antho! It's middle grade horror! So think Goosebumps reading level. My story "Pale Blue" is a body snatchers riff set at a Utah boarding school. The Big Book of Things That Go Bump in the Night is really fun!

Mama Mermaid

 Killer mermaid time!

So a little girl wishes that her mom would turn into a mermaid. The results are absolutely horrifying.

That's the premise for my short story "Mama Mermaid" in the Elemental Cycle 3: Water anthology. I absolutely LOVED being a contributor for this collection. All the stories are creepy and wildly different. Eerie River Publishing absolutely kills it with everything they publish.

We even got to do a little YouTube live-reading before the book's launch. 

If you're squeamish, TONS of content warnings for this one. Too many to list, really. But it's a great anthology. Very spooky. And honestly a bit more "literary" than a lot of my stuff.

The Sirens Call

 The nights are getting longer and the days become cold...

Speckles of snow fall through the air, obscuring the dark, hidden things that wait just outside our vision...

It's wintertime, baby! And what better time to curl up and enjoy some dark fiction?

I present to you... The Sirens Call, a free magazine with dozens of stories that are strange, unnerving, and altogether perfect for the winter season.

My nasty little number is called "Dinner with Mama." Zombies are involved, and it's actually more heartwarming than you'd think. I wrote this a while back, and it was included in a horror anthology that has since gone out of print. I've always loved this twisted little tale, so I'm happy that it's found its permanent home with the sirens.

Kids Are Hell

 

An abandoned warehouse. A girl with a tail. Screams in an orphanage. 

My newest story "Nameless Child" is finally out. The anthology Kids are Hell is the latest anthology from Hellbound Books, and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this collection.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Kindness Matters

For those of you who know me, it might come as a surprise that I'm part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise. And yet...

This is my third story for them. It's a nice little mini-memoir from my time in Nepal. The topic is "Kindness Matters." And honestly, I'm really happy to be a part of this. I've used some of these Chicken Soup stories with my ESL students and they're always so charming. Little bit-sized bits of comfort.

(Cute, right? Kind ducks.)

And as far as publishers go, working with the Chicken Soup team has been amazing. They give you a bunch of advanced copies and offer all kinds of support. If anyone is an aspiring writing out there, Chicken Soup is a great outlet. (And every person out there has at least one real-life story that they could share.) Check out their calls for submissions. Seriously.

This story specifically was a bit hard for me, because I had to cut down a 3,000-word experience into something much smaller. Left out some specific details but kept all the big stuff.

Out of the three anthologies so far, I think I like this one the best. It has the biggest variety of funny/cute/dramatic/heartwarming stuff. Not sure how my story fits in that spectrum. Perhaps you could check it out for yourself.

And for the record, the other collections I was in were Life Lessons from the Dog and Grandparents, with one of my stories even included on their awesome podcast! 

Underground Monsters

Underground creatures. Everyone loves 'em... from Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers to, I don't know, molemen. The concept of weird beings living just under our feet has been the premise for several of my stories, including a particularly gnarly yarn in the San Cicaro anthology.

But this new one is a real doozy. The collection is called "Underground" from COLP, the eclectic magazine from Gypsum Sound Tales. Man, these stories are wiiiiiiild. Mine is called "Rosemont Hills Primary School" and it's about a little girl whose first day of first grade goes horribly, horribly wrong.

This one is not for the squeamish (or anyone with asthma).

Kotka and His Friends

I just had to share this. My friend Marina published her first English-language book. It's a short story collection about a cat named Kotka who goes on adventures throughout his little neighborhood. I was lucky enough to help her with edits and translations, so I've read through these stories several times. Always charming.

The ebook is out now!

 

The Devil You Know

Have you ever seen Needful Things? What about Bedazzled? Devil's Advocate? Every third episode of The Twilight Zone?

In The Devil You Know, the devil comes in all forms and in every genre of story. Mine is set in a primary school. That's all I'm going to say.

Check it out, and don't make any deals without reading the fine print. (Except when it comes to pre-ordering on Amazon. I'm sure their fine print isn't too damning.)

Cannibals Are Here!

Mark your calendars! On June 24, a new horror anthology is coming out. It's all about cannibals. I'm so exciting that my short story "Bert" is included. I wanted to write something extra-weird for this one. Please check it out. Preferably on an empty stomach!

Ghost Stories for Starless Nights

Ghost Stories for Starless Nights. If you're in the mood for something spooky right before summer, check these out. I'm so excited to have my story included amongst a pretty wild collection of ghosts and spirits and wandering travelers. Sit down beside the campfire and prepare to get the chills!

People. It's what's for dinner.

CANNIBALS! You know you love 'em. I sure do.

The glorious weirdos at Red Cape Publishing are releasing a series of horror anthologies. They're on letter C right now, which is where my cannibal story comes in. It's called "Bert," and it's about a chubby, little farmboy who has suspicions that his dad might be planning to eat him. Try to guess the twist ending, because I'm sure you won't.

This collection is very dark, very funny, and very... delicious? Can I say that? Sure. Why not? It's my blog.

The point is, check out C IS FOR CANNIBALS when it's finally served on June 24. And bring your appetite!

Crazy Stories from Kazakhstan

My students are awesome. No matter where I teach, I always find students who are creative and excited and eager to share their stories with the world.

That's why I'm so proud of this latest antho! Crazy Stories from Kazakhstan is a collection of student-written stories from the kids of Almaty. Killer teddy bears, aliens, dragons, curses... These stories have a little bit of everything.

And the craziest part? All the stories were written by non-native speakers in thirty minutes. That's right! We had a contest at our school, and students had to finish their stories (based on four secret photos that we gave them) in under a half hour! This is what they came up with.

And of course, I added some illustrations to go with their words. This time, the mascot is the famous Kazakh snow leopard.

This guy.

 Check him out in ebook form, or just email me and I can connect you with a PDF. We're raising money for a local charity, and this is just a little thing I could do to help.

Welcome to SAN CICARO

San Cicaro is a coastal resort town in California where strange things happen every day. I was lucky enough to be included in this travel companion. I wrote all about a local landmark called Missy's Diner. Come check it out or (better yet) visit San Cicaro yourself. 

So This Is Christmas...

And what have you done?

Another year older.

And you still haven’t read my killer Santa story in Deathlehem Revisited.

Shame on you. It’s the perfect reading material for when you’re curled up in front of the yule log. Or when you’re sitting next to the Christmas tree, shotgun in your lap, waiting for Krampus to show up. You know, typical holiday stuff.

A Bundle of Madness

Do you like HP Lovecraft? Do you like ghostly hitchhikers and fish creatures and ancient, tentacled gods who watch over us from space? Yeah. Me too.

That’s why it was such a pleasure to be included in the Lovecraftian anthology That Ain’t Right. The stories were spooky, retro, and surprising. Honestly, my story (“Passenger”) was one of the coolest things I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of it.

Now, the crazy cultists from Miskatonic Valley have decided to bundle that book with post-apocalyptic craziness, architectural horror, and a whole bunch of other random scarefests. Get the bundle, and you’ll have hours and hours of reading materials, dozens of creatures, and a whole lot of insane protagonists. It’s pretty awesome, is all I’m saying.

We Are Bhutan

Hi, everybody! My name is Karma, and I'm a Himalayan black bear. I'm so excited that my very first book just came out! It's a short story collection written by high school students in Bhutan. If you're at all interested in our little kingdom in the mountains, you should check it out! You'll have a bear-y good time!

Tales from the Crypt: My Thoughts

   

I love Tales from the Crypt more than pretty much any other show from my childhood (give or take a Buffy). This horror anthology series is insanely rewatchable, and even the bad episodes at least have a bit of gore or nudity (or both, simultaneously) to keep you coming back for more. Even the shitty puns circle back around from groan-worthy to funny just through repetition.

     

For a while there, it looked like M. Night Shyamalan was going to remake the series for a new generation. I was all on-board. Both Tales and Shyamalan love their twist endings. They’re also both wildly inconsistent, which I consider a good thing. I love when people (and shows) aren’t afraid to swing for the fences every time, even when they fail just as much as they succeed.

    

Unfortunately, it looks like the reboot isn’t going to happen. I’ve written a post-mortem for the would-be series over on Slickster. Check it out.

While You Were Sleeping

I love romcoms. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching a well-made romance about two completely different people who are pushed together in funny and exciting ways. These movies can have the hometown charm of Sweet Home Alabama or the quirky Britishness of Notting Hill or the satisfying snark of The Wedding Singer.

I’ve written a couple romance novels in the last couple years, and I feel like each one captures a slightly different romcom flavor. One of my earlier books—Waking Up to Love—has that American, wacky-side-characters, boy-next-door thing going for it. There’s also a coma central to the plot, and a plucky Sandra Bullock-type heroine. She won’t let anyone push her around, but she also isn’t the most put-together heroine on the block.

When I was asked to include this novel in Simon and Schuster’s new Hollywood Kisses anthology, I wasn’t surprised that my book would fit into the While You Were Sleeping slot. The plots have some definite similarities, but beyond that, the tone is basically the same. So if you catch yourself going back to the 90s cult classic, then you should probably check out the anthology.

And if coma comedies aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other romcoms represented in the anthology. That’s what so great about our genre. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.

(This is a Korean soap opera, also with the name "While You Were Sleeping."

I haven't watched it (and I don't speak Korean, but it looks like a trip.)