Mermaid Renaissance

One of my favourite things about publishing stories is that once they get out into the world, sometimes they take on a life of their own. This past week, my mermaid story, “Apoptosis,” published back in December by Taddle Creek, had a surprisingly busy schedule. Here’s what it was up to:

• It became available to read on Taddle Creek’s website.

• It was mentioned as a recent favourite story by Jane Campbell on PRISM’s blog.

• My local library group linked to it on Facebook.

• Writer, Kathy Friedman, used it to teach something called “Freytag’s Pyramid” to her students. (I have since asked her to please teach me about this pyramid as well. Lesson pending…)

In the spirit of providing random support to stories that are out there pounding the pavement, my own favourite story of recent weeks is Molly Lynch’s “Acute Failure” published in Room Magazine, Issue 36.4. I really loved this story. It’s lyrical and raw, and so much larger than its word count. Check it out if you can get your hands on a copy!

Illustration of “Apoptosis” by Matthew Daley from Taddle Creek 31