My 400-word, 13-sentence hybrid CNF piece , “Watching Your Mother Die” was partially an experiment on my part. As with many other writers, I am plagued by a myriad of insecurities. Especially with my debut YA coming out in a few weeks, I’ve been intimately aware of the anxieties I have around my writing. Is it good? Is it marketable? What if no one wants my book? While I am so proud of the book Twin Tides is, I’ve also found my creative energy fluctuating a lot in the past few years because of my debut journey.

So, “Watching Your Mother Die” was in part a revisiting of the joy of writing. Although, joy feels like a bit of a misnomer considering the piece’s subject matter. I remember looking for literary magazines that I felt would be a fit for my work, and was drawn by Centaur’s goal of publishing “experimental writing that pushes beyond genre definitions—a story on top and a prose poem underneath; half memoir and half tale; a fable connected to a memory”.

It was the last example that triggered me to write this piece and was challenged to stay within Centaur’s 400-word limit. As I was drafting, I also felt compelled toward extending my sentences long after the point I’d naturally stop. How much emotion, memory, and imagery could I stack atop each other before the sentence became unwieldly? How could that extended sentence structure magnify the surrealist nature of the piece, blending folklore and memory? I recall being so energized when I was drafting the piece and seeing it get not one, but two nominations from Centaur means so much to me.

If you are a reader who has been touched by my words, either through these 400-words or my novel that is out in just a few weeks, please know I am so immensely grateful. Writing can feel lonely, but I am blessed to always be in connection with you ❤️