Description: Tea is so much more than dried leaves and boiling water. Excerpt: I’m struck by the way the wet green tea leaves look as though they’re the result of a fortune-teller’s reading, and I wonder what their message might be.

Description: A lot of people buy grocery store flowers. Sometimes they need a little help. Like Jack. Excerpt: The boy was still hovering as she returned to her station. She tucked her cup behind a roll of ribbon on the work-desk below counter-height a...

Description: A lot of people buy grocery store flowers. Frank is one of them. Excerpt: Daisy had gotten into the habit of taking her break at the same time the old man – Frank was his name – showed up. At least, she did so whenever she could.

Description: How do I process unimaginable situations? With music. Excerpt: Whether it’s angry-girl rock that helps us find our inner strength, a lullaby sung to a fretful or fearful child, or a silly pop number that helps us rediscover joy,

Description: The first bit of a new story. Total WIP. Opens in a cafe in Mexico. Excerpt: The server appears. He’s wearing a nametag that says “Carlos,” but every server she’s ever met here has been called “Carlos.” They’re always kids, these servers.

Description: A circus clown faces the prospect of retirement. Excerpt: When the crowds were thin, though, and the children screamed with fear instead of laughing at their antics, the blue teardrops appeared at the corners of their eyes,

Description: Part 4 of a series that began with “Steeping” in 2013. A Sarah & David tea story. Excerpt: Sarah dropped into the chair David had pulled out for her, taking in the bouquet of daisies in a glass vase,

Description: Inspired by a tweet from my friend Jancis last year, and written for 2016 HorrorDailies. Excerpt: “Greta? Greta who mixes weed into green smoothies Greta?” Yvette had never really gotten along with her,

Description: Part 3 of a series that began with “Steeping” in 2013. A Sarah & David tea story. Excerpt: “I didn’t want it to be ‘fine,’” Sarah snapped, though the look on her face made it clear that she hadn’t meant to speak quite so sharply.

Description: Technically a piece of Gotham fanfic, but you’d never know it if I hadn’t told you. (Note: I thought this was from 2016, but I wrote it in 2015.) Just a quick ficlet. Excerpt: Surprisingly, it’s not the mook holding your bodyguard’s head,