In "Accident," a short story published by YARN, Olivia, a high-school student and artist, struggles not to crack from the pressure of repressive teachers and rumor-spreading classmates. I am currently 25,000 words into the draft of a novel to expand this short story. The short story will also be published in "The Female Complaint," an anthology pending from Golden Fleece Press in Fall 2015.

Excerpt:
"I’d completely forgotten I had a paper due today. I realized it as soon as I sat down in my uncomfortable plastic chair in English class, and everyone else started shuffling through their bags to take out their neatly typed papers. I totally could have done it last night, but instead, I’d stayed up late working on a drawing for art class that wasn’t even due until next week. If I could, I would quit school and just take art classes, be an artist. But no one understood that about me, and there I was, practically handcuffed into my chair, wishing I could be home sketching instead.

We’d just finished reading “Lord of the Flies” and Mr. Drake wanted us to write three pages about the id, the superego, and the ego, but I didn’t buy that psychoanalysis bull. You didn’t need to be stranded on an island with a group of them to know that teenage boys were animals."

Read entire work: http://yareview.net/2013/10/accident/

As part of a collaboration with fellow Baltimore writers Mia White, Jessica Welch, and Justin Sanders, I aim to launch an organization to provide creative writing classes and tutoring. Similar organizations exist in New York, LA, and Annapolis; Baltimore's rich writing scene could benefit from this organization. Classes and tutoring would provide alternative education options for youth and adults as well as opportunities for Baltimore writers to share their knowledge. We aim to support the Baltimore writing community by hiring workshop teachers from the area and by helping local writers grow their skills. We also hope to bring in master writers for workshops as the organization matures. We are in the starting phases and plan to offer our first course in Spring/Summer 2015. I would use the money from this award for startup costs such as securing a venue for classes, engaging a professor for our first courses, and creating and hosting simple website.