New essay out in Nightmare!

My essay, “All the Missing Mothers,” is now available free to read online over at Nightmare Magazine! It’s published as part of Issue 136, which can also be ordered via ebook.

BEHIND THE ESSAY

Since this piece is nonfiction, it speaks for itself, so I won’t dive too deep into the inspiration. What I do want to say is that this is the most personal nonfiction piece I’ve ever written. It was a raw subject that I couldn’t speak about for a long time.

Since this piece has come out, I’ve had many kind readers reach out to me to share what it’s meant to them and how isolated they felt at the time. As much as I wish it was less common an experience, it’s felt heartening to know it has reached others in a meaningful way.

Please note that the subject matter is heavy for this piece! Content warnings below.

About the Essay

Personal essay about fairytales in connection with maternal mortality.

Content Warnings

childbirth, blood, medical, near death

Beautiful cover for Nightmare 136!

My essay on Nightmare’s website!

NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE

Nightmare has been one of my favorite magazines for years! I discovered it early on my journey into the world of short fiction. I read it regularly and am a subscriber. It’s been a dream of mine to have a piece out at Nightmare, so I’m thrilled that this essay—one that means so much to me—is published with them.

Thanks for reading my behind-the-essay post about “All the Missing Mothers”! As always, previews, about the essay, and content warnings for all my essays are available on my nonfiction page.

New short story out in Clarkesworld!

My short story, “In Memories We Drown,” is now available free to read online over at Clarkesworld Magazine! It’s published as part of Issue 207, which can also be ordered via ebook.

Gorgeous cover for Clarkesworld 207!

BEHIND THE STORY

“In Memories We Drown” is my first science fantasy piece and my longest short story published so far. It was also the most challenging for me to write, in numerous regards.

Some stories, like “Wanted: Bone-White Skull-Patterned Lace Trim”, come out in a frenzy—the result of one weekend of typing away furiously. (Note: I did do one major revision for that story, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.) Other stories refuse to cooperate. This was the latter.

I wrote and revised “In Memories We Drown” over the course of a year, a process which included 11 drafts, 50+ hours, eight critiques, four brief interviews for research, and more words cut than I kept.

As I was talking to my friend, Maraia, about it this morning, I started thinking back on the origins. This piece was born from the skeleton of other stories. The setting, an underwater station, was one I originally imagined for a totally different (since trunked) story. Rosalie’s character arc was initially a piece pulled out of another finicky story that hasn’t yet cooperated (but which I still hope to get into shape someday). And the opening scene was one that has been vivid in my mind for a while now—inside an underwater lab, a bioluminescent plant pulses bright. It’s a story born of discards (those parts of the stories that I just couldn’t let go of) and one beautiful, imagined moment.

From there, I wove in food memories (the ones in the story were mostly sourced from friends and family, hence the brief interviews), a lot of ocean research, a dual timeline, and a love story.

The things I threw out mostly had to do with the challenge of world-building a story set underwater and how difficult it was to get Rosalie’s character arc to feel right. Usually, openings and endings come easier to me, and it’s the middle I find difficult. I kept writing and rewriting the middle, and finally realized that it was the ending that felt too cleanly tied up, to the point of feeling almost disingenuous in how I’d initially imagined it. It didn’t carry the right emotional wrap-up to match the rest of the story.

What I did land on is more of an open ending than what I usually write. It’s possibility without promise. I won’t say more because spoilers!

Also, I’ve learned that if I keep trying things and still can’t figure out how to fix a piece, I need to get some trusted eyes on it. The critiques I got from my husband, my mom, C.G. Drews, Jena Brown, Jill Tew, D.M. Vickerson, S, and Y.M. Pang were invaluable in helping me shape the story.

My story on Clarkesworld’s website!

Clarkesworld MAGAZINE

The much-beloved Clarkesworld is in no need of my endorsement, so all I’ll say is that it’s an honor being published in such a well-respected magazine for a second time.

“In Memories We Drown” was the first story I’ve ever submitted to a venue I’ve been previously published in. It’s been a dream come true having two of my three SF stories published at Clarkesworld. (My story, “The Orchard of Tomorrow,” was published in the July issue earlier this year.)

Thanks for reading my behind-the-story post about “In Memories We Drown”! As always, previews, story hints, and content warnings for all my stories are available on my short stories page.

New short story out in Reckoning!

My short story, “A Scarcity of Sharks,” is now available free to read online over at Reckoning Magazine! It’s published as part of Issue 7, which can also be ordered via ebook or print book.

Cover of Reckoning 7: creative writing on environmental justice, featuring an illustrated ship and wave in a gradient of warm pastels.

Gorgeous cover for Reckoning 7!

BEHIND THE STORY

One thing I’ve been wanting to do with these blog posts is share behind-the-story of various pieces. To explain how “A Scarcity of Sharks” came about, I first need to tell you about a different piece.

In 2020, I was working on a novel that required extensive research. I consumed over 70 pieces of media (nonfiction books, novels, movies, podcasts, documentaries), including a fair number which focused on sharks and oceans.

Here’s the (sad? funny?) thing: I never finished that novel. It’s the book I was writing during NaNoWriMo 2020 (I reference it in the Afterword to Bound Feet and in my podcast interview on Dog-Eared Nightmares). And aside from the trauma that abruptly stopped my work on that book, the story’s needs had grown out of control. All that research I did still didn’t feel like enough for the scope of the piece I’d planned to tell.

I still hope to return to that novel someday. But in the meantime, something was born of all that research.

Sharks have been my favorite animals for a very long time. I was vaguely aware that humans are killing off sharks, that we are hurting our oceans on a large scale. But I didn’t understand the extent of it until I began researching sharks and oceans on whole. I had thought to learn about these fascinating creatures and the alien environment in which they inhabit, but every single book and documentary included a plea to all of us. To care. To save our oceans. To stop killing sharks.

With that in mind, I began writing “A Scarcity of Sharks.” It was my first near-future sci-fi/climate fiction short story.

Screenshot of reckoning.press front page featuring short story "A Scarcity of Sharks" by Kelsea Yu.

It’s always fun seeing my story on the front page of a magazine when it’s just been released! Here it is at Reckoning on launch day.

RECKONING MAGAZINE

When I saw that Reckoning, a magazine dedicated to creative writing on environmental justice, had an open call specifically seeking ocean-themed stories, I sent them my shark story immediately. I was absolutely thrilled to receive an acceptance from Octavia Cade, the fiction editor for Issue 7 (who is also an accomplished writer)! I knew I had found the perfect home for this piece.

That’s the story behind “A Scarcity of Sharks!” Thanks for reading my behind-the-story post. As always, previews, story hints, and content warnings for all my stories are available on my short stories page.