I'm in the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and the Unexplained anthology!

[image description: The book cover for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and the Unexplainable. There’s a cloudy blue sky in the background with sunbeams radiating out and a dove with its wings open underneath. The tagline, “101 Stories of Hope, Answered Prayers and Divine Intervention,” is below the dove.]
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One of my goals for 2022 was to get into more anthologies. Prior to this year, I’d only been in one, The Columbus Anthology from Belt Publishing––the same publisher which later accepted Midwest Shreds. It was a great experience and inspired me to aim for more.

Along the way, I realized that anthologies are such a good way to try your hand at different genres. Earlier this year, I found out my first science fiction short story, “The Memory Store,” will be going into an anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction called Through the Aftermath. Later, I pitched an essay to an anthology called Gifted-ish, about the experiences of adults who were told they were gifted as kids and how that impacted the rest of their lives. My elementary school wanted to double-promote me from first to third grade and it messed me up more than you can imagine!

Through the process of seeking out anthologies, I kept hearing writers recommend Chicken Soup for the Soul. I read the books as a kid––my grandma had several and I liked that I could grab the book off the shelf, flip to any section in the book, and read a quick, inspiring and uplifting story. So I decided to go for it.

And it worked out! My essay, “Our Miracle House,” about how my husband and I found our home, was selected for the latest book in the series, Miracles and the Unexplainable. Although the process of finding the house was stressful at the time, several funny things happened in retrospect, so when you buy a copy you can get a good laugh at my expense. The stories in the collection will make you laugh, make you cry, and give you chills. We had a Zoom party with the other new contributors the other night and hearing more about the behind-the-scenes happenings that led to their stories raised the hair on my arms.

I also got to do a fun unboxing video since this was the first time a box of contributor copies of a book I’m in showed up at my door!

I’m extremely awkward on video when I’m not onstage or being interviewed, but I managed to get it together to make this in one take. And yes, I do carry that rainbow knife on my person. (I get harassed by men on the street, okay!)

All of this is to say that if you like wholesome, inspirational stories, you’ll like this book! Get yourself a copy :)