SmokeLong Quarterly And Reckon Review

This week has been crazy with two publications on the same day!

SmokeLong Quarterly has been on my list of dream pubs for years. I first submitted to them in the fall of 2016. It took ten tries until I finally landed an acceptance (not including their micro competition).

I think the story they chose, in ache, is definitely a good representation of what I have been trying to accomplish as a Native Hawaiian writer. The experience was positive. I appreciated the thoughtful edits Christopher Allen offered. I am also grateful to Amy Cippola Barnes for her wonderful interview.

I would also like to honor Sarah Freligh for her workshop that inspired this story. I knew it was a banger as soon as I wrote it. So much so that I subbed it to Craft Literary’s Short Story contest - tiered rejection - and then to SmokeLong right after.

When Meagan Lucas at Reckon Review accepted my piece Coming Home, I was so happy. I have been wanting to be in Reckon Review since last year. I love Meagan’s aesthetic and kept hoping she’d find something she’d like in my writing.

Thanks goes to Tommy Dean for the Carver workshop he hosted last fall where this piece originated, and special thanks goes to my amazing and inspirational friend, Kelle Schillaci Clarke, for treating my broke butt to it!

Today, I am beyond grateful for these publications and all of the people who have helped me. Thank you my friends! Sending light, love, and many acceptance to you all! For those at AWP, stay safe and enjoy!!