Behind the Story: A Witch By Any Other Name
The journey through writing and publishing a short story
My piece of flash fiction “A Witch By Any Other Name” was published by Metastellar: Speculative Fiction and Beyond on May 2, 2024. While I would love for you all to read it, I also want to use this as a learning opportunity. To draw back the curtains on this specific writing and publishing process for this story, and what was learned along the way.
Inspiration
Inspiration for this story came from multiple threads that ended up weaving together into something special.
The general conceit — a witch who lives in a cabin on the edge of a village whom people in the community come to for help — is something I’ve used in two other short stories. While that may sound rather one note of me, they were all very different final products. The first, “The Witch and the Runaway” (no longer available online) was a short but sweet intergenerational friendship story. The second, “You Make You Own Luck” (can be purchased or downloaded from Typehouse…
