“Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” ~ Ray Bradbury
Jalyn Renae Fiske
Speculative Fiction Writer
Magazine Editor
Teacher
Writing News
May 15, 2024
My latest writing guest blog post with Fabled Planet is out now on their site. I wrote about the "7 Steps to Structure a Story that Comes Full Circle" based on the necessary themes of home and changing life perspectives that create a successful final stage of the hero's journey, aka the Return. The hero's journey can be quite involved and overwhelming, but I believe my seven steps give a good framework on how to make a killer ending. I use the SF show Andor as my example. Take a look!
April 30, 2024
My story "The Quiet and the Creeping" is out this month. I was inspired to write it based on conversations I had with my grandma/abuela, who calls those buried in the cemetery "the quiet people." The story has wandering ghosts and horror undertones, but the complex relationship the elderly main character has with her daughter makes it a story that I think is relatable to anyone struggling with how to best care for an aging parent, and to anyone aging and struggling with how to remain capable and independent.
November 15, 2023
I'm extremely honored to announce that my story "Gather the Lightning" was published in the first issue of The Green Sheaf as a showcase of what the magazine seeks to publish in future issues. The Green Sheaf is the resurrection of Pamela Colman Smith's magazine of the same name in 1903. She is the artist behind the classic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. Enjoy!
September 27, 2023
I've been dabbling more in nonfiction this month and wrote a guest blog post for the UK-based publication Fabled Planet. The topic is "How to Create Meaningful Stakes in a Story," and I compare some SF stories in film and short format to analyze a story's stakes. Please read!