Stephanie Hoogstad
Bio
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and beta read as a freelancer for a few years with some published stories and poems of my own. You can learn more about me at thewritersscrapbin.com.
Achievements (1)
Stories (43/0)
The Hijacking of the Siberian Bullet
Larissa’s eyes snapped open at the sound of voices. She scanned her surroundings: six rows of booths separated by a carpeted aisle; windows with a blurred view of a frozen terrain; six other people, all looking as befuddled and panicked as she felt. A train. It had to be a train. Larissa patted her pockets and found her phone and wallet missing. She didn’t even have a ticket. All Larissa had were the winter gear and a strange, metallic-mesh hat someone had forced onto her. Beneath that, Larissa felt matching metallic-mesh clothes on top of her normal outfit. She tried to think back to when she got on the train, but her memories were fuzzy, and the effort alone triggered a migraine headache and auras.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Fiction
Seven Things You Don't Know About Migraines
I have suffered from chronic migraine attacks since I was ten years old. I’ve tried medication after medication, and every time it seems that one is working, it suddenly stops or has a weaker effect. The only thing to come close to consistently working has been Imitrex, the medicine I take to try and stop a migraine attack once it’s started. Prevention is touch-and-go at best, and I am just fortunate that my writing/editing/beta reading clients are usually understanding and flexible. After all, I never know when an attack might come on, even if I identify and eliminate my triggers (which seems almost impossible anyway since so much triggers them). Now, my doctor has started me on one of those biologics that you see on TV. Once again, it’s a game of wait-and-see.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Longevity
Beautiful Dreamer, Part Three
Day 8 Nelson-Casseus Suite ALL POWERFUL, Atlantic Ocean We didn’t talk about what happened after we got back to the room. We didn’t talk about it last night, either. We need to talk about it, though. Even if we don’t talk about how Jayden killed a man, we need to talk about what we do now. We can’t try the Captain’s radio. If there are still announcements going like this, someone is obviously still there, and we can’t take anyone on, not in our condition, and I severely doubt whoever’s there would be letting all this happen if they were serious about the passengers’ safety. A distress signal is just out of the question. Jayden is avoiding confronting the problem now, avoiding me, but if we’re going to get off this ship, we can’t go on like this.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Horror
Beautiful Dreamer, Part Two
Note: The following, and the other two parts of this story, was originally written for a themed anthology, Sick Cruising, through Notch Publishing House in October 2020. It has been republished with the publisher's permission. The theme for the anthology involves taking a cruise to escape COVID-21, or Red Lungs, a new strand of COVID with mysterious paranormal side-effects. Inspiration for the anthology comes from the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Masque of the Red Death.
By Stephanie Hoogstad9 months ago in Horror
Writers on Writing: Ernest Hemingway
About a month ago, I read an article on here by Following the Flow called "Why 'Write Drunk: Edit Sober' is Terrible Advice". The author discusses their own experience with trying this advice with disastrous results. In addition to being entertained, I was reminded of a post that I wrote for my blog, The Writer's Scrap Bin, over five years ago on the same writing advice. Unlike most people, I do not interpret that advice literally.
By Stephanie Hoogstad9 months ago in Journal
Beautiful Dreamer, Part One
Note: The following, and the other two parts of this story, was originally written for a themed anthology, Sick Cruising, through Notch Publishing House in October 2020. It has been republished with the publisher's permission. The theme for the anthology involves taking a cruise to escape COVID-21, or Red Lungs, a new strand of COVID with mysterious paranormal side-effects. Inspiration for the anthology comes from the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Masque of the Red Death.
By Stephanie Hoogstad9 months ago in Horror
Mad Malachi
The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It started when a full moon fell on Halloween and burned until Saint Walpurgis Night, when a new moon painted the sky black and the candle extinguished itself. The next Halloween, and every Halloween afterward, the cycle would begin anew.
By Stephanie Hoogstad9 months ago in Horror
Sledding, Hot Coco, and Mint Melt-Aways
My relationship with my dad has always been…complicated. On the one hand, he has done so much for our family. For years, he has worked at a job that he despises to provide for us. He’s always there for all my achievements, and he, along with my mom, comforts me when I’m sad. I’ll never forget how he held me while I held my six-year-old dog, a dog I had raised from four weeks old who was dying of lymphoma, as we waited to take him to the vet to put him out of his misery. On the other hand, my dad has had more than his fair share of issues. His temper is volatile. My childhood is wrought with memories of him punching walls, slamming doors, and throwing things. So much broke when I was younger that I now can’t bear to let go of anything or even let anyone else handle my stuff. And the swearing. I’m surprised I didn’t grow a sailor’s mouth sooner than I did. He’s never physically hurt anyone, but the emotional toll on my mom and me has been horrific and life-altering. My older brothers either didn’t witness the worst of it (they’re six and seven years older than I), have so warped a memory that they don’t remember it, or somehow justify it.
By Stephanie Hoogstad9 months ago in Families
- Runner-Up in After the Parade Challenge
The Soul Dragon
There weren’t always dragons in the valley. When the Great Hunt nearly decimated the world’s dragon population, Signoid Valley became one of many nature reserves across the nine continents set aside for the preservation and restoration of the few species that remained. The humanoids—witches, wizards, dwarves, elves, fae, and, of course, humans—thought themselves the great saviors of dragonkind for this generosity.
By Stephanie Hoogstad10 months ago in Fiction
