Stephanie Hoogstad
Bio
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and ghost written for years with some published stories and poems of my own.
Learn more about me: thewritersscrapbin.com
Support my writing: Patreon
Stories (153/0)
The Witch of the Thirteen Crows
My murder surrounded me as I hovered over the child. I saw the fear in his eyes, the confusion. I must not have been what he had expected when wandering into the territory belonging to the Witch of the Thirteen Crows. I knew all the rumors that circulated about me online, and an old crone I was not. With a gypsy blouse, blue crescent moon pendant, and faded jeans, I screamed more “hippy” than “witch.”
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Fiction
How I Overcame My Fear of Heights
As a child, I was scared s***less of heights. More specifically, I was scared of falling from heights—any height. I was terrified that something would go wrong and that I would be sent tumbling to my death, or at least to some great pain. I couldn’t even stand on a chair without my heart racing and my legs shaking. Trampolines, flying too high on the swing, slides (burning my legs on a metal slide once did not help), the zip line in my friend’s vast backyard, heights were not for me, and that made me a less-than-adventurous child.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Confessions
- Top Story - October 2023
Can Creative Writing Be TaughtTop Story - October 2023
After reading Alexander McEvoy’s “How Do (I) Write?”, I commented on how the unique journey of a writer’s process cannot necessarily be taught, that it’s something that we must figure out for ourselves on an individual basis. Alexander McEvoy replied that he does not know if creative writing can be taught because it is so individual. This led me to wonder the obvious: Can creative writing be taught? If it cannot, then why do we have so many courses and workshops claiming to do so? Are we just all being duped by some big money-making scheme?
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Writers
Before Mary Shelley
Who do you think of when you think of the first female science fiction author? Mary Shelley? Yes, Shelley’s work Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has earned her a well-deserved place among science fiction and horror authors and made her a founding member of the science fiction community. It has certainly been one of the most influential pieces of science fiction of all time, especially when taking into account all of its adaptations. However, Shelley is not the first female science fiction author. In fact, she was at least 152 years too late for that position.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in History
The Nymph’s Melody
Wind danced through the orange and golden leaves. Darkness engulfed the night but for the full moon and a lone red-orange fire in the clearing. Wolves howled in the distance, mingling with the nymphs’ singing as they sat around the fire. The flames flared with the pitches of their notes and the beating of their deer-hide drums.
By Stephanie Hoogstad8 months ago in Fiction