• Essays,  General Thoughts

    The Tooth Fairy

    The Tooth Fairy, 10-8-14 The night my youngest sister was born was also the night I lost my first tooth. I will never forget that night. I didn’t realize until much later how significant that night was. It was the first time the tooth fairy visited me, before I realized the true origin of the tooth fairy. I thought about that tonight, as my son lost his top front tooth. I had to drive to my mother-in-law’s house to get a dollar for the tooth fairy to leave behind. I should have been more prepared, considering that the tooth was barely hanging on. While friends’ kids may get more money…

  • College Short Stories,  Short Stories

    Too Much

    My first publication and also my first time writing from a male point of view. I wrote this short story when I was in college for a Fiction Workshop. I made a lot of revisions based on feedback from my classmates, who thought it was confusing at first.  I submitted my final draft (my third) for consideration in New Mexico Highland University’s student edited Sendero Literary Journal my last semester in college, which was spring 2003.  Her jeans are on the floor where she left them, one leg inside out. The dark red curtains are closed because she changed here yesterday. It’s better that the sun can’t shine in today. I…

  • Artwork,  General Thoughts,  Novels (my writing updates)

    Caroline’s Lighthouse

      My first new project is the rewrite of a book-length story, Caroline’s Lighthouse,  which I first wrote in early 1997 when I was 15. By “wrote” I mean the first draft was written in pencil on notebook paper. It’s a teenage love story with tragedy and a ghost story happening in the background. I drew the illustration on the book cover  in 1998 when I was 16 or 17. I am now working on the final rounds of edits and plan to go the Indie publishing route. My goal is to have the book available in made-to-order trade paperback and Kindle editions by the end of 2016. -Brandi Easterling Collins