News & Blog

Keith J. Powell wrote a beautiful, insightful, generous review of my new collection HOW TO MAKE PAPER WHEN THE WORLD IS ENDING for the journal Your Impossible Voice (which originally published my story "How to Make Spinach-Artichoke Lasagna Three Months After Your Best Friend's Funeral" that now appears in the book.)

Even though I have now published two novels, I continue to enjoy working on short stories—and I believe that doing so has been integral to my growth as a writer. I wrote an article for Writer's Digest with five reasons why practicing your craft in the short story format is a way to hone your skills throughout your writing career.

I’m honored to have an essay up on the Brevity Blog about my writing process, particularly in birthing short stories and essays, and how it often feels like I am communing with ghosts. Does writing ever feel that way to you? An act of preservation? Not a want, but a need?

My YA novel BEFORE & AFTER YOU & ME will be published by Owl Hollow Press in 2023!! I have been working on this book for many years and it has gone through many iterations, but this kernel remains the same: an accident happens in the first chapter, and the story is told in alternating "before" & "after" chapters. And it is still a book about grief, regret, love, and the healing power of creating art.

I could not be more ecstatic to announce that my second collection of short stories, HOW TO MAKE PAPER WHEN THE WORLD IS ENDING, will be published by Koehler Books in June 2022! It will be released in hardcover, paperback and ebook – my first hardcover release!

The Best Week That Never Happened is the Gold Medal Winner in the Spiritual/Romance Fiction category of the Living Now Book Awards, which “celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books that can help us improve the quality of our lives.”

The Best Week That Never Happened is the Grand Prize Winner of the Dante Rossetti Book Award, which recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in Young Adult Fiction.

The Best Week That Never Happened is a Finalist in the Young New Adult category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

My first nonfiction book, tentatively titled 1,001 Ways to Be Kind, will be released in fall 2023 by Familius Publishing. Longtime readers of my blog might remember back in 2012 when I spent a year writing about various random acts of kindness. This book was inspired by that incredible experience. I believe that tiny acts of kindness make us happier, healthier, and more connected to each other — and to ourselves.

The Best Week That Never Happened is the Gold Medal Winner in the Young Adult category of the eLit Book Awards!

The Best Week That Never Happened is a Finalist in the Young Adult category of the American Book Awards!

“How to Create a Nurturing Writing Routine”

NEW BOOK DEAL! Immortal Works Publishing will release my next YA novel in February 2022! Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life centers around two characters who feel pressured by the outside world try to change into “better versions” of themselves, but learn that the people who truly matter are the ones who see and love you for who you are deep down inside. Can’t wait to share this book with all of you soon!

The Best Week That Never Happened is showcased on the “New Arrivals” podcast on NPR affiliate radio station KAWL (San Francisco)… click here to listen! (Featuring an exclusive excerpt from the book)