2024 Publications - Kelsea Yu

Since we’re halfway through December (somehow?) I thought I’d share my 2024 publications! As I was going through my site, checking which of these published this year, I was gobsmacked to realize I’ve published ten original pieces this year, had one story translated, and three more reprints produced as podcasts?? I’m really proud of these pieces! And, of course, I’d be really, really honored to have any of them considered for awards, but I’m also just excited to share.

Aside from my novel, if you want a copy of any piece, send me a message and I’ll send it your way! :)

As a reminder, you can always check my website for content warnings, links to read in all available formats, about the book/story, and short samples! For short stories, check here. For essays, check here. For books, go to the book’s page.

NOVEL

My debut novel came out this year!

It’s Only a Game

young adult thriller / horror novel

A gamer girl and her friends are blackmailed by a mysterious programmer into playing a dangerous video game with real life consequences—but the further into the game they get, the more she realizes the murderer knows too must about the past she ran from.

Published by: Bloomsbury

SHORT FICTION

I published five pieces of original fiction in 2024!

“Within the Pink Paisley Walls”

horror short story

A modern gothic story inspired by “The Yellow Wallpaper”—a lonely girl discovers an abandoned house with a presence claiming to be her dead mother.

PUBLISHED in: MOTHER KNOWS BEST (anthology, Black Spot Books)

“Carol of the Hells”

horror short story

A modern horror story inspired by “A Christmas Carol,” in which a woman who lost half her family in a house fire decades earlier has the chance to relive her worst moment and make a new choice.

Published in: The Darkest Night (anthology, Crooked Lane Books)

“Skittering Within”

literary / fantasy short story

A girl with eczema and a strange connection to the ocean begins to transform in strange ways.

Published in: Apparition Lit (magazine)

“Creature”

literary / horror short story

A woman suffers a miscarriage, but something escapes her body along with it.

PUBLISHED IN: Kaleidotrope (magazine)

“To Rise Again”

literary / fantasy flash fiction

Cozy apocalypse piece that won the February Apex Magazine flash fiction contest with the theme “falling skies.”

Published in: APEX (Magazine)

ESSAY

I published four original essays this year!

“All the Missing Mothers”

personal essay

A personal essay about fairytales in connection with maternal mortality.

PUBLISHED IN: Nightmare (magazine)

“Here in the After”

personal essay

A personal essay about miscarriage, ghosts, and anachronisms.

published in: Apparition Lit (magazine)

“Writing Chinese Food Into My Stories”

personal essay

A personal essay about writing Chinese food and restaurants into my stories.

published in: CrimeReads

“Kelsea Yu’s YA Thriller Recommendations”

essay + recommendations

Brief essay + recommendations for YA thrillers to read (9 recommended reads + 9 bonus recommended reads).

published in: Nerd Daily

TRANSLATION

Note: This is a translation of a previously published story and is not eligible for 2024 awards, but I wanted to share that it is newly available to read in German!

“A Scarcity of Sharks” (German translation reprint)

science fiction short story

In a future where (great) white sharks have not been seen for years, a team of scientists sets out to discover if they are truly lost.

published in: future fiction (magazine)

REPRINT

Note: These are reprints of previously published stories and are not eligible for 2024 awards, but I wanted to share that they are newly available to listen in podcast form!

“Obedient Son” (reprint)

historical horror short story

A 17th/18th century twisted Chinese folklore retelling.

published by: Tales to Terrify (podcast)

“China Doll” (reprint)

horror short story

A college girl begins dating a boy, but someone watches. (Themes of exoticism, transformation, and misogyny.)

published by: drabblecast (podcast)

“The Orchard of Tomorrow” (reprint)

science fiction short story

In a future ravaged by climate change, a woman tries to win back her former best friend by telling a tale of the Monkey King and the Peaches of Immortality.

Published by: Cool Zone Media Book Club (podcast)

New short story out in Clarkesworld!

My short story, “In Memories We Drown,” is now available free to read online over at Clarkesworld Magazine! It’s published as part of Issue 207, which can also be ordered via ebook.

Gorgeous cover for Clarkesworld 207!

BEHIND THE STORY

“In Memories We Drown” is my first science fantasy piece and my longest short story published so far. It was also the most challenging for me to write, in numerous regards.

Some stories, like “Wanted: Bone-White Skull-Patterned Lace Trim”, come out in a frenzy—the result of one weekend of typing away furiously. (Note: I did do one major revision for that story, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.) Other stories refuse to cooperate. This was the latter.

I wrote and revised “In Memories We Drown” over the course of a year, a process which included 11 drafts, 50+ hours, eight critiques, four brief interviews for research, and more words cut than I kept.

As I was talking to my friend, Maraia, about it this morning, I started thinking back on the origins. This piece was born from the skeleton of other stories. The setting, an underwater station, was one I originally imagined for a totally different (since trunked) story. Rosalie’s character arc was initially a piece pulled out of another finicky story that hasn’t yet cooperated (but which I still hope to get into shape someday). And the opening scene was one that has been vivid in my mind for a while now—inside an underwater lab, a bioluminescent plant pulses bright. It’s a story born of discards (those parts of the stories that I just couldn’t let go of) and one beautiful, imagined moment.

From there, I wove in food memories (the ones in the story were mostly sourced from friends and family, hence the brief interviews), a lot of ocean research, a dual timeline, and a love story.

The things I threw out mostly had to do with the challenge of world-building a story set underwater and how difficult it was to get Rosalie’s character arc to feel right. Usually, openings and endings come easier to me, and it’s the middle I find difficult. I kept writing and rewriting the middle, and finally realized that it was the ending that felt too cleanly tied up, to the point of feeling almost disingenuous in how I’d initially imagined it. It didn’t carry the right emotional wrap-up to match the rest of the story.

What I did land on is more of an open ending than what I usually write. It’s possibility without promise. I won’t say more because spoilers!

Also, I’ve learned that if I keep trying things and still can’t figure out how to fix a piece, I need to get some trusted eyes on it. The critiques I got from my husband, my mom, C.G. Drews, Jena Brown, Jill Tew, D.M. Vickerson, S, and Y.M. Pang were invaluable in helping me shape the story.

My story on Clarkesworld’s website!

Clarkesworld MAGAZINE

The much-beloved Clarkesworld is in no need of my endorsement, so all I’ll say is that it’s an honor being published in such a well-respected magazine for a second time.

“In Memories We Drown” was the first story I’ve ever submitted to a venue I’ve been previously published in. It’s been a dream come true having two of my three SF stories published at Clarkesworld. (My story, “The Orchard of Tomorrow,” was published in the July issue earlier this year.)

Thanks for reading my behind-the-story post about “In Memories We Drown”! As always, previews, story hints, and content warnings for all my stories are available on my short stories page.