literary fiction Missy Matchstick literary fiction Missy Matchstick

San Quentin’s Hidden Library

A prison yard splits around two storytellers, one who offers wings and one who offers wounds. But as their voices start to braid together, the women listening discover that survival may require both the fantasy of freedom and the truth of what was lost.

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Writing The California Fever Dream

 

“Outside, the sky began changing colors like it was unsure which version of the sunset to run. A Joshua Tree caught fire, silently. Beautifully. And then reassembled itself in reverse.”

Static at the edge of 29 Palms

“She could taste the day. Hot pennies. Sunscreen. The faint chemical sweetness of melted plastic… She told herself this was normal. California normal. A climate that didn’t ask permission.”

What California Makes

“The heat was biblical and immediate. By the time she had crossed the wash and climbed the low rise beyond it, her shirt was sticking to her back and her thoughts had gone strangely bright around the edges.”

Roofline Blonde