The months are getting colder, but we're staying hot! October had our alumni and students catching the attention of the New York Times, LA Magazine, Voyage LA, and Writer's Digest, plus a glowing Kirkus review, short stories published, and so much more! Check out everything our students, alumni, and faculty got up to last month below, and pick up a few of their books while you're at it!
FELICITY LANDA - Poem Published
Felicity Landa's poem "Primary Care" was included in "Enduring Voices" Literary Magazine.
The authors and artists in "Enduring Voices" capture the reality of living with various medical conditions and types of neurodivergence (whether their own or their loved ones’) with unflinching honesty and vulnerability. They re-affirm autonomy over invisible illnesses or hidden personal struggles and their stories emphasize the resilience required to live through each day. Featuring personal essays, poems, and original visual artworks, this collection of voices encompasses how varied our everyday lives are from each other’s.
"Enduring Voices" | Author Website
JAIME PARKER STICKLE - LA Magazine Review
LA Magazine featured Jaime Parker Stickle's debut novel, "Vicious Cycle," in their article "By the Book: 5 New Reads for Fall."
“Vicious Cycle” was included in the list with a memoir by renowned journalist Susan Orlean, a debut novel by Reese Witherspoon and bestselling author Harlan Coben, a supernatural love story by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan, and a transformational playbook for women by Erin Gallagher.
LA Magazine | "Vicious Cycle" | Author Website
HEATHER SCOTT PARTINGTON - Alta Article Published
Alta Journal published Heather Scott Partington’s article “Literature That Belongs to Us.”
Literature That Belongs to Us: In this newsletter, drawing on John Freeman’s vision in California Rewritten, a critic and teacher argues that when students read essential California books, they develop a sense of authority and belonging.
"Literature That Belongs to Us" | Author Website
SANDRA SMITH - Short Story Published
Sandra Smith's short story "She the Witch" was published by Corvid Queen.
"On this morning, she is outside in her garden before the sun rises. She claws aside dry brown foliage and withered vines and lays her palm on the earth, feeling for movement. Already there is frost on the leaves, and eyeless animals are tunneling deeper into the loam ahead of the killing cold. She thinks the winters have grown colder, longer. But perhaps it’s just her skin grown thinner on her lean frame, lack of spare flesh, her sluggish blood. She rises, pressing dirt-black fingertips against her lower spine. She sees motion in the scrim of trees at the far border of her garden, where the orchard begins. A doe and her fawn foraging in the detritus of autumn."
"She the Witch" | Author Website
CATE DICHARRY - Named Writing Program Director
Cate Dicharry was announced as the next director of Iowa's International Writing Program.
"Cate Dicharry, former executive associate director of operations for IWP, will become the program’s next director in January. Merrill says her history with the organization will allow her to “take up the reins with no pause.”"
ASHLEY GRANILLO - Voyage LA Interview
Voyage LA interviewed Ashley Granillo about her work.
“I wrote my first book when I was 5 years old for the Student Author Project at Telfair Elementary School in Pacoima, California. Seeing my ideas unfurl on the page, bound into a forest green hardcover, with my name etched in gold lettering solidified the rest of my writerly journey.”
Voyage LA Article | "Cruzita and the Mariacheros" | "Choir Grrrl" Pre-Order | Author Website
JAIME PARKER STICKLE - Voyage LA Interview
Voyage LA interviewed Jaime Parker Stickle about her work.
“For so much of my life as an artist the advice that was given to me was to say yes to every opportunity that presented itself. And most of those opportunities were unpaid. Am I grateful for every opportunity, absolutely, but now I can release the part of me that always said yes and put herself last. That feels like a huge adult breakthrough.”
Voyage LA Article | "Vicious Cycle" | Author Website
TJ TRANCHELL - New York Times Book List
TJ Tranchell's book "Cry Down Dark" was included in the New York Times "50 Scary Books to Read for Halloween" list.
Peter Toombs never stopped loving Diana Ward. Not after they broke up; not after she married someone else; not after she died. His obsession prompts him to lease Diana's childhood home in the small Utah town of Bern. He is convinced that if he lives there, she will come back for him.
New York Ttimes Article | "Cry Down Dark" | Author Website
TOD GOLDBERG & IVY POCHODA - Short Stories Published in Best American
"The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025" was published with stories from Tod Goldberg and Ivy Pochoda.
“While a single sentence can turn a novel, a single word can turn a short story,” writes guest editor Don Winslow. The pieces featured in this collection hinge on those small, exacting moments that shock, spook, delight, and change a story entirely. A disgraced ex-cop approaches a crossroads with his ex-wife and new neighbor, pistol in hand; an ill-advised acid trip reveals the dark side of a twisted friendship; a hardened hit man struggles with his latest target. Full of dramatic twists, subtle clues, and chilling reveals, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025 will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last shoe drops.
"The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025" | Tod Goldberg Website | Ivy Pochoda Website
BRIAN ASMAN - Short Story in Anthology
Brian Asman's short story will be included in the Waterborne horror anthology.
Featuring stories by Z Brewer, Heather Graham, Nancy Holder, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, and many more, “Waterborne” is a horror anthology of the monsters that inhabit the water. Kickstarter will run through November 20, 2025.
"Waterborne" Kickstarter | Author Website
TRAVIS HEDGE COKE - Novel Published
Travis Hedge Coke released his new novel, "The Complete Adelessa."
The Complete Adelessa is every fiction the fanfiction-turned-OC online writer, Adelessa, who is said to have been younger than seventeen when she began, is known to have posted. Science fiction. Dramedy. Romance. Adventure. Horror. Travelogue. Bedroom farce. Autobiography? Including intimate commentary by fans and scholars, exploring her influence on online fiction (not much), relative anonymity (relative), and the threat which seems to loom in her entire inexplicable existence (substantial). There's also some apocryphal pieces you can peruse at your own risk.
"The Complete Adelessa" | Author Website
ASHLEY GRANILLO - Kirkus Review
Ashley Granillo's upcoming novel, "Choir Grrrl" was reviewed by Kirkus.
"The daughter of a former rock star in Los Angeles is torn between playing in a band with her sisters and her wish to sing in a choir....Warm and funny with strong, realistic characters, Granillo’s sophomore novel explores issues including parental conflict and the representation of girls, women, and Latine people in rock. Mexican American Alondra navigates dating as someone who is asexual and “probably aromantic.” An emotional, well-realized story about finding your voice." - Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Review | "Choir Grrrl" Pre-Order | Author Website
JAIME PARKER STICKLE - Writer's Digest Article
Writer's Digest covered Jaime Parker Stickle's successful query letter to Dara Hyde.
“It was short but to the point and other than no bio, it was a great succinct pitch. And she followed some of the tips from a query workshop of mine she attended! My path to working with Jaime started months before her official query. There are many paths to connecting with an agent, from cold queries, to referrals, to meeting an agent at a workshop or conference. With Jaime it was the latter."
Writer's Digest Article | "Vicious Cycle" | Author Website
Are you a student, alum, or professor with amazing news we should be shouting about? Email heather.scheeler@ucr.edu with all of your new awards, publications, articles, and anything else incredible that deserves a shout out!