Writing
Awards
Short Stories
Sneaking for Songs (and a Bit of Thievery, Too) (2023)
First Place for the King Prize for Writing Science Fiction at the 2023 MIT Ilona Karmel Awards
That Must Have Been One Killer Croissant (2021)
First Place for the King Prize for Writing Science Fiction at the 2022 MIT Ilona Karmel Awards
Manuscript
The Antithesis (2018)
Silver Key for the 2019 NJ Scholastic Writing Awards
Science Writing
The Effects of Increasing Binder Concentration on the Fracture Force and Vibrancy of Watercolor Paint (2022)
Second Place for the Boit Prize for Engineering Writing at the 2023 MIT Ilona Karmel Awards
Pelagic
June 2020 - Present
I've been working on a secondary-world fantasy called Pelagic, the first book in a trilogy. It's inspired by Greek Mythology, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Legend of Korra, and the Endless Ocean games. The main story takes place in a setting based on the Eastern Mediterranean with a 1930s level of technology. I finished the rough draft January 2023, and now I'm revising and rewriting the story for the 2nd draft, part of which I submitted for my creative writing thesis. I hope to professionally publish the series.
Kill Your Darlings Writing Group
June 2020 - Present
Every week I meet with a group of MIT grads to workshop our writing, discuss books, and hang out. During each session, I provide feedback on what I enjoyed about each piece and how it can be improved by analyzing structure, character, syntax, and other elements key to the craft of writing. I adore this writing group and have had so much fun and learned so much from my peers! The picture to the right features our Halloween session; I'm dressed as my favorite character of all time (Crowley from Good Omens).
"Kill Your Darlings" sounds a little morbid, but it's a writing term that means that sometimes you need to cut-out parts of your writing that you love if they hinder the larger work -- it's all about editing!
The Antithesis
2015 - 2018
Throughout high school, I worked on my first novel, The Antithesis. I completed the rough draft and revised it to a second draft in 2018; I earned a Silver Key from the NJ Scholastic Writing Awards for the novel. I illustrated the story and printed author's copies using Kindle Direct Publishing, though I didn't publish it. I played around with the idea of going by a pen name (Laurel B. Alder), though I've decided to publish under my real name in the future. Although I don't plan to professionally publish The Antithesis, I learned so much about who I am as person and as a writer from working on it. Maybe one day I'll return to it.
