A bit of history some may not know: Five years ago, I took a Zoom class, "How to Write and Publish a Personal Essay," led by my friend Windy Lynn Harris. It was during Covid lockdown, and since I couldn't visit neighbors or friends in person I figured this was the next best thing, a way to pass the time. I was bored, to be honest, so I figured, "why not?" I didn't have an MFA and I certainly had never thought of myself as an aspiring writer.

I had no idea, that day, that I'd soon publish my first personal essay, "Dancing On," at the wonderful Across the Margin / ATM Publishing (forever grateful to editor Michael Shields). I'll never forget the feeling I had the day it was published, or Windy's celebratory words, "Kelli, you're a writer!" Her guidance and encouragement truly changed my life, because it brought me here, to the writing community. To all of you.

So, here I am, five years later. And, honestly, I'm still a tiny bit shocked that any of this is happening. It feels like being six again and waking up on Christmas morning to find the best present EVER under the tree—one you weren't expecting, or counting on, but after opening, don't know how you lived without. I'm having so much FUN creating, full of joy and curiosity about what's next. The people I've met, though, are truly my favorite part of it all. I'm full of gratitude for the writing community—editors, readers, and dear friends. I wrote about it here, a couple of years ago, on my blog: https://www.kellishortborges.com/post/on-finding-community.

2025 has brought so many wonderful things my way. I received plenty of rejections, of course, which is just part of the deal, but I was lucky enough to have some editors believe in and publish my stories. Huge thanks to Keith Hoerner at The Dribble Drabble Review, Robert Vaughn at Bending Genres, Lynn Mundell at Centaur Lit, Laura Black at Fictive Dream, Michael Czyzniejewski at Moon City Review, Flashflood Journal, Francine Witte at South Florida Poetry Journal Soflopojo, Ben at BULL LIT, Tommy Dean at Fractured Literary, Melissa Flores Anderson at Roi Faineant, Jessica Klimesh and Tina Carlson at Hot Flash Literary, and Beth and Rudri Bhatt Patel at The Sunlight Press. I was thrilled to receive three nominations for Best Microfiction this year from Centaur Lit, Fictive Dream, and Moon City Review. Thank you, editors!

2025 also brought some really cool and fun opportunities I've never had before: Reading for The Wigleaf Top 50 (an incredible honor), judging a flash fiction contest for the The Sunlight Press: https://www.thesunlightpress.com/awards/ and interviewing two super-talented writers for SmokeLong Quarterly. Those interviews are here: https://www.smokelong.com/.../smoke-signals-with-lindsey.../ 

and here: https://www.smokelong.com/.../smoke-signals-with-gill.../

And finally—you're going to be seeing a little less of me in 2026 (don't worry, I'll still check in from time to time), because I've been working on that novel I've been (half) writing for years. The protagonist keeps talking to me, and she's getting louder and louder. I can't ignore her any longer, so I've signed up for Grant Faulkner's Jan Your Story at Memoir Nation, a writing challenge for the month of January—500 words a day. By the end of the month I should have over 15,000 new words, which (in addition to what I’ve already written) will get me close(ish) to the finish line! Want to join me? https://memoir-nation.mn.co

Happy New Year, Everyone! See you in 2026!