Emma Forrest

If I had to pick my very favorite short story, it is possible that I would pick "The Grief Diet" by Emma Forrest. It was a gem in a so-so anthology about being 16. This story is very, very sad, but also very funny and light, with plenty of pop culture references. I'd describe it, but I think hers (and mine) are the sorts of stories that sound really dumb in synopsis.

I urge you to read it here via google books, even though they cut out one page.

When I first read it at 16 I emailed Emma and we corresponded for a while. She said that this story is the best thing she's written. I've read her novel Namedropper and I have to agree. I sent her my stories and she was nice enough to read them and encourage me to pursue with tomfoolery.

She is now a screenwriter and dating/ fucking Collin Farrell. So yay.

And LAWL, I just dug up what she emailed about a story I sent her. In case you care.

'It's really good Michelle! A tweak I would make would be to try and use language that's less "writerly" and more conversational, for example instead of saying "view her" why not just "look at her" or "watch her"? But other than that, it's really strong. Seems like something you could publish as a YA book? Some of them are incredible right now...'

OH and I responded,

"thank you sooo much! it really means a lot to me. and I agree with your advice. i wish you luck with all of your future writings!

~michelle"

I could kill myself. I didn't even capitalize things! And "sooo"?!