Short story collection ROSE WINDOW released July 1, 2025
ROSE WINDOW is a 50,000-word novel-in-stories about three generations of the Grant family and their efforts to conceal family secrets. Set in pre-war Hastings-on-Hudson, post-war Brooklyn and Manhattan, and contemporary Long Island, the stories explore family secrets that can and cannot stay hidden as history repeats itself in haunting ways. As an episodic collection of stories, each one is told from the perspective of a different family member. From a mother sent off to a mental asylum, to her adult son later trapped in an attic by his wife and children, this collection shows the power of secrets and the lengths we will go to in order to keep them hidden.
Inspired by family secrets I discovered from genealogy research, the interconnected stories center on the Grant family. The stories take place in the early 20th Century to the 1970s in New York City and the Hudson River Valley. Questionable paternity, a stolen car, family hidden in a mental asylum, and a fake kidnapping surface in the stories.
Notable awards and publications
Inspired by family secrets I discovered from genealogy research, the interconnected stories center on the Grant family. The stories take place in the early 20th Century to the 1970s in New York City and the Hudson River Valley. Questionable paternity, a stolen car, family hidden in a mental asylum, and a fake kidnapping surface in the stories.
Notable awards and publications
- 2018 - Top 10 Finalist in WOW! Women on Writing Winter Flash Fiction Contest. Top stories selected by literary agent Jennifer Chen Tran of Bradford Literary.
- 2018 - Selected as a contributing writer for Craig Johnson's fiction workshop at the Looking Glass Rock Writers' Conference in Brevard, North Carolina
- 2016 - Second Place ($250) WOW! Women on Writing Summer Flash Fiction Contest
- 2015 - Honorable Mention in Fiction Carolina Woman Writing Contest
- 2013 - "Tuna Heart" published in Mused Literary Review
- 2009 - Selected as a contributing writer and received a scholarship to attend Melissa Bank's short fiction workshop at the Southampton Writers Conference
- Read more writing awards
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Behind the scenes
ROSE WINDOW published on July 1, 2025. Each week after publishing day I'll share a behind-the-scenes peek into each of the 16 stories in the collection.
ROSE WINDOW is loosely inspired by my time researching my family history. Many of my ancestors lived in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. I spent a week traveling around upstate New York in 2019 collecting more information about my family and learning the history of the area. Here's a peek into my experience:
Part 1: Family history research with visits to Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Poughkeepsie
Learn about a mental asylum where one of my ancestors lived for more than 30 years.
Part 2: Family history research with visits to a cemetery and the historical society in Hastings.
Learn where the rose symbolism comes from and why I retitled the story collection.
Planning a short story collection
I share how I started to see a larger story come together after I wrote a few pieces of short fiction.
Part 1: Family history research with visits to Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Poughkeepsie
Learn about a mental asylum where one of my ancestors lived for more than 30 years.
Part 2: Family history research with visits to a cemetery and the historical society in Hastings.
Learn where the rose symbolism comes from and why I retitled the story collection.
Planning a short story collection
I share how I started to see a larger story come together after I wrote a few pieces of short fiction.
Story #1 "Eyes"
In “Eyes” the father in the story has only one hand. Through my family history research, I found a record that one of my ancestors was born with one hand. However, through oral family history, living family today were told that this ancestor lost their hand in a wood chopping accident. This made me wonder about the possibilities of why someone would avoid telling their own family the truth. You’ll notice a nod to chopping wood, but the father’s missing hand in “Eyes” is attributed to an inherited trait that they don’t want to continue to pass down.
Part of my research also showed conflicting parentage records, which prompted this story’s plot. One of the things I remember learning in school was how eye colors are dominant and passive. Combinations of parents’ eye colors can produce certain colors in their children’s eyes. Using that as a framework, our main character Frank moves through this exercise in a school assignment. When writing this story, I drew out eye charts and mapped characters’ eye colors to each scenario.
Even though “Eyes” reveals a secret, we see Frank put in a position to keep the secret. Is withholding the truth a lie? I had a family tree project in the 7th grade. Without the Ancestry digital records that we have today, I had limited resources and couldn’t go back the 3 generations that the project required. I could have submitted the project with blank family records, but I realized that I shouldn’t forfeit my grade on a project just because my family didn’t have any knowledge of past generations. I also realized my teacher couldn’t verify the family tree accuracy, so I filled out the unknown parts of the tree with fake information (and kept that a secret until now) and avoided a failing grade.
A motif you’ll see throughout the collection are trains. Every story includes a train in some way. The train in “Eyes” serves as a bridge. It’s a conduit for the father to get to work each day. It also acts as a bridge for Frank to a place of wonder—New York City—but, more importantly, it’s a bridge between Frank and his father. The train is something they connect through and it helps them see the world through each other’s eyes.
In “Eyes” the father in the story has only one hand. Through my family history research, I found a record that one of my ancestors was born with one hand. However, through oral family history, living family today were told that this ancestor lost their hand in a wood chopping accident. This made me wonder about the possibilities of why someone would avoid telling their own family the truth. You’ll notice a nod to chopping wood, but the father’s missing hand in “Eyes” is attributed to an inherited trait that they don’t want to continue to pass down.
Part of my research also showed conflicting parentage records, which prompted this story’s plot. One of the things I remember learning in school was how eye colors are dominant and passive. Combinations of parents’ eye colors can produce certain colors in their children’s eyes. Using that as a framework, our main character Frank moves through this exercise in a school assignment. When writing this story, I drew out eye charts and mapped characters’ eye colors to each scenario.
Even though “Eyes” reveals a secret, we see Frank put in a position to keep the secret. Is withholding the truth a lie? I had a family tree project in the 7th grade. Without the Ancestry digital records that we have today, I had limited resources and couldn’t go back the 3 generations that the project required. I could have submitted the project with blank family records, but I realized that I shouldn’t forfeit my grade on a project just because my family didn’t have any knowledge of past generations. I also realized my teacher couldn’t verify the family tree accuracy, so I filled out the unknown parts of the tree with fake information (and kept that a secret until now) and avoided a failing grade.
A motif you’ll see throughout the collection are trains. Every story includes a train in some way. The train in “Eyes” serves as a bridge. It’s a conduit for the father to get to work each day. It also acts as a bridge for Frank to a place of wonder—New York City—but, more importantly, it’s a bridge between Frank and his father. The train is something they connect through and it helps them see the world through each other’s eyes.
Part of a 1917 document from my ancestor's military records where he attests he was born with one hand.
Story #2 "The Day Eleanor Arrived" | Behind the scenes coming the week of July 14, 2025
Story #3 "Ribbon" | Behind the scenes coming the week of July 21, 2025
Story #4 "Newsboy" | Behind the scenes coming the week of July 28, 2025
Rose Window is a work of fiction. The stories, characters, names, businesses, and events are products of the author's imagination. Certain places are mentioned, but the characters involved and their circumstances are wholly imaginary. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental. The opinions expressed are those of the characters and should not be confused with the author’s.