Anna Stigen | Writer and Instructor

Writer. Teacher. Book Midwife. Occasional Novel Abortionist.

Story Writer

I have written horror short stories such as “The Hunger of Heather Arundel,” mercifully only available in hard-copy; a romance essay for The L.A. Times, despite being very lonely and single at the time; recently a poem I really liked called “The Wind is Drunk on Moonshine,” but the publisher misspelled my name and refuses my periodic requests to fix it, which makes me feel terrible…

My First Publication

My first publication was also a poem, which was published in a newspaper called The Daily News, when I was eleven. It was called “The Wheels of Eternity” and was styled upon the work of Emily Dickinson. It was a good poem, so I was pleased but not surprised when the editors accepted my submission.

I’ve realized, to my slight terror, that if you send pieces out, they will probably be published. Getting published is less about the piece’s worthiness than whether or not it’s a good fit for the publisher, which is actually the same way romance seems to work.

All that being said, I am not a poet, and I am most definitely not, at heart, a terrible romantic.

At heart, I feel best when I am working quietly and behind the scenes, acting in a supportive role for other writers.

I have helped many new writers become authors

If getting published is akin to courtship, then writing itself is the same as being pregnant – with the terrible difference that, at some point, dead or alive, the baby must come out; whereas, for the writer, you can keep writing and writing and writing, keeping everything inside you.

I have written two full-length non-fiction manuscripts. Also, there were a few stillborn novels, alas. But if you never let it escape, death is inevitable. I have coached many – something shy of a hundred, but over fifty – manuscripts to completion.

I have helped many new writers become authors. I have also worked in an editorial capacity for several award-winning authors. There are dozens of books in the world with my name on them in the acknowledgment section, almost shyly, as the author offers gratitude for my hard work – as well they should; dealing sensitively and expertly with someone else’s soul and words is hard, painstaking labor.

Aside from clients with existing contracts, I’m presently taking a sabbatical from my life-long work as a developmental editor to focus on bringing out some of my own shorter pieces, finishing a full-length work suitable for publication, and starting my teaching career. (If you have a terrible, urgent need to place your pages in my hands, fine; send a cover letter and a thirty-page sample from your manuscript creature.

Right now, I am declining work I genuinely like because I simply cannot make further time commitments, but at the very least, I will respond with a few friendly suggestions).

I am the founder of the Venice Writers Group, which has served as a touchstone of the literary community of West Los Angeles for well over a decade. I also taught creative writing classes with luminaries such as the late great horror writer Dennis Etchison, my beloved friend who died, sadly, feeling impoverished and unappreciated. His talent, but also his despair, has informed me as a writer; I realize that it is our responsibility to make a place in the world for not just our stories, but for ourselves and each other as humans. We need to be in a place of relative safety in order to create dangerous art.

At heart, I feel best when I am working quietly and behind the scenes, acting in a supportive role for other writers. My vocation will always be teaching and writing. Most of my “editing” slides into creative pedagogy. So that is why I am doing the slightly insane task of trying to complete a terminal degree as a single mother. Getting to teach undergraduate classes while struggling myself to turn things in – not just on time, but sometimes even at all – leaves me brimming with compassion and empathy for my students. I loathe grading and deadlines; I love students and their writing. It is as important to trust your students as it is to trust your readers.

In addition to horror, I am also an aficionado of folk and fairy tales.

I live in Santa Clarita. Inside my abode are swords, a crackling fireplace, movie posters, and dead butterflies on the wall. There are, at all times, lizards and sentient butterflies about.