My Writing: The Ghosts of Grief (a short story)

Back in December, I had the opportunity to participate in Write Pittsburgh’s Holiday Ghost Story Writing Workshop. My short story, “The Ghosts of Grief,” was published in their 2024 Holiday Spirits Anthology.

The workshop was in mid-December, with a tight turnaround to submit. I had signed up as soon as I saw the details, knowing full well that it was going to be a challenge to write and submit a proper short story worthy of being published among all of the holiday madness. But I couldn’t resist!

I love a ghost story, of any variety. (And I have 25,000 words of an embarrassing AF ghost romance I wrote when I was in my peak Twilight fandom days to prove it). (Actually, scratch that, I still love that story and it may yet see the light of day again).

Since Write Pittsburgh is a pretty inclusive org, I knew that the workshop wasn’t going to be strictly Christmas-themed stories. The prompts we received to kick off the workshop ran the whole gamut, from more traditional holiday tales to more modern spooky stories.

What I didn’t know or expect when I signed up was that I would be going through a personal struggle: my dad was in the hospital for most of December (he’s fine). But it triggered a lot of old, undealt memories and traumas.

There was a Christmas many moons ago where we almost lost him. I was only 19, back home from my first semester ever at college. It was a hugely transformative time in my life for a lot of reasons, but also ones of the hardest times (and I’ve seen a lot of shit, so I don’t say that lightly).

I used to joke (except it’s not really a joke, as most writers probably know) that my best writing always came about from times of heartache. Writing was a method of therapy for me when I was younger. And apparently, it still is. Sometimes.

I sat down to write my ghostly tale after a lot of introspection about life, death, and the grieving process. I was haunted myself – grief has a way of showing up unexpectedly, just like a ghost who won’t leave you be.

“The Ghosts of Grief” was the result. It is a gothic story of a haunted widow on a lonely, cold, winter solstice night. It is a deeply personal story that I am quite proud of.

You can read the 2024 Holiday Spirits Anthology in its entirety, or check out my story on page 29. I highly suggest you read them all, though!

The workshop was brilliant. Not only did I make new writer friends, but we laughed, supported each other, cried together…it was one of my favorite workshops. I loved that we each interpreted the prompts so differently and came ready with a variety of ghostly stories, from the literal to metaphorical.

You don’t have to be in the Pittsburgh area to participate in a Write Pittsburgh workshop, as many are online! I don’t think it will be my last workshop through them; it was, however, a fantastic first.

I’ve been working hard on my creative writing career, pursuing it full-time for about a year and a half now. While I’m still querying what I hope will be debut novel, The Boys of Summer, and working on the next – it felt great to have a side quest. I headed into 2025 with a new publication to my name! There is no better feeling. I hope that you like it! Let me know what you think. ❤