rebelling against low expectations

AuthorKara Swanson

As the daughter of missionaries, Kara spent sixteen years of her young life in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Able to relate with characters dropped suddenly into a unique new world, she quickly fell in love with the speculative genre and was soon penning stories herself. She published her first novel, Pearl of Merlydia, at seventeen, and in June 2017 released a novella, The Girl Who Could See, which is an INSPY-Award Finalist. Kara received the Mount Hermon Most Promising Teen Writer Award in 2015. When she’s not creating new stories and placing characters in peril, she’s probably binge-watching Marvel movies, playing with her huskies, reading till two in the morning or experimenting with homemade mocha Frappuccinos.

Lights Piercing a Shattered World

By Kara Swanson

May 2, 2018

4 Min read

I don’t know much about politics—but I do know that the world is broken. All you have to do is turn on your TV to see it. The killings. The poverty. The latest natural disaster, or car chase, or suicide. It’s everywhere, this darkness. The pain infects our shattered world, and it scares us. It scares us to our core. The minute I try to scroll through my Facebook feed, I see them. The voices...

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To The Forgotten Ones

By Kara Swanson

March 7, 2018

3 Min read

To the forgotten ones. The lost ones. The ones in the back of the room. The ones faking a laugh at an inside joke they don’t get. The ones left behind. The ones not invited. I see you. To the ones who have to speak up, or they won’t be heard. The ones who have to stand out, or they won’t be seen. To the ones who have to run, or they’ll be left behind. I was you. To the new ones, stepping into an...

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