Editor’s Note: our Former Contributors Interview Project showcases former contributors of Stone Soup and the wonderful things they’ve gone on to do. Siena DeBenedittis’s story “Illuminated” was published in the March/April 2015 issue of Stone Soup. SS: What are you doing now? SD: I’m majoring in Environmental Studies and English at Brandeis University. College is great because you get to study the topics that most interest you (and in my case, that means reading many wonderful books), but it’s also a lot of work, which allows me less spare time to focus on my own writing. When I do find time to complete stories, though, I try to submit them for publication in various literary magazines. I’m also an editor of one of the lit mags at my school, so I get to see the publication process from the other side, which is really fun. It’s awesome and inspiring to read submissions from other university students around the world and to have a hand in putting together the journal every semester. SS: What did Stone Soup mean to you? SD: Being published in Stone Soup was definitely one of the most defining accomplishments of my life up to that point. The magazine already meant a lot to me; I had been reading it for years before I started submitting stories, and then I submitted many stories before I actually got published. Because I tried so many times before one of my stories was accepted, it felt even better to finally receive the acceptance letter, because I knew that I had really earned it. It was proof that my writing had improved and now, people would get to read it. (My college roommate actually also subscribed to Stone Soup as a young adult, so she probably read my work WAY before we even met, which is so crazy!) Looking back on it, Stone Soup taught me how to learn from rejection, and about how thrilling it is to have your work out there for people to see! SS: Do you have any advice for current readers, writers, and artists who contribute to Stone Soup? SD: Keep submitting! Rejection is an opportunity to improve. Also, after I aged out of Stone Soup, I didn’t know of any other opportunities for young people to be published, so even though I didn’t stop writing, I definitely slowed down, and I stopped pursuing publication. Don’t do that. Those opportunities exist! They’re out there! And if you’re anything like me, there’s nothing like the feeling you get when you know other people are seeing your work. Remember that feeling and work towards it, let it motivate you more than you let rejection discourage you. Are you a former Stone Soup writer or artist and interested in being interviewed? We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to sarah@stonesoup.com for more information.
Former Contributors
Former Contributor Interview: Grace McNamee
Editor’s Note: our Former Contributors Interview Project showcases former contributors of Stone Soup and the wonderful things they’ve gone on to do. Grace McNamee’s story “Pennsylvania” was published in the July/August 2007 issue of Stone Soup, and was the featured story in our Saturday Newsletter on Saturday July 13, 2019. SS: What are you doing now? GM: During the day, I’m an assistant editor at Bloomsbury Publishing. I acquire and edit a combination of literary fiction and nonfiction and also help with the list for the editorial director for fiction. It’s an amazing job. I love working closely with authors, reading books before they’re published, and being aware of upcoming trends in books. I’m also continuing to publish, recently essays in Electric Literature and Vol. 1 Brooklyn and a short story in Joyland Magazine. SS: What did Stone Soup mean to you? GM: Stone Soup was the first time someone, other than my parents, took my writing as seriously as I did. It was the encouragement I craved, and it provided me with the confidence to keep working on my fiction. I loved seeing my writing in print, and with such beautiful illustrations, and to this day, I continue to be so proud of that story and of my first ever publication. SS: Do you have any advice for the current readers, writers, and artists who contribute to Stone Soup? Keep writing! Keep reading! Keep submitting! Are you a former Stone Soup writer or artist and interested in being interviewed? We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to sarah@stonesoup.com for more information.
Where are they now? We hear from Rachel Stanley, Stone Soup contributor in the early 2000s
We are often asked–and we often wonder–what careers our young authors and illustrators went on to as they grew up, so we were thrilled to hear from Rachel Stanley, one of our published illustrators and authors from the early 2000s. She gave us permission to share her letter to us with you. If you’d like to see what work she is doing now, you can visit her website. And, to hear about what publication in Stone Soup meant to hear, read on… She rose on her tiptoes and let herself fall forward Fourteen years ago, my childhood dream of being an artist officially came true when my illustrations were published in Stone Soup magazine. To this day, I owe so much to the magazine for the way it helped launch my artistic career. Submitting to Stone Soup was one of the best decisions I made as a young person. At the time I was just excited about getting my name and work in print, but I never could have foreseen the long-term benefits it would bring me. The magazine made me a better artist and a better writer, because each rejection forced me to work harder towards being published. It was one of the many factors that drove me to be an illustration major in college, and to this day remains a source of inspiration for me. I’ve kept every printed copy of Stone Soup I ever received, and to this day I love perusing the wide variety of styles and skills that are showcased in the magazine. He was running for me, and no one could ever stop us The first check I ever received was for my illustrations of “The Flying Angel” in 2003, and to my 11-year-old self, it was really a big deal. I was even more thrilled to have my story “Diver” and its accompanying illustrations published in the magazine in 2004. But to my surprise, Stone Soup has continued to net me benefits long after I passed the submission age limit. I’ve been able to maintain connections to the art community through following the magazine online. In the world of art-and especially illustration-connections and networking are everything, and I’ve been excited to reconnect with Stone Soup online and through social media in more recent years. Making a living as an artist isn’t easy, as I’ve found out, but Stone Soup is one of the things that encourages me not to give up on my dreams. I have even found some of my fellow Stone Soup illustrators enjoying exciting and successful art careers as a result of what was begun years ago with their publication in the magazine. So thank you, Stone Soup, for what you have done for me and for so many others. I hope that many more generations of aspiring authors and artists will be launched to success through their connections with you! ~Rachel www.rachelalana.com
