Category Archives: Published Fiction

BOOK NEWS: THE VANISHING STATION

✨IT’S ALL HAPPENING✨ 😭🥳😃🥂 What a dream come true to work with the incredible team at Abrams and editor Maggie Lehrman on my forthcoming YA novel THE VANISHING STATION! A heartfelt thank you to all the amazing friends and family in my life helping me along this writer journey (and especially to Mike for always putting up with my rambling ideas). Cheers to fierce girls, everyday magic and fighting for the people you love 💕 I can’t wait for you to meet Ruby and my magical underworld in the trains beneath San Francisco. There’s no way I would have gotten this book deal without my incredible agent Kerry Sparks (and Rebecca Rodd) at LGR literary agency to gracefully navigate the business world and champion my books. And finally, a shout out to my MUG writing group for their ever-insightful critique notes on the first draft of this project, as well as the Tin House YA Workshop for pairing me with a fabulous group of talented writers and mentor Nova Ren Suma, who all helped me fine-tune my first chapters. Stay tuned for The Vanishing Station in 2023…

—Ana

BOOK NEWS: New Visions Honor and Roman the Renegade Graphic Novel

Friends, I have big ~*BOOK NEWS*~ My middle grade graphic novel about Filipino myths and monsters and messy friendships is coming to life! Lee and Low / Tu Books has offered to publish it and awarded me their amazing New Visions Honor. Thank you to everyone who’s been along for the ride on this bumpy writer journey. I couldn’t have done it without all your amazing support and critiques and late night ice cream runs. Thanks to my lumpia-loving Filipino side of the family for inspiring some of these stories too. I wanted to use ‘Ana Rodriguez Ellickson’ for my kid lit pen name, to honor how hard my mom worked to carve out a pretty darn good life here in Cali. Cheers to Lee & Low Books for giving me a chance to share stories with kids! Read the full announcement here: https://blog.leeandlow.com/2021/05/19/lee-low-books-announces-the-2021-new-visions-award-winner-and-honor/

YA Winner of the SCBWI Los Angeles Writer’s Day 2016 Contest!

SCBWI LA Writers Day 2016 YA Winner

When I showed up at the SCBWI LA Writer’s Day 2016 conference, my biggest worry was beating Los Angeles traffic in time to catch a seat and a sip of coffee before the editors, authors, and agents began their talk. I had no idea I’d win an award for my YA work-in-progress titled Blanca and the Ruins! Fortunately, I was decked out in my orange stripy dress (now forever my lucky dress) and cowboy boots when they called me on stage. Of course, they didn’t announce my name first. Instead they led with my story, and all I could think while I was sitting in the audience was–oh my god–I hope that’s mine! Very surreal moment. Thank you SCBWI for this amazing opportunity!

Here’s what the judges said:

“Sparkling with humor and a strong sense of place, Blanca and the Ruins is the first-place winner about a fiery and passionate young woman living in San Francisco. Blanca is determined not to inherit the family curse of becoming a nurse. She wants to pursue her artistic passion, but when she sneaks out to draw one night in Dolores Park, she crosses paths with a bleeding boy who needs her help. Once he gets hold of her hand neither of them is able to let go, and Blanca’s life takes the turn she has been resisting. Writer Andrea Ellickson leaves us wondering what will end in ruins – Blanca’s future or her dreams?”

Also, I won a copy of The Rattling Wall, an LA based literary journal with gorgeous gruesome cover art by Kristina Collantes. (Did I mention lucky orange dress?) Can’t wait to crack open the pages!

The Rattling Wall SCBWI

#scbwi
#lawd16
#mswl

My story published in Dactyl and coming soon to the Edinburgh Book Fest!

My flash fiction “Dealan Dhé” is going to be featured in Dactyl Magazine and on the shelves at the Edinburgh International Book Festival…. Wish I could take a trip to Scotland! ‪#‎edbookfest‬ ‪#‎dactyl3‬

Dactyl Magazine - Andrea Ellickson story

Are 100 Words Enough to Tell a Story?

tiny notebooks

Recently, I took my first stab at flash fiction in the form of one hundred words. The challenge came from 100 Word Story, an online literary magazine that showcases fiction stories of, you guessed it, exactly one hundred words. Imagine one paragraph to tell an entire story. A few weeks ago, my MUG Writing Group decided to take on the challenge. Each writer pursued the possibilities of one hundred words: a flash mob in the Ferry Building; a lovers’ misunderstanding; a joke about a giant squid; a man trapped in his own prison. Their stories pulled me in immediately. Their endings felt like endings. In one hundred words, there was no space for dilly-dallying. How did one hundred words accomplish an entire story?

By acting as a photograph.

We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Some emotion, gesture, scene, expression is captured in a photograph, which tells a larger story. With the right written image, one hundred words can mean one thousand words.

With my own one hundred word story, a single image inspired it—a boy could not read a biohazard sign written in English, but he knew that red meant prosperity in his home country. As I carved the story during a single lunch break, the image became more powerful with each detail. His dive into the deadly water. The unlucky red envelope, a symbol of his sealed fate. It was enough to evoke emotion. It was enough to let the reader’s imagination engage from beginning to end. It was enough to publish my story with the literary magazine 100 Word Story. If you’re interested in reading more, check out “The Red Envelope” published at: http://www.100wordstory.org/2808/the-red-envelope/

Photo by Flickr User: Jenna-Carver