Well, been quite a while since I last published something on this here blog (if you exclude my Southern Review of Books post on the novel Things You Would Know If You Grew Up Around Here).

So what happened between now and then? Several things. Getting admitted at Queens University of Charlotte as a Creative Writing MFA Student, joining the Skyrim modding project Cathnoquey: The Fractured Isles as a wordsmith, editing stories for Qu Literary Magazine… Suffice it to say that my craft has expanded quite a bit since I first took an interest in writing back in 2015.

But I mostly focused on game design articles and the like. And as the title of this post suggests, I’ve broadened my horizons some more.

https://www.scarletleafreview.com/short-stories8/michel-sabbagh-the-phandames-pain

With the half-decade anniversary of my first blog post around the corner, The Phandame’s Pain represents the foremost stepping stone in my writing career, and I look forward to seeing what the future has in store.

Feel free to give the story a read, and share your thoughts/feedback on the journal’s website or this blog post!