Welcome! My name is Clare Rushing. I am a professional writer and editor with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a past life as a failed artist. Since 2017, I have focused my efforts on building a career in storytelling. The journey has been exciting and full of plot twists, imposter syndrome, and many, many cups of coffee. I began writing a novel a few years ago without much direction or plan–other than that I hoped to eventually become published with one of the major traditional publishing houses. Many drafts and revisions later, I am preparing to join the self-publishing community, something I would have never considered when I first started out! See, I had a lot of misconceptions about what it meant to be an author and that included unfairly assuming anyone that self-published was mediocre and “incapable” of going the traditional route.

But here’s the thing–the self-publishing and independent publishing industries are blossoming today, providing hundreds of writers a platform for sharing their work without being limited by the expectations, formulas, and creative interference of corporate publishers. One of my “aha!” moments came from watching a long-time friend and collaborator in her journey from comics school to professional indie comic artist. There’s a lot less stigma and a lot more support for indie comic artists, whether they’re working with an indie press, launching their own Kickstarters, publishing to WEBTOON, or contributing to anthologies. Seeing the excitement surrounding this growing industry led me to re-consider my own bias against self-publishing, and through a lot of research and soul searching, I realized the immense value taking total control over your creative work can bring.

This year, I’ll be publishing my first novel in print and ebook format, writing the script for a comics anthology with Warden Comics, and continuing to build my platform through this website, my Instagram (@clarerushingwrites), and other corners of the internet. It’s been a long, winding adventure, but I have learned so much and I am forever thankful for the guidance I’ve received from veteran storytellers like Sarra Cannon, as well as my fellow creatives.

Stories by Clare includes a variety of fiction stories, book and film reviews, deep dive research, and updates about my official projects. If you like what you read, feel free to join the email list for occasional updates!