Author: Allison

Allison

The Shift Moment: An Essay at Intrepidus Ink

I’m thrilled to share that my short essay is live at Intrepidus Ink! It’s called “The Shift Moment: How to Transform a Static Scene Into an Unforgettable Experience”—part one of a three-part series on what makes stories truly work.

I’ve had the honor of being an editor at Intrepidus Ink since its inception in 2022! Over the years, I’ve read incredible stories, learned from brilliant writers and editors, and deepened my appreciation for the craft of storytelling. Being part of this magazine has been nothing short of inspiring.

Read my essay here: The Shift Moment: How to Transform a Static Scene Into an Unforgettable Experience

Allison

Blackout Poetry ala Green Light

Want to find your own poetry from pages of The Great Gatsby just like Janet Dale? She created a PDF of the last page of each chapter of the book so you can find poems.

Instructions and PDF HERE!

Share them with us on social media (or in the comments here, or via DM/email/etc) when you’re done! We’d love to see and share what you create.

Allison

Happy Book Birthday to Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle!

I’m thrilled to announce that Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle, my hybrid chapbook written with Janet Dale, is out today!

Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle offers a striking reimagination of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, told as a collaborative chapbook of found poetry and flash fiction. Using only the first page of each chapter from the novel, Dale and Renner craft a fresh meditation on the classic story—one that explores a boy’s struggle to break free from the place that made him, questioning the very notion of the American Dream.


The authors create a seamless dialogue with Fitzgerald’s work, transforming familiar passages into something entirely new. Each flash fiction piece and poem reflects themes of ambition, yearning, and the pursuit of freedom, while offering a thoughtful exploration of the literary masterpiece.

You can buy a copy directly from me and get it delivered in a shiny green mailer along with a book cover postcard and sticker. 

In the meantime, add it as “Want to Read” on Goodreads and The StoryGraph, then share your thoughts when you’ve read it.

Allison

“In the End” published at Ink In Thirds

I’m thrilled to have a piece of flash fiction in the Spring Equinox, Spring/Summer 2025 – vol 6, i.1 issue of Ink In Thirds.

I wrote this piece in a Sarah Freligh workshop (surprise surprise!) in November 2023. It was a particularly windy week – I didn’t remember feeling wind like that before, unless it was during the typical Memphis in May tornado season.

I have been trying to find a home for it since, and am so happy to have it with Ink In Thirds… and even happier that it was published during another week of unseasonably wild winds.

You can take a peek at the issue online and grab a digital or print copy for yourself to read it all, along with the other amazing words and art in this issue.

Allison

NEWS! Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle

I’m excited to announce that my second fiction collection is coming out April 10th!

Does that date sound familiar? It might to literary nerds (me) and English majors (also me)—it’s the 100th Anniversary of The Great Gatsby! Since our upcoming book is inspired by that classic, it only seemed fitting to release it on that landmark publication date.

The book is now in public domain, so Janet Dale used the first page of each chapter to create found poetry (aka blackout poetry) and I used a sentence from the first page of each chapter to write an entirely new flash fiction piece.

We’ll share some more insight and glimpses behind-the-scenes in time, but we can’t wait for you to read the finished product in just six short weeks!