Autumn is upon us. That means pumpkin spice everything, warm sweaters, and a brand new Racine Arts Council’s Writer-in-Residence.

My name’s Emily and it’s really nice to meet you.

I was born in Racine and I’ve lived here most of my life. Growing up, my parents taught me two lessons over and over again that shaped who I have become. They taught me to embrace my weirdness, and love my community. I’m excited and honored to be here.

So, what do I write? Fantasy mostly, of the contemporary or urban variety. I create worlds that are vaguely modern, but with dragons. Then I populate them with people who are troubled, flawed, and heroic, if you squint a little. I also dabble in sci-fi and horror. I love short stories, both reading and writing them. That said, I’m expecting to crack the code on this novel writing thing. . .any minute now, I can feel it.

If you find yourself thinking “but I miss Elkid!”, never fear. We wouldn’t let her get away that easy. In fact, you’ve got a wonderful opportunity to work with her on her lovely Racine anthology, Write Around The Corner (Deadline for submissions October 31st).

Also, you can come and write with both of us at the Wordshop, a writer’s group that meets Thursdays 6pm to 8pm at the Launchbox on Gateway’s Racine campus. Stop in to say “hi”, stay to work on that novel/poem/letter to the editor.

If you like getting in touch digitally, you can visit my Facebook Page , Twitter or email me at writeremilyvakos@gmail.com. Or you can find me at the Racine Arts Council Saturdays noon to 5pm through December.

So, Racine, it’s you and me this fall. There are a lot of exciting things going on. I can’t wait to share them with you and see what you have to say. Let’s do some killer writing together.

Your friendly neighborhood storyteller,

Emily Vakos