Discover the Next Generation of Christian Storytellers…
Featuring Victoria Shanks
Victoria Shanks is the oldest of five siblings raised on the Bible, Bigfoot stories, and creek mud. She writes vibrant fantasy and science fiction about faith and family, found and blood—stories to remind her readers they are never alone.
Between midnight writing sessions, you can find Victoria deep in bluegrass country, hiking the woods, cooking with too much garlic, or consuming caffeine while muttering to her black cat Fish.
About Her Short Story
Ever since the wedding went awry, the Whipplewild-Limberlong Pie Feud has consumed Hornswoggle Hollow. Nobody cares about anything else… especially not about the orphan Cloven. That is, nobody but the jilted bride Miss Floraleen, who raised Cloven like her daughter.
Until Miss Floraleen wanders into the man-eating Hungry Woods.
Desperate to rescue the one person who loves her, Cloven leads her brother on a quest into the Woods. They must brave ferocious flora and fearsome fauna as they search for Miss Floraleen… and in the process, they may just solve the mystery that began the feud.
Her Accomplishments
- Has written four novels and multiple short stories.
- Received and implemented multiple professional edits on her projects, including from science fiction author Daniel Schwabauer.
- Published short stories “Resurgam” in the 2019 One Spark anthology, “Memory Knife” with Story Embers in 2023, and “What Happens at the Lake” with Havok Publishing in 2024.
- Honorable mention in the 2020 Writers of the Future contest.
- One Year Adventure Novel student contest winner in 2018 (2nd Place) and 2019 (1st Place).
- Runner-up in the 2022 Story Embers short story contest.
- Attended the 2024 RealmMakers writing conference.
- Received extensive training in platform-building, focusing on email marketing.
- Taught middle school and high school students literature and creative writing for three years.
Meet the 13 other authors in the anthology!
Marielle
Henning
Hannah
Fouts
Lexi Jo
Heuser
Joseph
Brink
A.A.
Rollins
Caleb E.
King
Julia
Naus
Marybeth
Davis
Esther
Pipkin
J.A.
Rose
Kira
Rosengren
Savanna
Ammons
Sarina
Louise
Support the next generation of writers
100% of the proceeds from this anthology go toward helping up-and-coming writers attend writing conferences where they can pitch their work to agents and publishers.
About the Author Conservatory
Conservatory, noun: “A school specializing in one of the fine arts.”
The Author Conservatory is an online apprenticeship-modeled program that teaches students the writing & business skills they need to get published and support themselves financially. The Voices of the Future anthology features short stories from nine of our 2024 graduates.
