Sam Staufenberg Pitch 12/3/12

Hippocampus Magazine Staff, I would like you to consider accepting my piece of flash fiction for publication. The flash piece that I have created is a 757 word essay called Fire Flies. It ruminates on a childhood activity of catching fire flies. When I was young and living in New York, my siblings and I spent many hours catching fire flies. A seemingly innocent activity. The charming picture that this creates is marred slightly by our habit of using the butts of fire flies as writing utensils. The latter half of the essay deals with these habits of killing bugs, for various reasons, follow into adulthood and what that should mean to an environmentally conscious person. I believe that this short essay would fit with the Hippocampus magazine. The short story is quick, it has a slightly quirky topic, and despite the macabre topic, there are flashes of humor. The piece has not been published in any other format at this time, so it meets the base qualifications. I submit this essay now because my writing ability, my understanding of craft, and the quality of this essay, things that I have cultivated in the undergraduate writing program at the University of Idaho, are all at a level of skill that I can begin to publish. The piece has been on the back burner for three months and has recently been revised and improved. As a New Yorker who grew up around butterflies, as a human who has experienced and been a part of killing pests because they dont fit into humans perfect worlds, I am qualified to write about this topic. This sample of the essay should show my expertise in craft: the quick flash of a scene, the very concrete details, and a touch of vertical movement that expands this piece beyond genre fiction. The cousin scrapes the first letter of her first name: M. For a moment the letter shines with a luminescent yellow. There they crouch in the dark starless night that is held at bay by the steady synthetic light of civilization, the flicker of fireflies, and now, the remains of firefly spread across the concrete like a crayon Cool. The red haired one wasnt sure if that was the word. Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions or concerns please email me at stau2920@gmail.com. Sincerely, Samantha Staufenberg