K.M. Hanslik is an Ohio-based writer whose most recent works have been featured in Bleating Thing Magazine, Black Glass Pages, and Dishsoap Quarterly. She enjoys long hikes and good coffee. In her spare time, she dabbles in painting, sketching, and fossil collecting. Find her on Bluesky or read more on her website.

I look for something that’s strangely unique from the first line: the piece immediately introduces a concept to me in an interesting or surprising way; it takes a perspective I haven’t considered before, or pays attention to a detail that may otherwise be easily overlooked. What keeps me reading is unshrouding the mystery: why did the writer choose to introduce the concept this way? Why is the detail important?