Katie Venit

  • A Playlist to Cure Impostor Syndrome

    I don’t know any anyone pushing themselves to try something new who doesn’t suffer from impostor syndrome at least sometimes. Sometimes I have it when I’ve already finished something; when I look back at a book or story I’ve sold and wonder if it’s actually any good, or if everyone who liked it was wrong.…

  • Watermelon and Seeds

    I’m taking creative writing lessons with my six year old. Every day, we watch Ms. Lisa – a teacher who sounds like maybe she’s from Brooklyn. We give a thumbs up when we agree with something. The videos are pre-recorded, but Ms. Lisa says she can see a lot of thumbs up, and we feel…

  • Why Is That?How Do Frozen Frogs Survive the Winter?

    Why Is That?How Do Frozen Frogs Survive the Winter?

    Imagine you’re a frog. Because you’re cold-blooded, your body is the same temperature as your surroundings. So as the temperature around you drops, your body also gets colder and colder, and you move slower and slower. You don’t have clothes or a furnace to keep you warm. You don’t even have fur! So what do…

  • Love The Beach You’re With

    Love The Beach You’re With

    Marylanders go to the beach the way you go Up North. You have your family cabin in the woods; my family had a townhouse on the Delaware shore, a three-hour drive away – the longest car trip imaginable. For the two decades of my childhood, going to the beach was my summer vacation, and it…

  • Winter Layers

    Winter Layers

    In 1996, I was 16 and living in Bethesda, Maryland (January mean temperature: 37 degrees). One ordinary brown January afternoon, my siblings and I went to see 12 Monkeys. While we sat in the dark theater, a surprise Nor’easter snuck over the East Coast. A couple of hours later we emerged and stared at the swirling…

  • To Wish and Wish and Wish Properly

    To Wish and Wish and Wish Properly

    The mulberry bushes stretch far up a hill, and we eat all the berries, like a mama bear and two cubs storing sunshine for the long winter. The seeds crunch between our teeth like bones as juice drips from our chins and hands. We are sticky, and we like it. “Mama,” my son says between…

  • Famous Wisconsin Ski Race Has Origins in Norwegian History

    Famous Wisconsin Ski Race Has Origins in Norwegian History

    More than 800 years ago, Norway was caught in a civil war. Two groups fought over who should rule the country. The ruling party made fun of the rebels by calling them Birkebeiner (“Birchbarkleggers”), because they wrapped bark around their legs to stay warm and protect them in battle. In the winter of 1206, the 18-month-old prince…

  • What Is Frost? Explaining Icy Winter Patterns

    What Is Frost? Explaining Icy Winter Patterns

    Brrrr … it’s getting chilly out there! It’s fun to walk out in the mornings and see that lovely coating of white frost. But what is frost, anyway? There are different kinds of frost, depending on how they were formed. Radiation frost is the most common and is what accumulates on windshields in the morning.…

  • Why Does Poison Ivy Itch?

    Why Does Poison Ivy Itch?

    You’re in the woods, building a fort or exploring, and having a great time. A few hours later, you get a horrible, itchy rash. Argh, poison ivy! Despite the name, poison ivy does not make poison. Instead, every part of the poison ivy plant – leaves, stem, vine, berries, roots – makes an oil called…

  • Portrait of a Woman as a Young Mother

    Portrait of a Woman as a Young Mother

    Appeared in August 2019, The Cabinet of Heed In the framed photo, a woman in profile—eyes smudged with dark circles, shoulder adorned with an epaulette of spit-up—hugs a newborn tight and high on her chest, resting her cheek on his head. The baby’s eyelids look like closed pistachios. His ears match the monkey’s on his…