About us
Hey, there.
We're Sparkler, an online magazine of flash fiction stories geared for the YA audience. Our goal? To create a community, not a profit.
Our four themed issues a year will feature a beloved YA author, a set of 5-10 submitted stories (wanna write for us?), and a story by one of our team members. At 1,000 words or less, stories can be a variety of genres such as historical, contemporary, fantasy, or romance.
Sparkler is a beacon in the current darkness that is much of the YA publishing world. We want to hold up a sizzling light that draws readers—both teens and their parents—into a community that connects over good stories. A lively blaze that will spread the word about authors who are busy writing clean, exciting, age-appropriate YA books. And we’d love to prove to the Christian publishing world that the market is bursting for these kinds of stories.
Let's light this thing up.
Management Team
Laurie Sibley, Co-Founder, Production
Laurie grew up as a pastor’s kid and then married a pastor of her own. She and JP have two kids in high school and one in college (which is weird, because they were just in college themselves). They are planting New City Fellowship PCA, a cross-cultural church in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Laurie teaches kindergarten and writes stories—leveled books for kids just learning how to read and romantic suspense novels for their moms. She's also a freelance line editor, and enjoys cooking dinner, crocheting, and napping (not necessarily in that order).
Sign up for her newsletter here.
Christine Boatwright, Co-Founder, Technology
A church girl from the get-go, Christine learned storytelling through her time as an award-winning journalist and academic writer. She's a native Floridian transplant in Greenville, South Carolina, with her brilliant husband (trust him, he's a doctor) and four precious kiddos.
She's spent the last decade honing her writing skills in her bits of free time. When she's not baking sourdough or struggling to teach her oldest elementary math, she has a book in her hand (and a toddler on her hip).
Sign up for her newsletter here.
Production Team
Rachel Lawrence - Production Assistant
Rachel lives in the Carolinas and loves her family, Christmas music, porch geese, and stories with relatable characters and portrayals of healthy relationships.
An author of sweet contemporary romance, she especially enjoys writing NA and YA fiction. Her debut novel, Seashells and Other Souvenirs, released in 2025. Sign up for her newsletter here.
Alyssa Casanova - Social Media Assistant
As an author, Alyssa brings stories to life that engage young readers and build lasting memories at bedtime. Alyssa is passionate that children's books are meant to be read together, while snuggled with a blanket.
Aside from writing, Alyssa's day job consists of teaching high school students the art of living independently. As a special education teacher, Alyssa specializes in employment and transition skills needed for all students to live their fullest life post-graduation.
Katie Barger - Acquisitions Assistant
Long ago, Katherine Barger worked as an immigration attorney helping persecuted Christians who fled to the United States. But God eventually led her toward a different path: to become a
writer and editor of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as write YA that demonstrates His Truth. Her award-winning Exiled Trilogy was her first leap into the publishing world, and she hasn’t looked back.
Katherine, her husband, their three children, and a menagerie of rescue pets live in Texas, where they battle the heat by staying mostly submerged in the pool or heading to the beach. You can learn more about her here.
Katie Fitzgerald - Editorial Assistant
Katie Fitzgerald is a short story and flash fiction romance writer with over 50 published pieces in anthologies, literary magazines, and stand-alone ebooks. She writes low-stakes, family-friendly stories, often with cozy, bookish vibes.
She is co-editor at both Micromance Magazine and KissMet Quarterly, as well as the serial romance writer for Clean Fiction Magazine. A former children's and YA librarian and homeschool mom to five, Katie resides in the Maryland suburbs.
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