Hey there! Happy September, y'all. I'm slow-rolling back into work this week, waiting for my brain to catch up with the fact that I'm back in Pacific time, not GMT. Today I slept until 6:15, which was a major win! I think I'm back on track. My husband and I spent the past month in Scotland. The first week was at a conference — WorldCon, which will be held in Seattle next year! The following three weeks were spent squelching our bikes around the Scottish countryside, being pummeled by what...
8 days ago • 3 min read
Hey there! I first heard about the butterfly effect in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Interesting Times, where he introduces the quantum weather butterfly (Papilio tempestae). According to the Discworld wiki, these butterflies "have wings of an undistinguished yellow with black mandelbrot patterns, and fractal edges of infinite length." They can create weather by flapping said wings. Normally these butterflies use this quality for courtship or survival, but, from what I recall about the...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hey there! Monday, July 15th was the one-year anniversary of my eye injury — so I’ve been dealing with a whole lot of feelings this week. Many of them have been light and joyous, as I reflect on my amazing community and how incredibly lucky I am. But also... it's been a year, y'all. Celebrating my "pirate birthday" (as my husband has been calling it) has got me thinking a lot about perspective and point of view. By complete coincidence, my ocularist Christina King (the artist who makes my...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey there! One of the big reasons I wanted to put together the Bulari Saga Travel Guide was that I wanted an excuse to write another Starla story. Starla's one of my favorite characters to write. She's just so well-adjusted, with a no-nonsense attitude that makes being in her head a joy. There are no complicated mind games or murky emotional traumas with Starla. She's the kind of woman who knows what she wants and goes after it, and she tends to have a lot of fun along the way. Writing from...
2 months ago • 14 min read
Hey there! My Aunt Lauri (hi Aunt Lauri!) recently asked me how I develop characters. I'd said in an interview somewhere that I don't feel like I create characters so much as I get to know them — which I understand sounds absolutely unhinged. But it really feels true. I meet every character when they first arrive on the page — just like the reader does. And through writing, I get to know them. It doesn't seem like I'm making up details about them, so much as uncovering those details one layer...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey there! I have some exciting news about the Kickstarter — but first I need to tell you about an amazing person. Last weekend, I had the chance to catch up with one of my childhood heroes. A woman who helped bend the arc of my life towards writing science fiction. She's the one. The only. Librarian Joyce Cowin. Mrs. Cowin posing with — and I quote — her "two favorite library assistants": me and my sister Lacey Mrs. Cowin was the librarian at my elementary school, which means she got to...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey there! Last week, I attended a very different sort of writers conference. It was called the Writers Police Academy (WPA), and it was held in Appleton, Wisconsin. As a sci-fi writer, I was one of the odd ducks out — most of the other attendees write crime and mystery. (Though you may know sci-fi crime writer Heather Texle and urban fantasy writer Elicia Hyder, who were also both there!) Normally when I go to conferences, my main goal is to network with other authors and be social. I often...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey there! My husband and I have a fairly solid arrangement when we're both home and our schedule is firing on all cylinders. (Which, to be fair, is 50% of the time at best given both of our travel schedules.) He makes lunch, because by the time noon rolls around I'm normally a) starving and b) still super into my work. If left to my own devices, I'll normally just grab the fastest thing that resembles food from the kitchen and eat back at my desk. (This is why leftovers are the best) My...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey there! I remember the shocking disappointment of my first Venezuelan sunset vividly. I spent one summer after college living in Venezuela, doing carpentry for an org that worked with kids who had developmental disabilities. The little town I was in — Santa Elena de Uairén — was about 5 degrees north of the equator. As someone who'd lived her entire life around the 47th parallel, this was a total trip. I associated summers with late evenings and long, luxurious sunsets that gave a colorful...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Hey there! First up, I'm glad so many of you loved Queen Marie of Romania as much as I did! (Here's that newsletter in case you missed it.) I really enjoyed reading your responses. After spending last week around the turn of the 20th century, this week we're shooting far into the future to explore fabulous new fictional worlds! In other world, I have a fun new book bundle deal for you. ;) Presenting... The Universe of Adventure Sci-Fi Bundle! This StoryBundle is curated by independent authors...
4 months ago • 1 min read