The Summoner Sisters

In my first year of law school, one professor paced the front of class, waiting for news about whether there was a stay of execution for a man sentenced to death.

“Let this be a lesson,” he said as the tension left his body upon hearing that the stay had been granted, “that what we do here has very real consequences.”

That same term, in another course, we discussed a real event where people’s…

Quite tickled to say that my book club members have nominated Feeding Frenzy for the group poll. Thanks for your faith and friendship! While I don’t think I have the same amount of buzz built up to surpass Steven Brust in the poll, I am sweetening the pot by having a sale on the first book in the series from the 4th to the 8th of February, so come grab it for a buck! Or, you know, go vote. That’s…

Little Reminders (And F*** Gendered Gifts)

Today I am tired and feeling like I wish a mother****** would, so we’ll keep this short.

Let this be your semi-annual reminder that “sorry” is a great word to have in your vocabulary because without it we are all just bullies looking to beat the other person into submitting to the pain we inflict on them. Sorry recognizes the other person’s humanity and defers to it.

Let us also remember that…

There’s A Place For Us

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day before us, and so many recent upsets wherein I’ve learned that people–creators, community members, media icons–have expressed publicly that they do not believe that all people should be granted dignity, I have been thinking about the nature of service and our identities.

While this is definitely a moment for people of color, I want to take a further moment to talk…

Reflecting on 2019 with 2020 Hindsight

In many ways, 2019 was a year of treading water for me. There were accomplishments, milestones, victories and losses but the revolution of the sun and of myself was mostly in an ability to stand my ground.

In the personal, we lost my grandfather-in-law, the adopted grandparent who loved and guided us, who united my spouse and me in marriage, and who made sure his wife never wanted or worried. We…

Hi all!

I try to do these weekly, but I’m finishing up book three, starting a new project, it’s the holidays and frankly life is quite busy. So expect updates to be a bit more sparse for awhile. You can always find me on various social media, like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter (and Goodreads, of course!) if you want to see what’s going on in my worlds. (Links on the right!)

For now let me say,…

Grateful That You’re Great!

It’s my most favorite holiday of the year! Happy Thanksgiving!

There’s always a bit of a conversation in the United States about Thanksgiving because on the one hand, it is a reminder of some very imperialist, negative things that our ancestors did.

But on the other hand, it’s a time to get together with loved ones and have no commitment except to feel grateful. Unlike Christmas and Valentine’s…

YA Is A Useless Genre

I bet you came here ready to have a fight. But please, let me assure you that I have no beef with “YA” books. I just think it’s a rating, not a genre.

YA stands for “Young Adult” and was initially used by bookstores and libraries to provide a space for readers who were no longer children looking for picture books or reading levels for single digit age groups, but who might not be ready to read…

Impostor Syndrome Is A Con

This weekend I went to a local convention called Philcon, where I had the pleasure of attending several interesting panels, laughing at a lot of fandom humor, and getting my picture taken with Samuel R. Delany.

I went for a few reasons, namely it being a good excuse to go on an adventure with my parents, who are also creative, and to meet local folks who love this thing that I also love. On this…

Cars Are For SINGING

Pleased to report that so far most of the beta reader notes I’ve gotten so far are threats of loss of friendship if anything bad happens to the side characters, which is really the ultimate goal of anyone writing side characters.

I’m preparing to start book four and Secret Other Manuscript (SOM) but mostly I’ve been traveling around for weddings and family gatherings this month, which has given…

Scream Queens: Hell to Healing on the Big Screen

Last post was about the different types of feminine horror. I spoke about this with my friend, horror aficionado Glenys Packer, who had a lot of great insight into modern horror and the feminine. So, naturally, I pawned off my blogging responsibility on her, and she knocked it out of the park! I hope you enjoy!

Female suffering has long been as much a staple of the horror genre as haunted houses…

All Thrills, No Frills: Feminine Horror

It’s time to get spoopy! My book feeds are full of people reading horror novels, scary movies are on every television, and here I am to talk about what I (and I think others) define as “feminine horror.”

When we think about horror, we think monsters, psychological thrillers, and body horror. I think lately, however, we’re starting to see more social horror a la “Black Mirror” and “Bluebeard’s…

Not Your Fight, But Still Your Problem

What with the hullabaloo about women winning Hugos, Trail of Lightning and the discussion around appropriation, and indeed, the advent of October and the costumed holidays celebrated throughout North America, it seems like the book world has been in a tizzy about respectful dialogue and celebration of ideas.

There are literally thousands of articleson systemic injustice, feminism, inclusion,…

Live Creatively – Stop Writing

If you’ve done much writing at all, you’ll have heard advice from dozens of professionals on how to write with all your talent and stay on schedule. There are exercises and outlining rules and reminders that it’s not about inspiration, it’s about perspiration!

And today I’d like to add my own.

My favorite way to get ready to write is to do anything else for awhile.

Books

I can’t claim credit for…

Editing continues apace. I really like editing–I find it so much easier to tweak things already on the page than to figure out what words need to come next. It’s so soothing to feel that sort of “snap” of the puzzle pieces fall into place, to know that you’ve expressed what you wanted to say the way you wanted to say it. I love that feeling that I get when I get wrapped in the story and see the…

Two Years Is Enough Anticipation

A while back I spoke of my concern with my third book’s title, due to a few unrelated yet troubling posts made by other authors and asked readers of my blog or other social media sites to help me select a name.

So I’m pleased to announce that I’ve finished the first draft of my third book, Thicker Than Water!

Freakin’ finally, amirite?

An example of the obstacles I faced.

This book took me a lot…

Those Who Do the Work

Labor Day always makes me a bit morose. It’s the end of summer, and it’s supposed to be a day to commemorate the efforts of those who fought for workers’ rights–the 8 hour day, OSHA, age restrictions, unions and so on. And yet tomorrow so many of the people still the least protected will continue working while we all go to our cookouts.

On top of that, this weekend’s seen police brutality, people…