Queer writer of speculative and YA fiction
Most years, we haven’t been home for Halloween. Last year, we were in Greece, touring the ruins of the world’s first democracy while the death knell for Earth’s most recent democracy was sounding. (Call that dramatic, I don’t care. Have you met me?) We live on a lane that’s off the beaten path and doesn’t …
I’ve been thinking a lot about choices lately. In class this week we discussed a story by Sarah Pinsker, “And Then There Were (N-One).” It’s a fantastic novella that’s a science fiction/murder mystery mashup (which, if you’re an Agatha Christie fan, you clocked from the title). In brief, there’s an interdimensional convention of Sarah Pinskers …
Currently listening to “Winterbreak” by MUNA, and oh hey, I didn’t know there was a video: Anyway, do you ever get in a groove where you obsessively listen to a song on repeat to the point where you worry you might get sick of it, and maybe you do for a little while, but after …
Continue reading "The perfect is the enemy of the good, or something clever like that"
I met Canadian author Dianna Gunn via BlueSky, where she runs a community called #WeeknightWriters (which you can support on Ko-fi as well) that creates accessible events for fiction writers. She’s also a murderer for hire! Sort of. You can commission her to kill you in print, writing stories where characters die in highly creative …
I saw The Empire Strikes Back when I was ten years old. We were traveling across the country, from Arizona to the East Coast, on our way to our new home in Maryland. We went first to Florida, where my aunt lived, and from there we went to Maine to visit literally every other relative …
Over on BlueSky, my friend ’Nathan Burgoine has been revisiting his daily book recommendations from June 2024 for Pride month. I love this because it’s a reminder that any time is the right time for someone to discover a new book, even if it came out years ago. I don’t get a lot of reading …
Continue reading "Queer book recommendations for 2025 Pride"
I’m not a minimalist by any stretch, but I do like getting rid of clutter. If I don’t want to save something or I’m not going to use it again, out it goes. Even books—it’s very satisfying to leave books in Little Free Libraries all over town to find their next ideal reader. There are …
When I was a kid, I remember, my dad had a framed quote in his office—you’ve probably heard it—by Calvin Coolidge: Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: …
Continue reading "Is failure an option? Because I think I could be really good at that."
Well, this is a fine mess, isn’t it. At the moment I’m on the other side of the world, so I was waking up while everyone else was waiting for the polls to close and probably feeling exhausted and jittery. We were heading to the ruins of the Heraion outside of Argos, a temple to …
*record scratch, freeze frame* Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation. (Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that.) For some reason, this version of me has been on my mind a bit lately. Maybe that’s because I’m revising a young adult novel and trying to tap into the feeling I …
Continue reading "Being kinder to the memory of the kid I was"