When we want to express love and grief, language is always inadequate. This is something I’ve known for a long time, but my words seem especially futile today, when I’m faced with the need to honor my dear friend, Michael Levy. I first met Mike in 2001, when I was a new faculty member at […]
Category Archives: Writing
Solveig Haugland 1967—2015
On Saturday we said goodbye to Solveig Haugland, my dearest friend. Here’s my eulogy from her memorial service. When I first met Solveig, we were just teenagers, and I was in awe of her self-confidence and her brilliant mind. Those were the first things I noticed about her. (Also, I noticed that she was really, […]
Sense of an Ending
After finishing the rough draft of my new novel, I walked around in a daze for nearly a week. If you’ve ever tried to write a manuscript of any kind, you know what the endgame feels like: obsessive bursts of elation, plummeting depths of despair. I already have a folder on my computer dedicated to […]
A Critical Approach to Requiem in La Paz
Last month my novel Requiem in La Paz received a lengthy write-up in The New York Review of Science Fiction. It would be a complete understatement to say I felt deeply honored. After all, the February issue featured essays by Stephen R. Donaldson and Samuel R. Delany, plus reviews of new work by Kelly Link […]
2014: The Year in Review
Much of my energy in the spring went to the launch of my first novel, Requiem in La Paz. Along with receiving some lovely reviews, Requiem in La Paz was named a finalist in Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Colorado Gold contest.
Creativity and Destruction
Happy Halloween, everyone! It’s been an extraordinary autumn, filled with creativity and destruction. More about the destruction stuff in a bit. For now, please enjoy this Halloween photo of Dulcinea. I’ve been really happy about the reviews for my new novel, especially this review by author Jeanne Griggs, who has a passion for dark sorcerers […]
Launch Day for ‘Requiem in La Paz’
Today is the launch day for my novel, and I am deliriously happy! Requiem in La Paz is a dark fantasy set in Bolivia, featuring a former violin prodigy, a doomed heir to a mining fortune, and a forensic pathologist who studies mummies. You can get the paperback or Kindle version at Amazon, or the […]
Mythic Storytelling: An Interview with Christine Emmert
I’m delighted today to interview Christine Emmert, author of Lilith and The Nun’s Dragon. Christine Emmert joins a group of contemporary fantasy authors who engage with mythic or religious themes. While writers like Holly McDowell (King Solomon’s Wives) apply elements from religious narratives to a range of historical contexts, others, like The Zombie Bible‘s Stant […]