This week, my kids (8 and 5) are having their first swimming lessons of the year. On our first day, we had some trouble finding a parking space and ended up scraping our van's tires against the curb in front of a lovely old house. As my kids scampered out, an elderly man came across the yard toward us. I was steeling myself for a grumpy…
I'm pleased to announce that my short story "Focal Point" is now available from Haven Speculative! This is my second published story from my lumastration universe (and I have two more in the pipeline that are awaiting their own publication days)! This story began as a much larger novelette, an exploration of grief, shameful secrets, and the vulnerability of the road to emotional healing, all through…
Emotions are a vital part of my life. I sense, perceive, and express emotions in the vast majority of my daily life, whether it’s work, play, or personal interactions. Once, at a meeting with one of my writers' groups, I was commenting on another author’s child character who I thought was surprisingly out-of-touch with their emotions and I compared the character to my own son, who…
Psychology 101. A course of study dedicated to understanding the complex and fascinating ways that our brains work. Capacity for knowledge, memory, defense mechanisms, trauma, disorders, learning, and deduction (to name a few). This was of my favorites. The only textbook I kept from college was the one from this class. I vividly recall hearing: “Each one of us here is mentally unwell to a greater or…
I'm pleased to present this new short story, "First Leaf" which is available to read online for free as part of FIYAH Literary Magazine's Special Palestine Issue. This story is what I call a feminist fairy tale and, due to its emotional nature and message, it was more challenging for me to write than many of my other stories. This is one that I felt in…
I have been honored to see three pieces published this year! They're eligible for awards in this nomination season, so if you enjoyed any or all, I would appreciate your vote!! My Work: "Drowned Prison" (Galaxy's Edge, January 2021) - When a series of unexplained murders arises among the inmates of Kardag Prison, the search for answers brings a warden and a master painter into questions…
You know how sometimes you hear those stories from the lives of creatives about something good that happened to them because they were in just the right place at the right time? I’ve experienced one of those. It was on an afternoon this summer and my next-door neighbor was at my house using our stovetop to make pizza sauce for his dinner because his kitchen was…
As I get ready to head into a much-needed writing retreat (yay!), I wanted to share something with you that is both "new" and not new. This video was recorded a few years ago, but I had yet to see the completed product until recently! This brief interview was done at the end of my involvement with the Cascadia Residency (now called the Brehm Residency). Through…
Friends who are familiar with my writing know that some themes tend to come up again and again in my stories. Two such themes are family and memory. I decided to dig around on the topic of why I find human memory so fascinating in this blog post that appeared in Analog's blog, The Astounding Analog Companion. It was published as a companion piece to my…
It's always a good day when I get to share a piece of writing that's new and finished and ready for the world to see! I am honored to announce that my SF short story "Recollection" appears in the March/April edition of Analog! Memory tech, water shortages, and the ethical challenges of a civil servant in a post-apocalyptic desert world. https://www.analogsf.com/ How to buy: Support your…