I’m launching a Substack! Check it out here, and follow along. It may not feel like it, but happy endings are possible. Or maybe it does feel super possible to you. Maybe you’re a huge optimist! In that case…I salute you, tell me your ways, and read on to see any of this resonates. 1. What the heck is this newsletter? I’m gonna be real with you: I’m in a weird place right now. My Read more…
It’s beautiful out. I’m in Washington, DC right now, where summer seems to have hit in full force on May 1. Yesterday, it was full sun and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a bit terrifying but also energizing. There’s some magic in going for a walk on a sunny evening, looking up through the leaves of springtime-green trees and watching the daylight fade. Humans are made to breathe in days like this. It was also Read more…
I have been trying to see the Northern Lights for at least a decade. On any clear night, when I’m anywhere even the slightest bit north, I check an app to see the KP Index aurora forecast. Even when in Scotland and Norway and Iceland, it’s never been higher than about 4 (and in Iceland, the sky was rarely clear, anyway); in Argentina and New Zealand, I kept an eye on the skies for the Read more…
The oldest “Agents.xls” spreadsheet I can find on my computer is from 2018, but I think I first started dreaming about finding an agent long before that. I wrote my first novel-length manuscript when I was ten or eleven years old. I remember sitting at my childhood best friend’s kitchen table and outlining a story I still dabble in today. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I suddenly had more time on my hands, like Read more…
And rooting for people who do bad things. CINDERELLA’S CRIMES is coming in just a few weeks and the ARC is in reviewers’ hands right now — which does make me a little nervous! The protagonist is evil. She does bad things. Sure, she figures the people she hurts deserve it (and if you squint and view things in as black-and-white a manner as she does, they almost sort of do — but not quite!). Read more…
As any author can probably tell you, coming up with titles for your novel is extremely difficult. In my experience, the title either comes to me with minimal effort or cause or never comes to me at all. Pretty Deadly – my book reimagining Cinderella as a psychopath – is the first in a trilogy (and is being re-released as CINDERELLA’S CRIMES in one month!). That meant I needed to come up with not one Read more…
A new and improved version of PRETTY DEADLY, with a gorgeous new cover, some slight changes to the text, and an exciting sequel coming hot on its heels, CINDERELLA’S CRIMES follows Cinna on her heist-filled path to the throne. Cinna would kill for the throne. For years, Cinna has been forced to serve her wealthy cousins rather than attend society events alongside them. She has waited for the chance to prove herself and exact revenge. Read more…
Pretty Deadly is a book of the pandemic: when it launched in October 2021, all my friendships were virtual and the launch was held on Zoom. I wanted to get my dark and violent fairytale out into the world, but I had no idea how. When I received a publication offer from a small press, it seemed like a good deal. Over time, though, I realized that I could do most of what they did Read more…
Even non-climbers love a good cold-water plunge during hot summer months in many parts of the world, and Eastern Washington is no exception. In Leavenworth, in the Central Cascades, people jump from a bridge into Icicle Creek. In Wenatchee, it’s popular to plunge into the Columbia River after hiking up to overlooks. But in Banks Lake, nestled up against the Grand Coulee Dam, climbing reigns. The flashy deep water solo sites around the world often Read more…
In this post(?)-pandemic age, a lot of us work remotely. But just how remotely do you work? Coffeeshops and hotel workstations are a step up from WFH, but you can push your office to much greater heights. I’ve worked from the crag before, in Zoom calls and writing code in the shade at the base of a cliff, then climbing when otherwise I’d have taken a coffee break. I have colleagues who’ve worked from the Read more…