A Safe Place for Stories

There's something called self-compassion. She's the Cinderella of identity paradigms--scorned, ignored, and sent to scrub everyone else's feet. Her evil step-sisters are Self-Esteem and Self-Hate. Keep that in mind. I want to tell a story. It's the story of Story. A child sits snug in bed. His parents tucks his blankets around him. They tell …

Writing the Last Chapter for the First Time

Endings can be a relief. Endings can be new beginnings. Endings may not be endings at all. Writing the last chapter of All Light and Darkness was all three of these for me. All Light and Darkness is my first complete novel. I've attempted writing novels since I was fifteen years old. I've started many. …

The Beast that is Audience.

In my past life, I was a pioneer--one of those 19th century folk in covered wagons that you saw in 8-bit playing Oregon Trail. And when I died from dysentery, I must've skipped my drink at the River of Oblivion. The reason I bring this up: When people bring up social media platforms, I'm totally …

Alien Armageddon and the Bailiwick of Guernsey

I lived on the Island of Guernsey for two months doing cultural research. I travelled all over the island and became very familiar with the history and stories there. I love the complexity. I also love the culture. It's the kind of place where the locals prefer hiking boots to heels.The reason I chose this …