I'm one of the contributing authors of "Putting the Science in Fiction" edited by Dan Koboldt, and here's the cover! I'm stoked to be a part of this project and floored that Chuck Wendig is writing the foreword. :D

What's this? A book deal for a collection of science essays, including one I wrote? Yep! This is for real.

My novel was picked for the 2016 pg70pit contest! You can read the entry, "take your life and make it right," here. Behold the power of revision. (I entered last year too and didn't make it. I compared last year's 70th page to this year's. It's a blinding difference. Get yourself some good critique partners and beta readers! They're worth their weight in gold.)

I've been interviewed! Check it out on Author's Crossing.

My short story has been published on Channillo. It's my first ever fiction publication!

The Pitch Wars picks were announced last night, one day early.

I'm one of them.

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm going to be mentored by the lovely, talented, and honest Julie Sondra Decker. (Follow her on Twitter! She's awesome!) I'll be bouncing off walls for some time yet. Bring on the edits and revisions. This manuscript is GOING TO SHINE.

Today I found out that my short story, "Under the Cover of Dreams," was a finalist in Channillo's short story contest. It'll be published as part of a twelve-month series on their website. This is my first ever win in a writing contest! I'm over the moon!

Writing a query letter is hard. Sending a query letter is scary. Sharing a query letter you wrote on the internet is terrifying. However, we won't improve without getting critiques. The wonderful Michelle Hauck is hosted a query critique blog hop for all those interested in receiving (and giving) feedback on query letters. Check them out, learn from the advice of others, and provide critiques of your own. The writing community is fantastic.

I wrote an article on creating believable habitable atmospheres in science fiction for Dan Koboldt's Science in Sci-Fi, Fact in Fantasy series. It's a great resource for writers looking for a little more fact in their fiction, and I encourage you to check out the other enries!

Writing is difficult. Don't let anyone's successes convince you it's easy. It's not. And sometimes we are our own worst enemy. I recently discovered the Insecure Writer's Support Group created specifically to help fellow writers who struggle with insecurity. If you're feeling down about your ability to put your words on the page at all, I urge you to check them out.

Blake wants a steady girlfriend, yet her damned inhuman half keeps getting in the way. Then a manticore kills someone in downtown Portland. Sure, she could ignore it, flee into the arms of another false identity, but she's tired of running. She hides her monstrous nature from the detective assigned to the case, but his desperation to catch the culprit eventually leads him to the truth. Blake must convince him to trust her before demons from her past get them both killed.

Complete at 82,000 words, this dual POV adult urban fantasy novel was mentored into its current shiny self during and after Pitch Wars 2015. It also won in the 2016 pg70pit contest in the adult category.

"If her death will save those she loves, so be it. But if she's already dead, how could she die again?" An epic fantasy novel about the resurgence of war after two decades of peace, the revenge of the conquered, and the woman who shouldn't exist.

Let's just say the first draft of this novel needed some serious help. Excellent critique partners and betas and everything I learned in Pitch Wars (and afterward!) are transforming TERRA into the story it always could be.

Instead of accepting an arranged marriage, a queer teen journeys in search of a life she can call her own. On her quest to become a knight, she finds a monster princess held captive in a magic prison and an agender deity only the princess remembers. When they discover this deity was intended as a sacrifice to the phoenix, they must decide whether the existence of a god is worth the risk of war. That decision might be easier if she weren't falling in love with zir.

Target: 70,000 words.

Behind the Mask, an adult sci-fi that has been in the works for nearly two decades and refuses to approach completion

an untitled YA sci-fi about teens who find themselves on a space station with no memories and dozens of corpses

an untitled YA contemporary about a tornado twisting together the lives of four teens

an untitled YA contemporary about faith and identity and self-acceptance

a few short stories

Sue Coletta's thoughts on showing, not telling

Science in Sci-Fi, Fact in Fantasy

Six tips for writing with diversity

Laura Heffernan's writing tips

Chuck Wendig on character agency

Justina Ireland's blog (I value her voice on writing diversely and other writing and publishing topics so much)

Dahlia Adler: It's Not Just You (you're not alone when you feel inferior as a writer)

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Eddie Izzard on talent

It's fine to have a bad first draft