The Exchange Students anthology is available now.  The stories in this book marry the concept of its title to the vast possibilities that speculative fiction provides.  Aliens?  Fantasy creatures?  Time travel?  Homework?  You bet.

My tale, “A Coral Study,” first appeared as “Exchange” in Factor Four Magazine.  I’ve mentioned before how my dad’s undergrad experience helped inspire it.  Well, last summer my parents went to lunch with my dad’s college roommate and his wife, and they shared my story with them.  The roommate replied, “Her story makes me think of the late night study breaks and your regaling all in our room with stories from Ecuador.”

I was also inspired by my memories of wandering through the aquarium aisles of pet stores as a kid and admiring all the little sunken ships and other décor.  One day I asked myself what if someone had decorated their living space with those types of ornaments, and the writing sprang from there.