I can now share the details of my November in-person events!  Plus, reminders for online events, including this week:

• Come to Story Hour online tomorrow evening, where author Steve Toase and I will take turns reading some of our short fiction. 
• Then on Saturday I’ll be part of the Oregon Poetry Association’s online conference, a great deal for a full day of programming—including my session, The Art of Speculative Poetry. Come learn about the long roots of this literary tradition, how speculative poetry is thriving today, and how to start exploring these genres in your own work.
• If you’re in the area on Sunday, Nov. 5, I’ll be participating in Haunted Tales and Eerie Melodies, part of the Portland Book Festival’s Cover to Cover programming.  At this free event, several other authors and myself will take turns reading our work to live musical accompaniment!  This event is hosted by the Oregon Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. 
• And the following weekend, Nov. 10-12, I’ll be at OryCon 43.  I’m scheduled for 2 panels on Friday and a reading on Sunday.  Very excited to discuss some important career considerations for writers as well as share some of my fiction and poetry. 
• And don’t forget, Elizabeth Beechwood and I will be teaching our online workshop, Creating Nonhuman Characters, through Hugo House on Nov. 18. 

Whew!  We’ll see if I can fit some writing in there, too.  I have to share, I went to my local Powell’s bookstore and found the September/October 2023 issue of Asimov’s—my first time going to a bookstore and finding a publication with one of my pieces in it!  Checking that off the bucket list. 

I’m stoked to see that Tor.com included my story “The Menagerie Machine” on their list of “Nine (Very) Short Fantasy Stories With Happy Endings”!  If you’re looking for some short fantasy reads to brighten your day, this is the list for you. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about endings lately.  I’ve been reading about closure and anti-closure, particularly in poetry, and a few months ago TOWER Magazine tweeted my comments below about an ending I admire.  This was part of the lead-up to their End-themed issue. 

Then there’s the DIY MFA book, which breaks down endings into a matrix—the analyst side of my brain loves a good diagram—based on the result that a character wants (or, believes that they want), whether or not they get it at the end, and—tellingly—whether they still want it.  That last piece is huge. 

I don’t have one set outcome I seek to provide in my work.  I love happy endings, and these probably make up the majority of what I write.  However, I also love bittersweet ones, dark ones, ambiguous ones, at various points depending on my mood and, especially, on what the story or narrative poem demands.  I probably have overall tendencies I’m not crisply aware of (I’m actually far more of an idealist than a cynic).  I prize variety.  It’s probably why, for example, the editor of Wyngraf called out my cozy fantasy novelette “A Petrified Heart” as “certainly the darkest story of the issue” in his introduction. 

People talk about stories, even dark ones, having an undercurrent of hope.  That resonates with me.  Even with the horror I write, I don’t see hope as a weakness.  I never see it as trite or twee or insignificant.  I think it’s an essential component of survival.  I went with a friend to see Ada Limón give a talk in Portland earlier this year, and one thing the poet laureate shared jumped out at me:  “Hope is work.”  She meant this in a good, worthwhile way.  Yes.  Let’s go do the work.

I’ve got a flurry of events coming up in the next couple of months, some online and some in-person: 

• Online – Wed., Oct. 4 – I’ll be doing a reading for Story Hour, along with Steve Toase.  Join us for some spooky stories!
• Online – Sat., Oct. 7 – I’ll be presenting The Art of Speculative Poetry as part of the Oregon Poetry Association’s online conference.  Looking forward to bringing the joy of genre to poets. 
• Two in-person events in early Nov. (both in Portland) – More details forthcoming, but keep an eye on the programming for the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover community events as well as OryCon 43…
• Online – Sat., Nov. 18 – Elizabeth Beechwood and I are co-teaching our workshop Creating Nonhuman Characters again for Hugo House.  We’re passionate about this topic and want to help writers bring more of these fascinating characters into being. 

I’m thrilled that my poem “Fragrances of the Night-Blooming Space Garden” is included in the September/October issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine!  I’ve dreamt of being published in Asimov’s for years, since back when a writer friend of mine lent me a bunch of his copies, which I proceeded to binge-read on my work breaks when I went back to the office after maternity leave.  I was a tired and frazzled new mother, desperate for an escape during those precious chunks of free time, and the gorgeous, thought-provoking works within Asimov’s were like a balm for me. 

Fittingly, “Fragrances of the Night-Blooming Space Garden” is about seeking comfort.  I’ve always been prone to homesickness.  I remember my family flying across the country to visit relatives when I was in grade school, and I got this unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.  No particular reason—it was a lovely visit—except that it wasn’t home.  I combined that feeling with movie scenes I recalled with futuristic gardens, often holograms, and envisioned them being real plants.

It’s finally here!  The Discover Beaverton anthology is available now.  This eleventh issue of Lucky Jefferson brings together 11 writers and artists to highlight Beaverton, Oregon, through their poetry, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art.  It also includes a Foreword I wrote, plus interviews with the contributors, some of whom are published for the first time here!  I really enjoyed getting to guest edit this anthology, working with Lucky Jefferson’s founder and editor, NaBeela Washington. 

You can read Discover Beaverton online for free or order a physical copy.  Inside you’ll find creative work from Rodney Wilder, Derek R. Smith, Ruth Mota, Rhienna Guedry, Elizabeth Beechwood, April Hernandez, A.M. Arndt, Katie Briggs, Kate Tomich, Andria Lishka, and Marie Queen. 

This project came to fruition with support from the City of Beaverton Arts Program.

I’ve got three poems, all sonnets, in the MiniGames issue of the minison zine, as well as a new installment of my “Level Up Your Poetry” essay series for Sidequest, this one on prose poetry and liminality. 

“Zelda II Bossfight” is a Petrarchan sonnet about my some of my favorite characters from my favorite video game.  “Manipulator” is a Spenserian sonnet about the fascinating game Braid.  “The Boy of My Vegas Dreams” is a Shakespearean sonnet about puppy love set against a backdrop of 8-bit casino shenanigans and flirtations.  (Wow, that last one is a sentence I wasn’t expecting to write today…) 

Sonnets aside, I’ve had prose poetry on the brain recently, and it seemed a fitting topic for a new essay for Sidequest.  In “Level Up Your Poetry, Part 4: Games, Prose Poems, and Liminality,” I dig into some quirks that make video games and prose poetry apt partners in art and discuss a few approaches I’ve taken in this realm. 

On the horizon is the release of Discover Beaverton, and I’ll have some news about a reading coming up.

I’ve been needing some good news this week, so I’m especially happy to share that my story “Song of the Balsa Wood Bird” from Fireside Magazine will appear in the 2022 Best of Utopian Speculative Fiction.  I’m looking forward to seeing this anthology of imaginative, hopeful stories.

You can read my latest video game prose poem, “The Labyrinth Proper,” in Sidequest.  This is the one I read and discussed toward the end of my episode of the podcast Into the Looking Glass, so if you’re curious as to the inspiration and writing process on this one, go have a listen.  Also, their next episode come out recently, featuring the wonderful Angela Acosta! 

On the fiction side of things, I’ve got some exciting news that I’m not able to share yet…  Hopefully soon.  My in-progress drafts continue to jostle around and try to cut to the front for attention.  Two are close to completion, but it doesn’t help things when they keep leapfrogging each other.

Back by popular demand, Elizabeth Beechwood and I will be teaching our online workshop Creating Nonhuman Characters through Hugo House again this fall.  This workshop is aimed at fiction writers and poets of all levels.  Here are the key dates for fall registration: 

• Aug 7: Scholarship Donation Day
• Aug 8 at 10:30 am: Member registration opens
• Aug 15 at 10:30 am: General registration opens
• Aug 21: Last day of Early Bird pricing
• Scholarship applications are open now through Monday, Aug 7, 2023

In just a couple of days, The Sprawl Mag is having their launch party for volume 1.2.  I won’t be able to attend live, but I’ve sent in a video reading of my poem “The Llamacorn Herd,” in case there’s time to share it.  If you’re able to attend, you’ll get to hear readings from some of the other fantastic contributors, including Lorraine Schein, Bobby Parrott, Rasha Abdulhadi, Cassondra Windwalker, Devon Field, Lilian Vercauteren, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Chelsea Fanning, and Susan L. Lin. 

The final event I want to mention will be in October.  The Oregon Poetry Association is having their annual conference on Saturday, Oct. 7, and I’ll be presenting a session on speculative poetry.  More info. to come.

Just got back from vacation in Central and Southern Oregon.  We went spelunking and horseback riding with extended family, then headed to Crater Lake, which I hadn’t visited since grade school and didn’t really remember.  It was quite impressive!  I don’t think any of my photos do the national park justice, but I picked one to share, along with a couple from the high desert. 

During the trip, I worked on a new scene for a story, wrote a new poem, and did research for a couple other stories.  One of them I haven’t really started drafting yet; it’s still percolating.  I was excited to get an update on the Discover Beaverton anthology, which is in production mode, and the upcoming virtual launch party for The Sprawl Mag volume 1.2.