Preorders are now live for the ebook of my fantasy novella, with the official publication (including paperback) coming on July 15^th! 

This book is for you if (select all that apply):

• You dream about shrinking down to pixie size
  • And, you know, being able to fly
• You enjoy experimental story structures
  • Is Thrice Petrified a trilogy of novelettes?  A novella-length triptych?  A root cause analysis viewed through the lens of fiction? 
  • (The answer to all the above is yes.)
• You are intrigued by the prospect of “FernGully meets Zootopia”
• You can handle fantasy quests simmered with a dash of slow-burn romance
• You want to immerse yourself in a magical version of Oregon’s wild landscapes where humans don’t exist
• You are a rockhound
• You appreciate low-tech settings and cultures with characters living off the land
• You believe in second chances
• You like the idea of warrior fairies
• You’ve read “A Petrified Heart” in Wyngraf and want to find out more about these characters and their adventures

(On a different topic, if you’re in my area celebrating Portland Book Week 2025, one final reminder that I’ll be participating in the Claw Machine anthology book launch and reading this Friday!) 

How’s that for a blog post title, huh?  Let’s go with the goose first:  I’m pleased to share that I’ll have a new story, “The Queen of All Roses,” in the upcoming anthology The Muddy Goose Guide to the Weird Northwest: A Playable Adventure, from Demagogue Press.  This anthology will feature horror and dark speculative stories set in the Pacific Northwest.  There’s a lot more to it, but I’ll leave it at that for now.  Suffice to say, it’s got a great lineup of local authors: 

Also, I want to give one more reminder about the launch party for Claw Machine: The Anthology in Portland this Friday the 13^th!  (If you can’t make it to this event, I believe we’ll have an online one coming up as well.)  This book includes my horror story “Narrowly, Narrowly Caught.” 

When I was looking into places to submit my novella, I was drawn to the covers that Of Metal and Magic Publishing puts together.  It was one of the many things that made me want to pitch to them.  They were the first place I sent Thrice Petrified to!  And now, I’m thrilled to say I have one of those covers of my own. 

Drumroll please… 

I love it!  They don’t use AI, and they were great at considering my input.  We decided to go for bold colors and feature the high desert setting.  And what a perfect font for a fantasy tale, right? 

Now, we’re getting the proof polished up into an ARC (advanced reader copy).  I can hardly wait to share the next update! 

One of my favorite things about having a poem in The Hyacinth Review is seeing what gorgeous artwork they choose to accompany it.  For their Books & Literature theme, they’ve reprinted my poem “Calypso, Riddled” (originally from NonBinary Review’s issue on The Odyssey) and paired it with a lovely still life.  Enjoy! 

Lots of progress happening behind the scenes between my publisher and me. 

I’m relieved to report that I’ve made it through the developmental edits and line edits on Thrice Petrified!  I’m sure I’ll write more about the process at some point, but for now, suffice to say that developmental edits made me feel like a newbie writer all over again (that’s all on me, nothing to do with my editor), whereas I rather enjoyed the line editing. 

Feels great to be on the other side of it.  Now my publisher is finalizing the book cover and prepping the proof for review!  I’ll share more details soon, hopefully when I can reveal the cover…

The latest “Level Up Your Poetry” is published in Sidequest, and this time I got to interview CB Droege, editor-in-chief and founder of Manawaker Studio.  CB, who published Dangerous to Go Alone! 2, graciously took the time to answer my questions about what it’s like to edit not one but two volumes of game-themed poetry, spaced about a decade apart.  It was fascinating to learn about his motivation, perspective, and advice. 

This is a little something I’ve been cooking up for a while.  I’d been wanting to do another installment of “Level Up Your Poetry” for Sidequest, and I had the perfect opportunity with the Dangerous to Go Alone! 2 anthology.  I posed a question to my fellow contributors to glean their advice for writing game-inspired poetry. 

Shoutout to the poets who shared their wisdom:  Gwendolyn Maia Hicks, Marisca Pichette, Paula Ardito, C. Payne, Sarah Jane Justice, Jennifer Elise Wang, and J. D. Harlock. 

I didn’t stop there.  Coming soon, an interview with the anthology’s editor, CB Droege. 

I’m back with more good news about The Inca Weaver’s Tales: My mini-chapbook has been nominated for the Elgin Award for Best Chapbook!  Huge thank you to the kind person out there who read it and felt it worthy of nomination.  I’m in very good company!  Lots of awesome poetry to explore.  I see my friend Brian U. Garrison’s chapbook, Micropoetry for Microplanets, on the list of nominees as well.  He signed my copy of his book at a local event last month and did a great reading. 

Another huge thank you to the team at Sword & Kettle Press for publishing my chapbook!  I wrote all the poems from scratch when I saw their call for submissions for the New Cosmologies series.  They were so great to work with on edits, and they put so much care into the layout, illustrations, cover design, what cardstock to use, the stitching, and even how they packed it for shipment. 

If you’re interested in learning the “behind the scenes” of my research and writing process for this book, I talked about it on the podcast Into the Looking Glass: Exploring the Magic Behind Speculative Poetry. 

I’m right in the thick of developmental edits on my fantasy novella, Thrice Petrified.  My publisher has started working on the cover design.  We’re on track for a release this year!  Not gonna lie, that last sentence feels really good to say, considering how much of my life I’ve spent dreaming of being a Writer, struggling to improve and grow throughout the years (a never-ending process), and getting to know these characters in particular so I can share them with readers.  It won’t be long now…

Last night I got to check out the proof of the Claw Machine anthology from Little Key Press.  What a lineup of stories!  I love seeing creative interpretations of this theme, and getting to be part of it feels like a prize of my own. 

I have a couple other things I have to keep under wraps for now, but one more update I can add is that I’ll be a panelist at this year’s Worldcon in Seattle.  Schedule to be determined. 

If you’ll be in Portland this June on Friday the 13^th, mark your calendar for the launch party for Claw Machine: The Anthology.  Come hang with contributing authors at Up Up Books at 6pm for readings, giveaways, and all kinds of fun. 

Our editor, Elle Mitchell, is handcrafting miniature items based on each of our stories.  She’s posting photos of them along with interviews with each of the authors in the Kickstarter updates.  My interview is in Update #6.  Check out the full series of posts to learn what arcade machine we’d each be, what drew us to this anthology, and more. 

If you can’t make it to the book launch, we’ve got a virtual reading in the works, too.