The Z-Axis

THE HARVEST Release Day!

By: Amira K. April 5, 2016

Publishing, The Seeds Trilogydystopian, K. Makansi, reading, Remy, science fiction, the harvest, The Reaping, The Seeds Trilogy, The Sowing, Vale, writing, young adult3 Comments

JOIN THE RESISTANCE! THE HARVEST, the third book in the Seeds trilogy, is officially available for download today. Available for download on Kindle or in paperback through Amazon. Remy Alexander wants revolution. After watching Vale fall back into the hands of the Sector, she will stop at nothing to reveal…

Book Review: “Broken Homes and Gardens” by Rebecca Kelley

By: Amira K. March 18, 2016March 18, 2016

Book Reviewbook review, Broken Homes and Gardens, lit fic, literary fiction, novel, reading, Rebecca Kelley, romance, writingLeave a Comment

After a few months of not reading much, you could say I’m going on a bit of a bender. With harvest season long over, my recovery period complete, and the third book in the Seeds trilogy finally finished, I have at last had some time to come up for a breather and do some reading.…

Book Review: “These Broken Worlds” A Mini-Kosalogy

By: Amira K. March 14, 2016March 14, 2016

Book Reviewanthology, book review, collections, fiction, flash fiction, Jessica West, MJ Kelley, P. K. Tyler, reading, sci-fi, science fiction, short stories, These Broken Worlds, Woelf Dietrich, writing4 Comments

Last summer, a group of writers I am friends with got together to form a new kind of publishing house called Kosa Press. Their tagline is “Rethinking Publishing One Universe At A Time.” Formed by a group of people with a shared love of science fiction and fantasy books, as well as flash and short…

The Harvest Cover Reveal!

By: Amira K. February 16, 2016February 16, 2016

Publishing, The Seeds TrilogyBook covers, book design, cover design, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, the harvest, The Seeds Trilogy7 Comments

It’s been a long time coming, but the cover for THE HARVEST, the third book in the SEEDS trilogy, is finally here! For those of you interested in the process of book design, here are some notes about our process: This cover was possibly the hardest one we’ve done so far from a design perspective. We…

The First And Last Time I’ll Talk About Being Vegan

By: Amira K. January 25, 2016January 25, 2016

Musings8 Comments

[Joke 1] “How do you know if someone’s a vegan?” “Don’t worry, they’ll fucking tell you!” Here’s how the conversation starts. I say, “Hey, guys. I have something to tell you. I decided to adopt a vegan diet on January 1, 2016, to protest animal exploitation at the hands of the factory farming system.” You roll…

Why I Run (Why I Write)

By: Amira K. January 18, 2016January 18, 2016

Musings16 Comments

It’s very popular among writers to spend a lot of time hemming and hawing over the grand question of Why We Write. I think almost every one of my writer friends has penned at least one blog entry with that exact title. I’m not saying this as an accusation. I haven’t actually done the same thing, but I’ve…

Four Tips for Writing Successful Blog Posts

By: Amira K. December 30, 2015December 29, 2015

Musings10 Comments

A few days ago a young man contacted me asking for writing advice. It was the first time I’d ever been asked for writing advice, and it was a bit of a shock. I thought that was something that only happened to famous writers like Neil Gaiman, Margret Atwood, or Anne Rice. But here was another human…

Skeleton: A Poem

By: Amira K. November 23, 2015June 13, 2017

Compositions, Poemsart, artist, Dan Beckemeyer, fiction, lost love, love, Poetry, romance, science, skeleton, systems, writing1 Comment

Today was the first day I felt your bones And not your breath. Today was the first day I ran my fingers over your clavicle And not your skin. Today was the first day I lay against your rib cage And not your chest, taut and rich with youth and fear, Today I felt the hardness of…

Mirrors: A Poem

By: Amira K. October 30, 2015October 30, 2015

Compositions, Poemsart, Jim Hughes, loss, love, poems, Poetry, reflection, refraction, romance, science, writing4 Comments

“Forget him” was the most useless advice anyone ever gave me. “Forget about him,” my friends said. “You deserve better, anyway.” Forget him. The thought had occurred to me one night years before, but it meant nothing to my hoofbeat heart, stampeding in my chest, meant nothing to my butterfly eyes, wings beating open every five…

Saltwater and Ink: A Poem

By: Amira K. October 2, 2015March 12, 2016

Compositions, Poems3 Comments

Opalescent moon, senescent sky A fog at dusk that speaks to me in tongues Like the prophets of old My phantom dreams, papier-mache and origami, so fragile, Milk-white, and pale Are laid at the altar As I clutch this knife With your name on my lips. This love isn’t pretty but it is real (Real like…