The Paths Between the Stars is Coming out in Hardcover

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… The Paths Between The Stars is coming out in gorgeous HARDCOVER edition, complete with a dust jacket, clothbound exterior, and a beautiful gold-embossed spine. As soon as I have photos, I’ll share them with you! It’s been a year and a half since the book launched, and it…

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Cover Reveal: The Paths Between The Stars

Today is the day when I finally get to share the beautiful cover art for my forthcoming novel, THE PATHS BETWEEN THE STARS, with the world. This cover was the result of several weeks of back-and-forth with the talented designers at Bookfly Design as we found the concept, honed it in, and fine-tuned the details.…

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Cover Reveal: The Paths Between The Stars

On Wednesday, August 11, I will share the cover art for my forthcoming young adult novel, THE PATHS BETWEEN THE STARS, with the world. If you would like to see the cover a week before everyone else, two days from now on Wednesday, August 4, I invite you to sign up below. You will also…

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Summer Evenings: A Poem

Sweet is my memory That I am not a morning person– Glorying in the dawn, the revelatory nutty scent of brewing coffee– No. I prefer dusk. Evenings, the onset of dew The fade of heat into something more gentle The smell of dry grass, ready to seed, giving way to rose petal, wet earth. For…

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Heartbeats and Dragon Curves: The Birth of a Story

Guest Post by Daryl Rothman, whose fantasy novel The Awakening of David Rose was published this Monday, September 9. Featured image by Tim Rebkavets on Unsplash What do you think of first when you hear, Jurassic Park? Dinosaurs? Blockbuster? Spielberg? Crichton? Most likely not Ekeland or Gleick. But Michael Crichton credits them in the acknowledgements of his…

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10 Things I Hate About Game of Thrones Season 8 *Spoilers ahead*

As a writer, I care deeply about plot, pacing, and character development. It’s all critical to my suspension of disbelief, not to mention that watching a master at work is both educational and validating. Good stories have power. Watching the six seasons of Game of Thrones taught me so much about how to write complex characters with long, thoughtful story arcs, how to make bad characters tun good, and good characters turn bad. How to build a world that feels as real as our own.

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Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

It has recently come to my attention that I really like fantasy books. Last summer, I demolished Deborah Harkness’ entire ALL SOULS TRILOGY and Nnedi Okorafor’s WHO FEARS DEATH in three months. Some people might not think that’s a lot of books, but for me, that’s a lot of books. I devoured the first two…

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Today is Literary Libations Launch Day!

Today marks a new milestone in my author career. My first solo book, LITERARY LIBATIONS: WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU READ, is gone into the world. Like a bird flying from the nest, it is out of my hands. Now, dear reader, it’s your turn. Your turn to hold, to dog-ear, to spill coffee…

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What Lightning in a Bottle Music Festival Taught Me About Writing Great Characters

A music festival might not seem the ideal place to spend a lot of time thinking about writing, but that’s pretty much all I thought about while I was at Lightning in a Bottle, an electronic music festival at Lake San Antonio, California. Lightning in a Bottle is no ordinary music festival. It’s not like Sasquatch or…

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Why it’s Totally Okay if You Haven’t Read My Books (and Why it’s Almost Always Okay to Not Read Someone’s Book)

Sometimes when I run into acquaintances or old friends, people I’ve stayed in touch with via social media, one of the first things I hear is “I’m sorry I haven’t read your books yet!” My response is usually something like, “Why are you sorry? It’s not your job to read my books.” I’m constantly surprised…

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