Hello! I am a living breathing cloud of ambiguity and paradox. I’m owned by two cats, a dog, and a sourdough starter. I was born in the South and live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m a Social Democrat. I write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Anthropology, archaeology, history and social sciences fascinate me. And cooking somehow stitches those interests together, in terms of researching recipe origins, sourcing and acquiring authentic ingredients, and reproducing far-flung cooking techniques in a 21st-century kitchen.
This is Pippin. He’s a Terrier Mix who adopted me at the SPCA. Pippin likes to go places, meet people and see new things. He would go everywhere I go if the world were designed with dogs in mind. Since it’s not so designed, he goes everywhere he’s allowed. In this photo, Pippin and I are at the Three Sheets Craft Beer Bar in Dublin, California. Three Sheets doesn’t just tolerate dogs. They have a special stash of treats in the back just for their canine regulars. Three Sheets keeps a lovely selection of craft beers on tap for their human customers. Pippin and I give Three Sheets a Five Star rating. We might write a review someday soon.
I have been writing stories since I was 8 years old. Before that, I drew a comic book series about a little girl who happened to be an awful lot like me. I grew up and thought I no longer had time for writing, what with a career and all my other interests.
Then I heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and decided it was time to see if I actually had a novel’s worth of story to tell.
I did.
I wrote 60,000 words during that heady and exciting November. At the end of the month, I had a science fiction story set in the near future, in a world where nations are disintegrating and the question “Is humanity evolving, mutating or facing extinction?” begs for an answer. And then I stopped, because I didn’t know what to do next, and didn’t think I could find the time to figure it all out. I tried NANOWRIMO again a couple years later and wound up with another 60,000 words. And I thought, “This is ridiculous. I need to take the next step.”
I did.
I’ve revised my first novel and am now working through the beta feedback process, and figuring out how to go from words I can read to words available for anyone to read, via print or eBook.
The Gideon Effect is currently undergoing beta review, and I plan to publish in late 2016.
In the meanwhile, read along to see what fires my imagination and lights my curiosity.
What’s that, you say? You want to know more? You can ask me questions here!