Author Archive

A New Year

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There is a school of thought that circles the internet that says professional entertainers shouldn’t talk about politics. 

You’ll lose sales, they caution. You’ll turn away potential audience. Entertainment is some people’s escape from the real world!

Maybe this is true. The trouble is, whether or not that’s a good idea, the question comes, when you’re a writer, is it even possible?

My politics exist in my books. The narrative I’m building is full of characters striving towards a better world, and as the writer, I decide what that better world looks like. I decide who gets to have a happy ending. I decide the nature of the struggles my characters experience. All those ideas are shaped by my own personal beliefs of what is right, what is fair, and who gets to live the life they choose.

The point is, no one who reads my work should be shocked by my politics. 

I live in the US, and this week, we inaugurated a new president. It is, shall we say, a relief. It hasn’t sunk in yet, the full impact of this change just on my mindset, but there is a dawning, tenuous sense of hope that I haven’t known for a while.

These last four years have not been great ones for creativity. Since the horror of election night in 2016, it has been as if a heavier and heavier weight has been tied to my brain and I’m only just now starting to tug at the ropes to see if it’s finally gone. 

There are still a lot of problems in the world. There’s still a lot of work to do. But I’m starting to think maybe I can go back to thinking like a writer again. Maybe I can go back to being a writer again.

Thank you, everyone who’s been with me on this journey. Thank you, again, readers who have stuck with me through some…let’s say…irregular schedules. 

It’s a New Year.

About the Empire of the Four Suns

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So now that there’s a good solid chunk of Serpent’s Kiss out in the world (and much more to come—settle in!), I wanted to talk a bit about why I’m so excited to be writing and sharing this book.

I’ve already discussed over on Twitter and on Wattpad how much I love mixing magic and romance together. I spent a lot of years trying to pick just one of those genres, because if I didn’t choose—well, how will anyone know what shelf you belong on in the bookstore? The Apocrypha: Dying World books, the Invisible War books—those are definitely shelved in speculative fiction, even if I tried to sneak in just a little romance. But I was trying very hard to play by the rules with those books, and I think they suffered for it.

(Side note, when I write the next Invisible War book, there will be much more romance in it.)

So there was no question the Empire of the Four Suns series was going to contain both romance (of the steamy sort) and magic. The magic part was easy. Worldbuilding has always been a game for me, so exploring the new world and poking at its hows and whys was fast and easy. The romance part…well, there were more decisions that had to happen there.

From what I can see, there has been a line in romance for a long time. A wall, really. With straight romance on one side and non-straight romance on the other, and never the twain shall cross. On a superficial level, this is frustrating because it means those books feel artificially limited. On a deeper, more dangerous level, it separates people, divides and others them. (Romance Writers of America are struggling through some of the effects of that othering right now.)

The Empire of the Four Suns series is an epic length story, with an epic length cast of characters. Frankly, it would have been boring if everyone in the world were straight, or gay, or cis. A cast of this size gave me the opportunity for variety, to have ALL the characters that I want to write. 

And this decision brought me back to the fun of worldbuilding. What does a world look like where people are free to express themselves, to live the way they want to live and with whom? Is this a world where everyone can make their choice free of discrimination? (Spoilers: yes…and no.) What’s it like to be on any part of the sexuality spectrum among the clans? What about the gender spectrum? These are fun questions to engage with as a writer! (Special call out here to Lukas Tolvaj, who has been friend, advisor, and sensitivity reader and who’s questions sent me in all kinds of interesting directions. He’s amazing. Hire him!)

At this point you’ve met Yeijiro, Corinne, Alexia, Tōru, Roman, Satsu, and Andreas. There are many more to come. There are a lot of relationships ahead of us. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I have had writing them.

Updates

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Well, it’s been a hectic few months, full of travel, sickness, and unexpected life chaos, but starting January 1st we will be back online.

Twisted Secrets posts will resume on Wattpad and Tapas starting on January 2 and will continue with a schedule of new scenes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Serpent’s Kiss will launch on January 1! With a posting schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I’m so excited to be back to work and to be sharing with all y’all. 

Interstellar

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Things I liked about Interstellar (the not particularly spoilery version):

The whole movie was gorgeous.

Space was silent.

The robots. Everything about the robots.

Space travel is really, really complicated. Other worlds are really, really complicated.

Black Holes.

We are explorers.