Public Appearances and Publications

Oh my gosh, so much has happened recently and I’ve been really bad at letting y’all know. Or updating my recommendations pages. Did you know I read 500+ romantasy books last year to prep for teaching the genre? Yeah, the combo of repeated injuries, illness, unemployment, and extraordinary rendition grade sleep deprivation leaves you a lot of time to read. Working on writing some now, too!

Anyway, onto the fun news…

I got to speak on the main stage at Benaroya Hall in Seattle!

Ever since I was a little girl watching the symphony perform in that hall, I’d always secretly hoped I might be able to perform on it myself one day. Well, that day was the 50th Ignite Seattle talks! Watch the video to hear some fun stories about Elsie Olmstead, the woman on whom I accidentally became the local expert. If you want to hear more about the Olmsteads…

Coming up on April 23-24, 2026!

I have teamed up with Invisible Histories to talk about the Olmstead’s rumrunning operation with a short play during their Harbor Island living history tours. I maaaay have voluntold several of my family and friends into helping out with this event and it’s going to be a blast. Stop on by, the tour is going to be amazingly fun! Get tickets here.

My first SFWA blog post!

It’s been a year of firsts, and that includes having my first blog post picked up by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association blog. It’s about how to give feedback on poetry, which is having a huge surge in speculative genres right now. If you’ve ever wondered, hey, how does one go about giving feedback to poets on their work, this short post should give you a place to start!

Tips on Feedback for Poetry at the SFWA Blog

Music and Writing

I’m not sure about you all, but I can’t write without music. I just thought I’d share my Pandora stations with you that I turn on to write to…

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The Ozite Cycle – It doesn’t matter which of Thea’s novella’s I’m working on, the order of the day is Chambermaid Swing. This station is full of electric swing and puts me in the modernized, yet retro mood I need to create this noirish, yet futuristic Oz saga.

Less Than Charming/The Mark of the Storyteller – Turing Machine Radio all the way on this one. The softer, consistent, electronic beats sans vocals allows me to concentrate on maintaining the squirrely rules of this universe, but still provides me the musical fix I need to keep writing.

Benny’s Story – As you know, I gave in to all of you and am writing a companion story to Undeliverable which is the story of what happened to Benny. What most of you don’t know yet is it actually takes place a bit in the future, after Benny has gone to college, and he finds out that his family is not actually his family. So, to put myself into the angsty, younger, unsure of myself mood, I turn up the 90’s grunge/alternative genre station. It reminds me of all the awkward school dances, the struggle to find your individuality as a teenager, and all that crap. So glad I’m past it myself…well…kinda…

Cindy’s Shoes (I know its an awful title, its a working title, leave me alone) – I decided to try and take a foray into the more lascivious forms of writing cause, hey, that’s where the money is, right? Well, for these, I’m turning on the 80’s Pop Radio genre station. I think this music does it for me for this form because most of the romantic comedies I saw at a formative age came from the late 80’s/early 90’s, so it was my first introduction to romance. Like Romancing the Stone was all that romantic, but whatever works, right?