It's a Jumble

Here it is. . . The cover reveal for my fantasy novelette, The Lilies of Dawn, forthcoming from Annorlunda Books ! What? you say. Is this, like, a real book? Why, yes it is. It's not a full-length novel, but it's being published as a short ebook. And also in paperback! So you'll be able to hold in your hand that gorgeous, gorgeous cover, illustrated and designed by the talented artist and poet, Likhain. What is this story about? you may be asking. Well, it's about magical lilies (modeled after lotus flowers, as you can see).  And it's about a flock of demon cranes. And it's also about love and duty and one young woman's coming-of-age. All set in an imaginary secondary world that doesn't correspond exactly to any place in our real world, but that does draw geographically and culturally from Southeast Asia. It's due for release on July 27, and pre-orders will be available in mid-July. You can view the official publisher announcement he...

I have a new publication out today! In Dew and Frost and Flame is now up at the lovely Metaphorosis Magazine. It's a tale about love, marriage, and magical paints. Much thanks to editor B. Morris Allen who worked so patiently and carefully with me on this one. And thank you also to illustrator Luke Spoon for the gorgeous illustration!

Three years ago, I opened a book which was a revelation to me, which not only showed me a new world but which changed my own approach to writing in a way that few books have. This book was Sofia Samatar’s debut novel, A Stranger in Olondria . It’s a strange, rich, beautiful book which gathered a heap of fantasy genre awards—the World Fantasy Award, the British Fantasy Award and the Crawford Award—even as it blurred and rewrote standard fantasy tropes. It’s a fantasy novel that is unabashedly literary, in love with language itself—just like its narrator, the young Jevick of Tyom, who discovers reading for the first time as a teenager. It’s a story about stories: characters are constantly telling stories to one another, narratives nested within narrative--legends, histories, soaring and heart-breaking love stories. It’s a book about reading itself: what reading means, how the written word can both empower and oppress. And in a fantasy genre that has been dominated by books based upon m...