• The Desert Wall,  The Divided World Series

    Where Did Malenie Come From?

    By the time I was in 6th grade, I kinda didn’t want to go to school every day. By the time I was in 9th grade, I really didn’t want to go, and by the time I was in 12th grade, I dreaded going. The problem was bullying. In 6th grade I was awkward and was shy and read SFF when that was totally completely really uncool. I remember reading the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey and a boy telling me, You have to read that nothing book because you’re nothing, too. By 9th grade, the insults were more pointed, the isolation sharper. Sometime after that the threat of…

  • The Divided World Series

    The Red Fortress, coming in 2019

    I thought I’d share a sneak preview of The Red Fortress, the sequel to The Desert Wall. It’s told from Nes’s point of view as she continues the search started in the first book… When I was little, I choked on a chicken bone once. It scraped the sides of my throat, and the bone and panic closed off my breath. I was afraid I was gonna die. Well that’s what it’s like for me most times with words. They stick in my throat and choke me. It doesn’t matter if they’re words of love or anger. I feel like I’m trying to swallow something too big, except I’m trying to…

  • What I'm reading

    What I’m Reading: Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

    Spoilers ahead. From the back cover: Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is lost. So she’s easily swept away when a glamorous, capricious, and wealthy acquaintance from years ago asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at the extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens. Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.” What Jane doesn’t know is that the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her life. One…