About

A small collection of writing samples, fiction and non-fiction, these pages are intended to provide an introduction to my writing style. If you’d like to see a sample tailored to your needs, please email me.

If you have a writing question/topic you’d like to see me address, or have a great tip to share, again, please email me.

Where did the fairy tale commentaries go?

They’re still available here. I’m in the process of moving them to their own site, though, so keep checking back for updates (and hopefully more commentaries).

What? You still want to know more about me? All right then, here it goes:

I’m 28, and married to the almost-but-not-quite superhero, Physics Man.

I just had my first baby (his name is Mir, and he already has his own blog here).

As you can tell, I’m a writer. I freelance a lot; in my (not-so-much) spare time, I write flash fiction, short fiction, and work on my young adult novel.

What’s the novel about?

Ask me again when it’s finished. I might know by then.

Why am I a writer?

I ask myself the same question every morning.

Do I like writing? Sometimes. Not always. Many mornings I stare at the computer screen, skimming Project Gutenberg and wishing I could write as well as the dead authors listed there. But the thing is, even when I don’t feel like writing, I find myself cross-legged in the good chair, fingers moving ten to the dozen. I can’t seem to help it. I’ve tried being a scientist, a personal assistant, an housewife, a full-time ferret carer, and, now, a mother. But I never feel quite like myself unless I’m writing.

What’s the difference between young adult writing & adult writing?

A lot. A little. There’s a lot of crossover between YA and adult literature–you might have noticed some titles, like The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak) and The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) appear as both YA and adult, but with different covers.

I think the major difference is simple–YA has to appeal to teens, while adult lit has to appeal to adults. It’s a simple audience breakdown. But there are a few, more subtle differences, too. While it’s okay for YA books to tackle issues (Sarah Dessen’s Dreamland is all about domestic/relationship violence, and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak is about the consequences of a rape), they can’t rely on gratuitous sex, violence, or language. Young adults are also much more likely to call an author on stories that don’t make sense, voice that doesn’t feel authentic, and a host of other writerly pitfalls. This means that YA writing has to be strong in every possible sense–a challenge, but a pretty worthy one, don’t you think?

Why do I write YA?

Honestly–I don’t know. From the time I first started putting words to paper (i.e. when I learned how a pencil worked) I’ve written about young people. I thought I’d grow out of it at some stage–until I discovered I didn’t want to. YA gives me much more to explore, and takes away the whole “literature” thing I find so intimidating (hence *Insert Literary Blog Name Here*). YA requires such strong, authentic writing that I don’t think there really is a trashy, genre fic subset, or a literary one. It’s all just good story telling.