My afternoon with a nankeen kestrel family seemed like the most intimate wild-raptor encounter a wildlife photographer could hope for. But that’s the incredible thing about nature: it likes to surprise you, especially in biomes you foolishly think you’ve mastered. Last weekend I joined other lens-toting pilgrims at the botanical gardens on quest for a … More Blood and Blooms: A Goshawk’s Garden Gauntlet
Growing up, one of my family’s favorite picture books was Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree. It follows a laborer in the Amazon rainforest who, wearied by his toils, naps beneath the tree he’s been hired to chop down. As he sleeps, animals who call the tree home whisper pleas for him to spare it … More “The Great Kestrel Tree”: Rediscovering Nature Narratives
Just because I haven’t published a new book recently doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned writing. Far from it. Finding myself at a creative crossroads, I’ve explored new genres and formats in an effort to further develop my craft. My self-development paid off: for the first time ever, I had a story accepted in a literary publication! … More “Rocket Man”: my first literary journal feature
When we last left our heroine, she was trapped in lockdown limbo. House sold in expectation of an overseas move, but stranded under pandemic travel restrictions, she and her Laddie were living out of their suitcases in an AirBnB. Did they ever escape to their new home? Or are they still barricaded in the basement, … More Return of the J.K.: Crazy Year, But Still Here
Plenty of nerdy couples read in bed at night. Really nerdy couples might even exchange comments on their respective books. But in a sci-fi writer’s house, such nerdiness achieves whole new dimensions: “This is a flawed discussion of quantum computing,” I announced to the dark room. “It’s bedtime,” my Laddie mumbled from the pillow beside … More The Literary Turing Test: A Book Review of Rob Reid’s “After On”
I recently came down with a touch of that pernicious malady sweeping the globe. Not COVID-19, thank goodness, but Lockdown Languor. It’s not the social distancing that bothers me: for a disciplined moonlight novelist with a deeply introverted partner, the normal pattern is to avoid people and stay home. The problem is that we don’t … More Book Review: “The Ear, The Eye and the Arm” by Nancy Farmer
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