Hello!

Hello! Now that I’ve left my career as a university professor to be a full-time writer, I thought I’d reach out and try to become more connected to others who love reading, writing, and SF/F. I think I should start by confessing that I’ve never been good at coming up with interesting, insightful nuggets to share with the world. Most of my activity on Facebook involves “liking” witty and insightful things that my friends write. I’m much more comfortable putting words into the mouths of my characters. In fact, I never seem to get tired of doing that, which is one of the reasons I took the plunge to write full time. I’m not one of those writers who has to overcome resistance, avoid distractions, stop procrastinating and get my butt in the seat. It’s the opposite for me – even if I've been at it for hours, I crave more time to write. I love writing.

What often keeps my butt out of my writing chair (I write in a recliner that faces a window looking out into our backyard) is our twin four-year-olds, Hannah and Miles. Weekends and evenings, all of my time and attention are focused on the dynamic duo.

I’m excited about the upcoming release of my third novel, Love Minus Eighty. I’ll talk about the title a little more in another post, but for now, have you seen the cover?? It is all kinds of incredible. The book itself will have a semi-transparent vellum jacket, so the jacket and the cover itself form one image, then the image changes somewhat when you take the jacket off. The folks at Orbit Books have done a remarkable job.

Love Minus Eighty is based on my short story “Bridesicle”, which won a Hugo Award in 2009. The original story is mostly in the novel, but Mira’s story is only one of the three interconnected stories that make up the novel.

“Bridesicle” has been optioned for a feature film by Film4 Productions, the people who made Slumdog Millionaire, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and a million other wonderful films. No word yet on whether a movie is forthcoming.

There’s a giveaway for three copies of Love Minus Eighty running right now. I'll be happy to sign those copies for the winners. I’ll run another giveaway as soon as the book is released, which will be JUNE 11. I can’t wait. In the meantime, back to work on novel #5, which is titled Faller. Novel #4, Defenders, is basically complete and with Orbit, to be released in 2014. I’ll talk more about that one another time.

Thank you for reading! I’ll be checking in again soon.