Happy Dancing

Don't Say Characters Lack "Agency." Here's Something Talk About Instead.

March 29, 2023

There's one common term that I was pretty careful not to use in my writing advice book, Never Say You Can't Survive: "agency." As in, "characters in a story...

Here are Some of My Favorite Trans/Non-Binary Books!

March 20, 2023

Some amazing folks, led by author Sim Kern, are launching a Trans Rights Readathon starting today, to raise money for trans organizations. I meant to tweet...

The First Article I Ever Wrote About Trans Issues

March 13, 2023

I've written countless articles and essays about trans people over the past twenty or so years, including some recent ones in Teen Vogue, the San Francisco...

Writing Comic Books is HARD. Here's Why

March 6, 2023

I've heard prose authors say stuff like, "I wish I could just write comics. You just have to write some dialogue and sketch out some action, and the artist...

7 Hot Takes About Star Trek

February 21, 2023

1. The Federation is most interesting when it has an ideological foil. The original Star Trek pitted Captain Kirk against fake gods, rogue Starfleet...

J.K. Rowling and "Separating the Art from the Artist"

February 11, 2023

In case you've been living under some kind of magical rock, there's a new Harry Potter tie-in video game out now, called Hogwarts Legacy. I honestly wasn't...

I Still Loathe The Concept of "Careers"

February 3, 2023

So I used to have a rant that I spouted off sometimes, about how much I hate the idea of having a "career." Back in the day, I was lucky enough to have a day...

Everything you need to know about New Mutants: Lethal Legion!

January 28, 2023

I've always dreamed of writing superhero comics. I love how colorful and earnestly weird they are, and how well they lend themselves to a mixture action and...

Interview: Assigned Media's Evan Urquhart Explains Why We Need Trans Journalists

January 23, 2023

Lately I've been so grateful for Assigned Media (assignedmedia.org), a new outlet where journalist Evan Urquhart keeps track of transgender news, and...

Some Ideas for How to Save Short Fiction!

January 20, 2023

Hey, thanks for reading my newsletter! I don't charge any money to read Happy Dancing, but if you would like to support me, I would be super grateful if you...

I Was a Religious Icon for a Dozen Years (Part 2)

January 5, 2023

Note: You're reading the second half of this essay about singing in church choirs as an atheist... the first half came out last week, and you can scroll down...

I Was a Religious Icon (Part 1)

December 28, 2022

I was ten or eleven years old the first time I wore a frock in public. My parents had pushed me to join the choir at an Episcopalian cathedral in Hartford,...

What the Original Star Wars Teaches Us About Storytelling

December 18, 2022

I think one decent litmus test for any story is: is it about what it's about? This may sound kind of silly --- how can a story not be about what it's about?...

In Praise of Naive Tricksters

December 5, 2022

Issue #32 of New Mutants comes out on Wednesday, and I'm super proud of this one. (Above is a sneak peek from the four preview pages Marvel just released,...

Don't Just Create One Big Story, Build a Mosaic of Tiny Stories!

November 29, 2022

Lately I keep thinking about an odd metric for thinking about prose fiction: the amount of stories per story. I really like stories that have a lot of other,...

Not Another Think Piece About Twitter, I Promise!

November 21, 2022

Okay, I lied. Sort of. This isn't going to be a think piece about the slow decomposition of the birb app, days after everyone else has already written...

What is the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

October 23, 2022

Two things happened around the same time recently. Marvel displayed a greater willingness to make fun of itself than ever before, with the robot K.E.V.I.N.,...

What If You Run Out of Funkadelic? Don't Worry, I Got You Covered.

September 8, 2022

Listening to Funkadelic is one of the most worthwhile things you can do with your life — which makes it utterly tragic that at a certain point, you're bound...

The Best Convention I Ever Went To

August 24, 2022

In the summer of 1985, my mom had a fellowship at Oxford University, so we packed and moved to a rental place in the U.K. I'd lived in Britain before,...

You Can Love Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Without Dissing Star Trek: Discovery

July 21, 2022

I swear this newsletter is not turning into a Star Trek blog or anything, but Star Trek has been on my mind quite a bit lately, for various reasons. And this...

Some Other Words That Trans People Should Destroy, Now That You Can't Say "Woman"

July 10, 2022

We did it, everybody! We totally got rid of the word "woman!" Nobody is ever allowed to use that word again*. (Okay, I just used it a moment ago, but that...

One Thing I'd Like To See From The Next Vampire Diaries Series

July 5, 2022

Ever since Legacies finished its run on The CW, I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to see next from the Vampire Diaries universe. The Vampire...

A Fun Surprise We Snuck Into the Marvel Pride Issue

June 27, 2022

Marvel Voices: Pride #1 (the 2022 pride issue) came out last Wednesday. I was meaning to write a newsletter to celebrate, but I was traveling to Arizona for...

The Sweetweird Manifesto

June 4, 2022

A spectre is haunting pop culture — an adorable and friendly, but slightly messed-up creature that beckons us into a world of kindness and surrealism....

We Need Heroes Who Can Remind Us That Heroism Is Fun

May 24, 2022

I wrote this newsletter last week and tried to send it out on Thurs or Fri. Not sure what happened, but apparently it got eaten? In any case, here it is now!...

I Helped To Create a New Marvel Superhero!

May 13, 2022

Now it can be told!!!! I have co-created a brand new superhero for Marvel Comics (along with her best friend!) Meet Shela Sexton, aka Escapade. She's trans,...

Captain Kirk's First Adventure Was About Choosing Between Two Friends

May 10, 2022

I recently rewatched the two pilots for the original Star Trek, in preparation for the beginning of Strange New Worlds, the latest Trek show starring Captain...

Absurdly Long Train and Bus Rides I Have Taken

April 29, 2022

1) As I might have mentioned before, I took a year off before college and went to Beijing to teach English and study Mandarin. I spent several months living...

Why Do We Assume Everyone Is Speaking in Bad Faith?

April 11, 2022

I keep procrastinating on writing another newsletter — partly because of writing deadlines and book promo and touring and all of that. But also, it's a bit...

What I Learned From Writing My First Ever Sequel

April 4, 2022

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak comes out tomorrow, and it's the first sequel I've ever written. And what I learned from writing it is that — drum roll please...

It Feels Weird To Talk Up My Book During a Compound Apocalypse. I'm Gonna Do It Anyway.

March 22, 2022

Two weeks from today, my young adult novel Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak comes out. This is the second book in the Unstoppable trilogy, and I'm so excited to...

Cover Reveal: All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From by Izzy Wasserstein!

March 14, 2022

Izzy Wasserstein is a powerhouse writer who has been putting out some incredible short stories lately. And now, at last, she has a whole book of her short...

A Few Ways of Thinking About "Cancel Culture"

March 9, 2022

1) I increasingly think it's not helpful to say of someone, "They have been canceled." The passive phrasing of "has been canceled" feels very Orwellian. Pro...

Tropes I Miss: The Erudite Action Hero

February 8, 2022

Hey, my young adult sequel Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak is available to pre-order! Also, I'm going to be talking about my first YA book, Victories Greater...

Here's the Official History of My Fictional Galaxy!

February 1, 2022

Hi! I'm sorry I haven't sent out a newsletter in the past month or so -- I've been frantically trying to finish the third book of my young adult trilogy. And...

Here Is a Newsletter Post Telling You To Support Newspapers Instead of Newsletters

December 18, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I published three books in 2021 (I know!). There's my young adult space...

2021 Has Been A Hell of a Year

December 13, 2021

I hope it's not too late to do a "2021 in review" post! This was a really intense year, for various reasons. I published three (!!!) books, and also got to...

All The Steps That REO Speedwagon Took In Their Unsucccessful Attempt To Fight This Feeling

December 8, 2021

1) They attempted to form a multilateral commission to explore forming a united front against this feeling, with a mixture of economic sanctions and covert...

7 Hot Takes About Shared Universes

December 1, 2021

Welcome to my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have a bunch of books and I co-host a podcast. A week from Saturday, on Dec. 11, I'm...

I Found the Most Complicated Process For Creating a Supporting Cast Because That's How I Roll

November 23, 2021

It's finally here! Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak, the second book in my young adult trilogy, is finally available to request on Netgalley. If you read it,...

Five Times I Almost Died

November 16, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. My first full-length short story collection, Even Greater Mistakes, is out...

I've Finally Arrived as a Short Story Writer!

November 9, 2021

One of my long-time dreams is about to come true next week. I'm about to have a real, proper collection of my best short stories, out from a major publisher....

Three Factors That Make a Community Fall Apart in the Face of Disaster

November 1, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have three brand new books: my young adult space fantasy Victories...

Pop Culture Lied To Us: Shared Dangers Don't Always Bring Us Together

October 27, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have three brand new books: my young adult space fantasy Victories...

Why Is It So Hard To Imagine The United States Staying United?

October 5, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have three brand new books: my young adult space fantasy Victories...

Animal-Based Superheroes, Ranked

September 27, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have two brand new books: Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get...

I'm Proud To Be a Bad Trans Person

September 8, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have two brand new books: Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get...

I've Been Trying to Imagine a Fascist United States for Nearly Twenty Years

September 5, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have two brand new books: Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get...

Everything I Learned From Working on Season One of Y: The Last Man

September 1, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have two brand new books: Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get...

How "Bending the Landscape" Helped to Queer Speculative Fiction Forever

August 15, 2021

Thank you for checking out my newsletter! You can read the archives and subscribe. I have two books coming out soon: on August 17, I’m publishing Never Say...