Riddles upon riddles

February 5, 2024

Hello, friend. One of my favorite things about traveling is figuring out all the small things. Where do you get coffee, and how do you order it? What common...

A wobbly recipe for reducing burnout (or at least petting cats)

September 19, 2023

Hello, friend. This week, I've experienced something rare for me: the joy of missing out. I don't have the energy to run myself ragged now like I did five or...

Difficult months, but I yet live

July 31, 2023

Hello friend, I'm alive. And those people whose continued survival I learn about via text, these far-flung family and friends, they're alive too. There have...

Writing myself a sanctuary when I need it

November 16, 2022

Hello, friend. I’ve written stories since I was tiny. I remember looking at my toes poking out of the bubbles in the bath when I was really young, pre-...

Sometimes you gotta ride a giant axolotl around the desert

September 20, 2022

Hello friend, I rolled the dice in August and managed to come through safely. First, I went to Las Vegas to speak at the Diana Initiative and go to DEF CON....

I wrote this instead of fiction for 1000 Words of Summer

June 14, 2022

Hello friend, It is 1000 Words of Summer time, and I'm having a really hard time with it. Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm defeated or sad. Instead, it's...

Describing and creating reality, word by word

March 10, 2022

Hello, friend. I've found myself having to assert my identity as a writer in a new way, and it brings about feelings. Titles and business cards have always...

The life-changing magic of just stopping (sometimes)

January 27, 2022

Hello, friend. I like to set intentions for the year with what I do on New Year's Day. This year, I did a dance class and started work on a new first draft...

How to scheme and dream in hard times

December 27, 2021

Hello, friend. I usually spend the last week of the year thinking about how I've spent my time and how I'd like to approach next year. To put it in a certain...

The soul-destroying qualities of a failed autosave

November 24, 2021

Hello, friend! This morning’s email didn’t go out in quite the form I intended. If you check out the updated archived version, you’ll get to see a picture...

The creativity-nourishing qualities of spreadsheets (I swear)

November 24, 2021

Hello again! I write to you from the darkness, but you're probably reading this in the darkness if you're in the northern hemisphere, so I suppose that...

I can't do everything, and actually that's great.

October 25, 2021

Hello again, I attempted and completed NaNoWriMo for the first time last November. I'd considered it many times before but recognized - correctly, I would...

Post-its and progress, summer into fall

September 30, 2021

Hello, friend. It’s a fine season to have multiple projects in different phases. Of course, it always is, but it’s especially true for me right now. I’m a...

Researching the lives of imaginary people

August 31, 2021

Hello friend, I recently had some time between jobs, and I spent two weeks of it in New York. I did this because I wanted to, broadly, and specifically...

Containing the uncontainable

July 27, 2021

Hello again. As predicted, I'm excited, and so I'm writing a little sooner than four perfectly paced weeks after the first one. I'm still working my way...

Inside me, there are two writers.

July 5, 2021

Neither of the writers are wolves, unfortunately. And one was a lot more active for a long time. I make my living these days as a security engineer. I can...