News

March, 2022: After last summer’s unprecedented heat dome over Washington state, the hotter impacts of climate change were on my mind! I revisited my story, Sworn Guardian, which will appear this month in the “dry” issue of the online fiction magazine Haven Speculative.

Another short story, “Birthing In Place,” was acquired by David Harten Watson for the anthology Extinction Noice: Tales of a Warming Earth. Midwife Sonja and her story had lodged in my mind long before the COVID-19 pandemic, when I learned about the potential for infectious agents to be released from melting permafrost. Another great reason to keep fossil fuels in the ground!

October, 2020: When the editors of The Goose: A Journal of Arts, Environment and Culture in Canada put out a call for experimental pieces that tackle climate change, I knew just the piece I wanted to submit. “The Cost of Doing Business” sprang from my mind much like Athena from the forehead of Zeus – fully formed following a blinding headache. It was like my soul just needed to get these words into the world, even though I wasn’t sure who would be interested in printing a stream-of-consciousness piece about the end of the polar bears and the beginning of a moral revolution. I’m so happy that The Goose decided to include this piece in their latest journal. Our activism can change the balance. Together we are so powerful.

June, 2020: For the annual Green Stories competition, I had 500 words in which to create a flash fiction story on the topic of sustainability. Table for One, which examines death and compost with a side of humor, received a ‘high commendation’ and is available to read or listen to here.

September, 2019: I’m thrilled to learn that Action Aid Denmark has developed an educational curriculum for climate fiction that features my short story “Still Waters.” Teachers and activists, I hope you will find this free resource helpful! It’s available in English and Danish.

August, 2019: My short story “Sworn Guardian” received an honorable mention in the Sapiens Plurum Short Fiction contest. In a future, drought-ravaged world, an elite team of forest guardians protect the trees as if they are their own children, and are sworn to defend them from all threats including wildfire and poachers. Inspiration for this story was drawn from the Akashinga, a group of women who defend wildlife in Zimbabwe.

Friday, April 12, 2019: Find me at the Vashon Lit Crawl! I’ll be reading with Laura Da’ at Gather from 4-6 pm. The stories I’m planning to read include one about kids who find an underground city and another about two older women who survive the Camp Wildfire and devise a plan to hold their legislators accountable so that it never happens again.

February, 2019: I’ve joined Dragonfly Ecofiction as a YA and middle grade book reviewer. Dragonfly is an amazing resource for readers to discover books about the power of nature and for those trying to save the planet. There are great resources for educators too.

September, 2018: So excited to announce that my children’s story, “Outside Person,” was awarded second place in the PNWA’s annual writing contest. I love this story and hope to one day see it in the hands of children that I am not related to!