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Why I'm Here

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When I was young, I wanted to be an astrophysicist. My eyes were fixed on the stars overhead and the future that was almost within reach.

Instead I became a corporate lawyer. Succeeded at that rather well, but found it a tad too much on the soul-sucking side of the equation. So I became a software developer. Succeeded at that reasonably well, but the best part about it was I discovered I could create things—things that didn't exist before I first imagined them, then made them.

A couple of years ago I began writing fan fiction for a little game series called Mass Effect (it’s okay, fan fiction is cool now). If you're a gamer, you've heard of it; if you're not, just think “epic space opera.”

I hadn’t written anything non-work-related in more than a decade; but I was, in the truest since of the word, ‘inspired’ by what is a singular game series. I also learned to use Photoshop, began to manipulate screenshots, and eventually started creating original spacescapes—but that's not really the point of this post.

At first, no one except my husband read what I wrote. Then a handful of people started reading; then a bucketful of handfuls did. And along the way my life changed in amazing ways I never could have foreseen.

One day it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, I could do this ‘writing’ thing. Like, really do it. (Actually, it occurred to me because my husband said, “You could really do this, you know,” but I digress.)

I dipped my toe in the water by writing an original novel-length story within the Mass Effect universe. New plot, new locations, new aliens, new enemies. It was the hardest work I'd ever done (80hr weeks at the law firm included)—and I LOVED it.

So here I am. Writing an original science fiction novel (a trilogy actually, but one book at a time, right?). In some respects I hope to emulate the styles of Peter F. Hamilton, Alistair Reynolds and Vernor Vinge, to name a few—because they tell stories of universes I want to see. But I also hope to bring my own unique style and perspective to this endeavor.

I started several months ago with nothing more than a couple of paragraphs of notes and ideas, some pictures of space art, and a vague image in my head that carried within it a story waiting to escape.

I’m a good bit further along now—far enough along to jump off the cliff and go public. I hope to share thoughts about writing, the process and pitfalls of bringing a novel into existence, science and space fiction and fact, concept art, and more. The interaction I have enjoyed with friends, fans and other writers and artists over the past several years has been a source of great inspiration, comfort and camaraderie, and I hope to continue it here. I'm excited about sharing this vision, with all its ups and downs, on what's sure to be a crazy, bumpy, unpredictable road.

Wish me luck.

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