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UPDATES:


July 2024:
Welcome, friends! You've made it to the landing page for A PREPONDERANCE OF STARRY BEINGS, my debut story collection forthcoming from TriQuarterly Books and Northwestern University Press in summer 2025! Future updates will be posted here.

Since my last update to this home page, my work has appeared in Fourth Genre, Creative Nonfiction, North American Review, and Joyland. I finished a draft of my dissertation, a speculative memoir that I'll be querying after my next revision.

I've got a new name now: In May 2024, I graduated from the University of Missouri with my PhD, the culmination of more than a decade of dreaming, scheming, and work!

Best of all, I've accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of English at Berry College, where I'll be teaching in the creative writing program this fall. Rome, Georgia is a beautiful part of the country and I'm already very happy here.

March 2020:
Thrilled to share my first byline for The New York Times, in which I write about the beauty of gathering in mass numbers. Social distancing is a necessity for now (and I do hope all of you are staying safe and well), but it won't be forever. "Chin Up, Extroverts! We Will Crowd Again" is my love letter to crowds and the restorative nature of gathering together.

And more exciting news: my second chapbook, The Space Poet, is here! And the press did such a lovely job with it; I'm completely obsessed. This has been a dream come true! Find out more about the book here and buy it from Split/Lip Press here.

December 2019:
It has been a very good year, friends. I have been very fortunate this awards season, and have received two Pushcart nominations, one for my story "Galaxy Defenders Stay Forever" in Mississippi Review and another for my story "The Adventures of Earthgirl and Starboy" from Ninth Letter, as well as a nomination for Best American Essays from The Rumpus for my essay "Sophia Hanson Wants to Believe" and a Best Small Fictions nomination for my story "Thoughts on Raising Girls Freshly Feral" from Hayden's Ferry Review. I am overwhelmed by gratitude to all the amazing editors who have been so supportive of my work this year.

Additionally, I'm honored to announce that I have two new stories out this month, in Ninth Letter (mentioned above) and Michigan Quarterly Review. What a way to end a decade!

November 2019:
In celebration of Good Omens, I have a new article up on Syfy Wire today! The article explains how the fandom shipped Crowley/Aziraphale SO HARD that the fans actually changed the representation of the novels in the adaptation, thereby making the miniseries way better (and gayer) than the book (fight me). Read it here or listen to me discuss the article on The Fandom Files here.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in Sundress Publications' Project Bookshelf, where I contemplated chaos and the tediousness of shelf organization.

October 2019:
Very excited to announce a new essay, "Getting to the Heart of SFF's Most Tear-Inducing Moments: The 'Riders of Rohan' phenomenon," in Tor. Part craft essay on rallies in narrative and part cultural criticism on what makes us (me) cry, this piece is above all a love letter to science fiction and fantasy. Very proud of this one! You can read it here.

Additionally, I had the great pleasure of reporting on the work of Mary Akers, the first person in the US to breed hermit crabs in captivity. This story combined so many of my research interests: animals & pet ownership, environmentalism, and the bone-deep thrill of talking to people about things they are enthusiastic about. You can read it here in The Outline.

August 2019:
Big news, friends! First things first, I've moved to Columbia MO to begin the PhD in fiction at the University of Missouri. It's a great program full of wonderful writers, and I'm thrilled to be here!

Also thrilling is the recent publication of my chapbook (!!!) Pretty to Think So! Selcouth Station Press did such a beautiful job with it. I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude. You can learn more about the chap here and order a copy here.

My flash piece "Thoughts on Raising Girls Freshly Feral" has just gone up at Hayden's Ferry Review, which you can read online here.

Additional good news: my second chapbook The Space Poet recently won the Split Lip Press chapbook contest this year. I also have work forthcoming from Ninth Letter and Michigan Quarterly Review this fall. Check back later this year for updates on release information, publication dates, etc. It's going to be a good semester, I can tell.

May 2019:
I loved my last podcast interview so much, I did it again! This time I chatted with the marvelous Stephanie Phillips and Brynn Martin on their podcast Shitty First Drafts! I had a BLAST talking about my long-forgotten undergraduate writing, rough drafts, sci-fi (again and always), and more. I read from a shitty first draft of my own, too! You can listen to it here. Thanks for having me, folks!

April 2019:
Excited to have recently been interviewed by the podcast Just the Gist Please, which is all about the MFA process and the work that comes out of it! In the interview, I discuss the importance of community, literary science fiction, and read one of my flash pieces, too! Listen to the full interview here, and then check out the other amazing writers featured on the podcast! Many thanks to Katy at JGP for chatting with me!

I have three new flash pieces in Peatsmoke: A Literary Journal this month! These pieces will appear in my chapbook, Pretty to Think So, later this year! Check them out here in the meantime.

March 2019:
It's been a good month, friends! I have stories out at The Normal School, Passages North, and The Mississippi Review this month! As well as a craft essay on italicizing dialogue (why do I do that, anyway?) on the AWP blog The Writer's Notebook, which you can check out here.

Finally, I am VERY excited to have my newest essay up in The Rumpus today, "Sophia Hanson Wants to Believe"! In it I explore Sophia (she's going to be our leader) and other feminine robots, the female body, women's rights, and my dog gets a UTI.

January 2019:
Great big welcome to 2019, which is starting off strong with the publication of my essay in Lit Hub on feminist futurism and the "female" virtual assistant! Check it out here.

Also: BIG NEWS!! My prose chapbook Pretty to Think So has been accepted with Selcouth Station Press, with a release date for 2019! I am over the moon about this, y'all, it's unreal. Watch this space for updates! It's going to be a good year, I can tell.

November 2018:
I was honored to recently have been the featured reader for the Poets in Pajamas online reading series! You can watch the recording of my reading here.

I was also delighted to have a new story out in the most recent issue of The Pinch! Stories also forthcoming in Mississippi Review and Passages North, both coming in early 2019. It's been a good fall!

March 2018:
My story "The Space Poet" is out now in Black Warrior Review 44.2! Check out my accompanying craft essay here or buy the issue here.

Two new articles are up now on Yahoo and Crixeo, the first one about ways to make your home more magical and the second about Spock teaching us to be better humans. Happy spring!

January 2018:
So excited to share my first article for VICE, which explores nostalgia fatigue in TV and film (aka why people were hatin' on Star Wars).

I've got a brand-new essay on lyricism and using myth/magic in realist novels up at Ploughshares! Ahh!

December 2017:
My article on Doctor Who and its most amazing progressive moments is live now at Crixeo! Check it out here.

October 2017:
My craft essay “The Shattered Novel: The Rules of Fragmented Fiction” is up on Grist's fabulous blog, The Writing Life! Check it out here.

I am beyond excited to say my Day One story “Earthbound John” is recently released and available in issue 5.1 or as a Kindle Single. I am so enamored by that gorgeous cover!

Issue 7 of Phantom Drift, featuring my flash piece “Mama Says,” is out now and available here.

Very happy to announce a story forthcoming in Black Warrior Review! Details coming soon.

My Choose Your Own Adventure story “How to Be” has been reprinted in the Santa Fe Writers' Project's first-ever annual, and what a beautiful job they did with it! You can order a copy here. Also, you can read my interview with the Santa Fe Writers Project here.

The first installment of my Apartment Zoo series--titled “One Bedroom, One Bathroom, and One Big Dalmatian”--has gone live at Ravishly. Check it out here.