New member on board

After hanging around in the shadows for a while, I’ve decided to join the crowd. I write in a variety of forms: essays, poetry and fiction. I’ve had poetry and short stories published in obscure literary journals. But right now I’m trying to corral and focus my attention on cleaning up a trio of unpublished science fiction novels.

I like to build worlds and see where my characters go in them. The novels, set in the future in a system settled by humans long ago, follow Joshi Farre from a rebellious teenager into a rebellious later age, in a broad, complex world dealing with issues of oppressive bureaucratic control, interspecies conflict, and the demands of honor.

In science fiction I like Becky Chambers, CJ Cherryh, Kim Stanley Robinson, Hoon Ya Lee, and a host of others. But most of my reading is in mysteries, science, and natural history.

After wandering around the US for a while, I ended up in Seattle where I've lived for many years, except for four years I spent in Tokyo. I’ve worked as a teacher, managing editor of workforce magazines, and deck crew on a fish boat. After all these years, you’d think I’d feel less shy about putting myself out into the world as writer. This seems like a good place to practice.

I taught ESL while I was there, and learned to do editing (in English). I loved living there. I always told people that if aliens came to earth and offered me the chance to go live on their planet, I'd leap at the chance. Since that wasn't going to happen, Japan seemed like the next best thing. Totally different culture and language, and at last as advanced as the US.