Finding Lyra – The Lyre Vega is the brightest star in the summer sky, so it’s a great starting point to orient yourself amongst the constellations. After dusk, look straight up and slightly to the east. See that bright, yellowish star? That’s Vega in the constellation Lyra. Lyra is one of the three constellations…
Finding Orion – The Hunter Orion is one of the most prominent constellations in the winter sky, and it’s bright enough to be seen in even the most light-polluted cities. The easiest way to find Orion is by looking for its belt—three bright stars in a diagonal line, cutting through the middle of the…
My new book comes out August 7th! When I tell people about The Seas of Distant Stars, I say it’s about a human girl who’s kidnapped by aliens. Which is true, but here’s the official description: Agapanthus was kidnapped when she was only two years old, but she doesn’t remember it. In fact, she doesn’t…
Two weeks from now, on March 15th, my second novel will officially be released. LISTEN focuses on the confluence between music and nature. It’s a story about love: the love between two young people, and the love they discover for the natual world. Above all, this is a story about reconnecting with the earth.…
Guess what arrived in the mail last night? Advance copies of my second novel, Listen! No matter how many books I might publish in my lifetime, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this feeling. My words, my story, my characters, all brought into tangible existence! It finally feels real. I’m a published author? A two-time…
I wrote this book when I was living in a college dorm-room. That was my sophomore year, so I guess I was 19 and 20? I finished it by summer break, then set it aside to prepare for the release of my first novel, Call of the Sun Child, which came out in March 2014. And now,…
The first time I visited Crater Lake National Park, the November wind was so cold that my lips became numb. My cheeks soon succumbed to the cold as well and, eventually, so did my entire face. I’d neglected to bring a hat, so in an act of creative desperation, I tied my scarf around my…
When it comes to climate change, we already know what needs to be done. Yet we don’t do anything of consequence; we resist positive action because climate change looms over us as a great, daunting beast, too menacing to actually deal with. But maybe not. According to Naomi Klein in her book This Changes Everything, we have…
As an environmental studies grad, an author, and a lover of reading, I often think about the environmental impact of books. I wrote my first novel, Call of the Sun Child, in praise of the natural world–especially the magnificence of trees–yet every paper copy I sell is the carcass of a dead tree. From across the…
There are times when I want walk into the forest alone. Walk where there are no paths. No concrete, or gravel, or dirt trails worn thin by hiking boots. I want ferns by my feet. When I pause, and hold my breath, and listen closely, I want to hear branches clipping together, and distant, wind-woven…