I'd like to provide an important household update. Maple Syrup is now approximately sixteen weeks old. Unfortunately, she has recently discovered the kitchen counters. This development has been met with great enthusiasm on her part and considerably less enthusiasm on ours. Every day seems to bring a new discovery. A new forbidden location. A new object that absolutely must be investigated. A new opportunity to test whether gravity still works. For those unfamiliar with Maple,

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I've been desperately trying to claw my way out of it, with mixed results. One of my recent attempts was What the River Knows. As a lifelong fan of The Mummy (1999), I was excited by the promise of Egypt, magic, and historical mystery. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the right book for me. That happens sometimes. What did stick with me, however, were the illustrations scattered throughout the book. Doodles played a surprisingly impo

Most people learn that I hand wrote the first draft of Marmalade Skies and immediately decide I'm a little bit crazy. They're probably right. For whatever reason, typing a first draft gives my brain permission to run wild. A simple story suddenly develops three extra subplots, a detailed magic system, and enough worldbuilding to support an encyclopedia. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have an abandoned project complete with a runic language and its own monotheistic rel

Most days, I write with atmospheric lo-fi playlists playing in the background. You know the ones—the soundscapes designed to transport you to a cozy tavern in a faraway kingdom or a mossy forest where a fairy is resting beside a stream. They're perfect for sinking into a story's atmosphere and settling into a writing session. But every now and then, it's time to stop wandering and start sprinting. When I really need to focus, I return to a playlist left over from an abandoned