Rosewater by Tade Thompson won the Arthur C. Clarke Award today. Congratulations! My novel Semiosis was on the shortlist, and I’m deeply honored by that. Just in case, my editor at HarperVoyager in Great Britain, Jack Renninson, came with a speech to read on my behalf. In it, I thank Arthur C. Clark Award judges, … Continue reading If I had won…

What’s it like to write a novel? Much has been said about it, perhaps too much, but let me add one more metaphor anyway: It’s like digging a big hole. By hand. You likely start out choosing where to dig and knowing the approximate size of the final hole — that is, you’ve chosen the … Continue reading Digging up a novel

“Where do you get your ideas?” If you’re a writer, you may have been asked that. Here’s how I got the idea behind Semiosis and turned it into a novel. How it happened is neither typical nor unusual – there are a lot of paths to a novel, and they’re all good – but it … Continue reading Where the idea for “Semiosis” came from

My brother’s family sent me this plant for my birthday yesterday. They know me well. “Another plant for your growing jungle!” the card said. (Kathy, my sister-in-law, invented the fippokat as a child and lent it to me for Semiosis and hasn’t complained about the ways I’ve used and abused them.) The card from the … Continue reading A splashy pink birthday gift

The Forgetting Flower by Karen Hugg My rating: 5 of 5 stars Full disclosure: The author approached me to see if I wanted to write a blurb for her book, a literary thriller, and if so, she’d send me a copy. The book was about plants, and plants are my thing. I took a look … Continue reading My Goodreads review of “The Forgetting Flower”

Finalists for this year’s John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction novel have been selected, and Semiosis is on the list! I am deeply honored. The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel , or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of … Continue reading “Semiosis” is a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award

Here’s some of the latest news about flowers: Mouse plants If you’re pollinated by fungus gnats, it’s good to pretend to be a mushroom. (The name comes from the flower’s mouse-like “tail.”) Spring is coming earlier New England’s woodland wildflowers are not keeping up with the change. Ants on peonies Peony flowers provide food for … Continue reading Flowers in the news