I lived in Austin, Texas, in the late 1990s — not for very long, sadly, but long enough to be improved some and to be legally entitled to say “y’all.” So I’m excited that the Texas Library Association has included Semiosis in its 2019 list of outstanding fiction that merits special attention from adult readers. … Continue reading Texas Library Association: “Semiosis” is “a pleasure to read”

Here in the upper Midwest, the landscape looks desolate right now. Gardens and weeds are dead or dormant. Trees and bushes are as bare as if they suffered some sort of apocalypse — and they did! The air got freezing cold. That’s fatal to most plants unless they make complex adjustments. What happened, of course, … Continue reading Storing wealth in the soil

Like every writer I know, I’ve started too many stories that petered out and sit there on my hard drive tucked out of sight so they don’t depress me. These are mistakes — and I know why some of them happened. Here’s an analogy: I’ve got a great starting idea for dinner today: I should … Continue reading Off to a bad start

I am gratified (and relieved!) by how many people have enjoyed my novel Semiosis. Readers send me notes, booksellers are glad to see me, and the novel has made some year’s best lists for 2018. This is an unexpected and wonderful holiday gift. New York Public Library “Our librarians — through their experience recommending books … Continue reading “Semiosis” is on some year’s best SF lists

The word semiosis refers to the relationship between a sign and its meaning — a relationship that permits communication. Among humans, we usually use language to communicate, but humans have many languages, each one with a unique system of oral and written signs. I speak English and Spanish, and here’s an unexpected way that the … Continue reading How do you read?

My novel Semiosis on sale until January 1: only $2.99. You can buy it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, eBooks.com, Google books, iTunes, and Kobo. The publisher’s link to the ebook all those sites is here. What would make a better holiday gift for yourself or for others than a story that will forever change … Continue reading “Semiosis” is on sale: $2.99 for the ebook

How do you meditate? Sitting still, eyes closed? That’s one way to do it: We can imagine ourselves serene like the stars overhead, moving in stately, measured rhythms. We breathe in and out, and they rise and set. Or we could meditate like the stars as seen from another point of reference, dashing to and … Continue reading Mediate like the stars