In Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, a character called Duke Senior has been exiled by his younger brother to the Forest of Arden. As befits a gentle comedy, he finds the woods a fine place, and he has “merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England: they … Continue reading “Tongues in trees, and good in everything”

Kill your darlings, they say. Cut the parts from your book that don’t move the plot forward, even if you love them. So, on the wise advice from my editor, I killed the final section of the novel Interference about some fippokats (well, they were going to die anyway) and write a different ending that … Continue reading Fippokats in space!

On Mother’s Day this year, I wrote about my new favorite plant, this Rhipsalis creuscula or coral cactus. My brother had mailed me some cuttings from his plant, which my mother had given him about thirty years ago. She died in 1994. Although the cuttings had arrived a bit battered from the trip, the “before” … Continue reading My new favorite plant: a progress report

Reminder: Goodreads is hosting a giveaway of 20 copies of Interference. Enter here before November 14. Not sure if you’ll like the book? You can read the first chapter here. You can hear a preview of the audiobook here. You can also read a few reviews at Goodreads. Ready to buy? Links to online and … Continue reading Giveaway reminder and updates for ‘Interference’

A spark of ethylene freezes a few of my rootlets as the auxins are inhibited. The main locustwood speaker wants my attention and strikes where a patch of our roots overlap. It is odd that he should greet me in an almost non-destructive fashion. He is the new speaker for his grove of trees but … Continue reading Excerpt from ‘Interference’: the opening of Chapter 6, by Stevland

The book launch for Interference will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 24, at Volumes Bookcafe, 1474 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago. The novel goes on sale October 22. On the 24th, I’ll be reading from the novel, answering questions — and giving away the plants in the photo made from cuttings from one of my … Continue reading “Interference” book launch – with free plants!

Tor Publishing is giving away 20 copies of Interference at Goodreads. If you’re a member of Goodreads, click here to enter! (Limited to Goodreads members in the US and Canada, sorry.) The novel goes on sale in a week, and if you’re not feeling lucky, you can pre-order it now.