Welcome! I’m a newly-agented author in the revision trenches and submission trenches. I don’t have a huge backlist or a movie deal. What I do have is a front row seat to the unglamorous, fascinating, occasionally terrifying process of trying to bring a big, ambitious book into the world. I write dark, character driven speculative fiction: worlds that are broken in interesting ways and the people trying to survive them. Ink and Afterlight is where I show you the part of that work you don’t usually see. Here, you’ll find:

• Draft scars. What actually happens when an editorial letter lands, when I cut 35,000 words, or when a “brilliant” idea dies in chapter twelve.

• Behind the scenes decisions. How I build worlds, balance the dark and the light, and try to keep my brain intact while revising.

• Craft deep dives. Short, practical essays on plotting, character, theme, and the other drivers (reading, watching, traveling, etc.) that help me craft my dark speculative fiction.

• Original short fiction. Standalone stories and cut scenes that live in the same shadowed neighborhoods as my novels.

If you’re a reader who likes your stories a little unsettling, or a writer who wants to see how those worlds get built (and rebuilt), this newsletter is for you. I plan to send a few main dispatches a month, plus the occasional shorter note when something worth sharing happens: good, bad, or weird.

Thanks for pulling up a chair and grabbing your spot around the fire. Let’s chat and see what shows up in the afterlight!