About Me
Hello, my name is Steph. I’ve been writing and publishing since 1988 and I’ve been in the games industry since 1996. I wrote a little bit more on the About Me page. This is my sometimes-updated website. Enjoy.
Watermelon Rinds and the Demons of Burn Out
As I pickle watermelon rinds, I’ve been contemplating how to write about my burn out. Like you do. Turns out: Working for your “dream company” for a decade burns you out when your dream ends up collapsing in on itself. You stand on the edge of the pit of a smoking crater, staring down the… Continue reading
I’m ready to talk about Jim
This is Jim Crider. He died on Tuesday. I was a dirtbag teenager. I did dirtbag things. I didn’t get better until my mid-20s. Jim was my friend anyway. I never met Jim in person. We knew each other through GEnie, which was an online service. We were both heavily active on what was called… Continue reading
Thoughts on “Good Intentions”
The next Valdemar anthology is Anything With Nothing, and “Good Intentions” will be in it. Pretty confident I can say that, even if I haven’t signed the contract, since I just accepted all the edits and sent them my bio. It’s a Khaari story, for those of you wanting a Khaari story. For those of… Continue reading
Water Pipes Popping, The Universe is Smiling, It Must be Christmastime!
On Thursday, I turned on the water tap in the kitchen and nothing came out. The first thing I thought was, “Well, how am I going to fill the kettle for tea?” and the second thing I thought was, “Oh, shit.” Because of course I knew what this meant. It seems like ever year I… Continue reading
Where to Find Me
Social media’s a bit of a mess right now, but here’s where to find me. Continue reading
Thursday, With My Daughter
You’re out for a stroll with your two most important people, and there on the sidewalk, in bright pink chalk, are the words. And your seven year old, who is so proud of her reading, stops to puzzle them out. “Black. Lives. Matter.” She looks at you. “What does that mean?” You’re close to home,… Continue reading
The New eShopping Normal
I’ve been really enjoying not shopping at Amazon. We have Prime. Lots of people have Prime. But right now, Prime for physical goods doesn’t matter because right now Amazon (with all apologies) is telling us unless it’s essential it’s not coming in a day or two days or even three. They’re overwhelmed. And (ostensibly) protecting… Continue reading
Don’t ask me how the novel’s going
…but really what I want to call out is the most unhelpful thing I hear along this winding journey to publication-land (or not), that I’ve had lobbed at me by friends and relatives, that drove me to write this whole outpouring. And that is of course the all-too-innocent “how’s the novel going?” question. Continue reading
