I have been reading science fiction since I was very young, and have been inspired by many science fiction authors. Science fiction has been formative for me and my life, and has fostered my interest in science, space, and culture. I think my writing is most influenced by Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, CJ Cherryh, Samuel Delany, Ann McCaffery, and others of their generation. I have read a lot of fantasy, and although I don’t generally write fantasy, my fiction, particularly my world-building, has been influenced by fantasy literature by authors such as Mercedes Lackey and Robin Hobb.

And I can’t really leave out the literary fiction that has influenced me. Perhaps it hasn’t shaped my fiction writing as much as the straight-up scifi, but it has definitely influenced me as a writer. Authors such as Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin. Margaret Atwood and Marge Piercy, who both write science-fictiony books, such as Oryx and Crake and Woman on the Edge of Time respectively, were also a big influence on me.

I tend to write optimistic science fiction with endings that include redemption and resolution. I love questions of cultural clash, and human development. I enjoy writing relationships – not only romantic, but friendships, rivalries, and conflicts. Most, but not all of my work includes alien cultures, and asks questions about what might happen when humans encounter and interact with aliens.