I love smart and snarky speculative fiction, from mostly-this-world-with-just-a-tiny-twist to immersive high fantasy. Monsters, magic, fantastic realms and epic struggles keep me reading late into the night, and still turning pages over my morning coffee.  

In particular, stories that re-imagine old myths and re-invent monsters (vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, skin-walkers, assorted things-that-go-bump-in-the-night) grab my attention. Clever origin stories that re-examine standard lore (e.g.: silver bullets kill werewolves) stock my bookshelf.  

I gravitate toward urban fantasy, alternate history, real world with fantastic elements, and high fantasy stories. Whatever I read, the story-world must be well-thought out. This is a must for magic systems: what can it do? What can’t it do? Who can use it? Why? I also love immersive secondary worlds that include their own histories, languages, societal structures and cultural norms.

The heroes I cheer for are complex individuals usually in over their heads but trying to swim anyway, preferably with a hefty dose of wit. Heroes win some battles. They lose some battles. They take proactive steps to fix their own problems.

Likewise, the best villains are complicated people. (Or monsters. Or deities. Or A.I. gone off the rails.) Villains might laugh maniacally and disappear with a swirl of their cape into a puff of smoke, but they also build orphanages, help old women across the street, and treat their loyal hound well. Most importantly, they have read Peter Anspach’s “Evil Overlord List” and taken it to heart.

Loves: Xanatos gambits, fresh looks at ghost/monster origins, magic systems.

Hates: POV head-hopping, sudden character stupidity for the sake of the plot, disparate mashes of real-world magical and/or spiritual concepts, perfect characters (posers), and cinematic openings.

I am seeking fresh and interesting new worlds in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and complex characters who are uniquely shaped by their world. I tend to value stories about ordinary people working through extraordinary circumstances more than stories about privilege and inheritance. We need diverse books, and I would love to see protagonists who are women, people of color, disabled, or LGBTQ. Characters of any stripe need agency and depth.

Right now I'm most interested in futuristic Science Fiction, either on-planet or off. A scientific foundation is great, but it's more important to follow the rules of fun than the rules of physics. I adore aliens and monsters, whether benevolent or malicious, and space travel, whether FTL or realistic. Mad scientists can be a lot of fun, provided we're not left with a fear-mongering or anti-science sentiment. I'm not necessarily looking for utopian stories, but I prefer SF that shows a positive or hopeful view of the future, or that has a lighthearted or even humorous tone. Bonus points if your futuristic world prominently features plants and animals. I'm happy to look at contemporary or near-future SF as well, especially if it critiques or satirizes current issues.

In Fantasy, I love supernatural creatures (especially atypical ones), mythology, unlikely heroes, and interesting magic systems. The lines between Fantasy and Science Fiction often get thin around far-future civilizations or other planets, so cross genre mash-ups are fine. For Secondary World Fantasy, I'm looking for stories with something other than a medieval European aesthetic. Let me peer into a world I've never seen before, or one I haven't seen very often, whether it's based on a different historical period or is entirely of your own creation. I'm also interested in Urban/Contemporary Fantasy (where fantastic elements are integrated into the mundane world) or Portal Fantasy (in which a character goes back and forth between the mundane world and a fantastic world), so long as the two worlds are intricately connected. If it's speculative or weird but doesn't quite fit within established genre lines, I'm intrigued by that, too.