Hello! Welcome to my website.
Looking for my press kit? It’s here.
I’m primarily a writer of fantasy and science fiction, although I do some editing work (the most recent example is The Reinvented Heart, co-edited with Jennifer Brozek, coming out from Arc Manor Books in February of 2022). I came through the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2005, where I studied with Octavia Butler, Andy Duncan, L. Timmel DuChamp, Connie Willis, Gordon Van Gelder, and Michael Swanwick. I’ve also got an MA in Writing from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where I studied with John Barth and Stephen Dixon.
I won a Nebula Award in 2019 for my novelette, Carpe Glitter, and I’ve been nominated for a Nebula for my short story, “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain” and a World Fantasy Award for my work with Fantasy Magazine. My work has appeared as a finalist for the Million Writers Award and the Compton Crook Award for First Novel as well as on the Locus Recommended Reading List. I’m a two-term President of SFWA (The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and have previously served as its Vice President, giving me five years on the board. I still volunteer with the organization. I’ve written two nonfiction books, Creating an Online Presence, which is aimed primarily at fellow writers looking to build their web presence, and Moving From Idea to Finished Draft as well as co-edited Ad Astra: The SFWA 50th Anniversary Cookbook with Fran Wilde.
I’ve got over 250 original fiction publications under my belt so far, with stories appearing in places such as Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and Tor.com, and another hundred or so reprints in a variety of languages. If you’d like to read some of my work, you can find links to a lot of it on my fiction page or by looking on Amazon and Smashwords. I’ve published five solo collections, including Altered America, Near + Far and Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, as well as a joint collection with Jeff VanderMeer, The Surgeon’s Tale and Other Stories. My most recent novel is Exiles of Tabat, published by Wordfire Press, and the most recent story collection is double-sided fantasy collection, Neither Here Nor There from Hydra House.
If you’re interested in my science fiction writing, I’d recommend: Grandmother, the story of an aging space pirate queen; The Mermaids Singing Each to Each, a near-future sf retelling of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea; my take on Heinlein’s juvenalia, Long Enough and Just So Long; and Amid the Words of War, in which an alien POW turns prostitute out of desperation and loneliness. My space opera novel, You Sexy Thing, described as “Farscape meets the Great British Bakeoff” appears in September of 2021 from Tor Macmillan.
Among the fantasy stories I’d recommend of my own, I’d include: my take on steampunk, Clockwork Fairies; The Dead Girl’s Wedding March, in which an unexpectedly eloquent rat courts a zombie; tearjerker Magnificent Pigs, where you learn how pigs do come to fly; and I’ll Gnaw Your Bones, the Manticore Said, set in the fantasy world of Tabat, where many of my stories take place. Enjoyed Tabat? I’ve got three novels set there as well, with the fourth book appearing in 2022.
If you support my Patreon campaign, you become part of a community with writing tips, market news, writing snippets, 1-2 original stories each month, daily Zoom events, a lively Discord server, and more.
I also teach a popular series of online classes aimed at writers. Join my mailing list on this page if you’re interested in getting news of the latest one.
Random facts: I am politically left and ardently feminist. I believe in kindness, honest communication, and taking joy in life. My name is not a pen-name; “Cat” is short for Catherine and “Rambo” is my husband’s surname. I have been playing videogames and RPGs since Pong and D&D’s precursor, Chainmail and was one of the people who helped create Armageddon MUD. I am a certified master gardener and enjoy cooking. In a former life, I was a network security specialist. I dye my hair in a multitude of colors, and I am aging as ungracefully as I can.
