Cloning Miranda just released in updated reissue!

Hi Everyone,

I'm very happy to report that just as the news is heating up about all the issues surrounding the new cloning technology, especially gene splicing and gene editing, a new updated version of my cloning book has just been reissued by Fictive Press with a new title and new cover art. This novel combines all three of my earlier books (Cloning Miranda, The Second Clone and The Dark Clone) into one novel. I've also updated the science in the novel with all the latest technology referenced in the links below!

Check out these for some interesting reading about cloning:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/crispr-gene-drive-gates-foundation-biological-diversity-malaria-1.4449709

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/gene-splicing-separates-man-from-chimp-researchers-1.641120

And check out my book, Cloning Miranda, for a thriller aimed at age 10 and up - all ages really- about what it might be like to discover that you are the first human clone.

Interview about Tucson Jo with Tucson Tales Publication

Tucson Tales is a children's literature publication run by undergraduate students at the University of Arizona. They  showcase new and established writers. This is the interview they did with me about my middle-grades historical novel Tucson Jo. Click here for the entire interview.

The questions were not cookie cutter questions and really made me think. Here's an excerpt from the online interview:

Q. You often write about World War II and the Holocaust. Did you find it particularly challenging or beneficial looking at some of these anti-Semitic themes through the lens of the American Southwest?

A: That’s an interesting question. It’s always challenging to write about The Holocaust and/or anti-Semitism. I suppose what is so surprising to young people is how long anti-Semitism has been with us. They often have no idea that it dates back to the early days of the Church and that it was propagated by both Church and state as a way to scapegoat a particular religion and people. But I did find it compelling to write about the true story of how Strauss’s political rival tried to use it to defeat Strauss, even though there had been no real cases of anti-Semitism in Tucson up to that point. (It didn’t work!) Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is ever present, and today we are seeing a frightening escalation in the United States and in Europe.

WHO AM I? is out! And KIrkus gives it a great review!

Waiting for that first review is so nerve-wracking! So what a relief to read the Kirkus review of Who Am I?, my new sci-fi thriller for YA and middle grades.

"Girl-power heroines confronting bad guys and the nature of the self. Hitchcock-ian fun, full of deep questions to ponder." (Click here for full Kirkus review.)

Kirkus seemed to like just about everything except the title! Since I personally came up with the title and thought it was so clever I was a little crushed but since everything else was good – I'm good too! Most importantly the reviewer saw what I was trying to do–write a book about what it means to be a human being.

Back From The Future – Who Am I?

How do you update a science fiction novel?

When I wrote Cloning Miranda, The Second Clone and The Dark Clone in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were set in the near future.

When Fictive Press agreed to republish them as one novel and bring them out for the first time in the U.S. this fall, I thought I should update them – at least in terms of cell phones and social media. But once I started to do that I realized that the science of cloning had also advanced over the last decade. And so a small little edit suddenly became an entire revision. And in order to make the book really up to date, I set in the the present. Yes, that's right. Because the present is, in fact, where all the cutting edge cloning work is happening – especially where gene splicing is concerned.

So can we still call this book science fiction? I think so. As far as I know there are no human clones. But there is already a huge market cloning pets that have died. Sadly, our dog died in December. It would never occur to me to clone her even if could afford the $100,000 bill! (And even if I could afford that, I'd rather give the money to charity.) No one could ever replace her.

But the book isn't about cloning, really. It's about what makes us human. And when I read science fiction, that's what really interests me. It's why I'm a proud Trekkie!!

Just Kidding!

Well, I really wasn't kidding. We really thought we had our new cover. But then we changed our minds.
OKAY!
This is truly the final, final cover!
And Thursday I sent the final copyedit to my editor so we are getting very close to publication. Fall for sure.