I am an author of adult and young adult fantasy, science fiction, and dark fiction. When not writing fiction I enjoy learning and performing Chinese dance and riding around the Twin Cities on my recumbent trike. I also work as a freelance editor and technical writer under the name The Write Mann.
Due to an extensive history of tendonosis (a connective tissue disorder that feels like tendonitis but isn’t caused by overuse and doesn’t go away), I do a significant amount of my writing with voice recognition software (Dragon NaturallySpeaking). I used to edit with a now discontinued floating split keyboard (Kinesis Evolution, formerly Interfaces by Cramer) and am learning how to use my new Keyboardio 100. I do not use or condone the use of generative AI.
I initially followed the traditional publishing model, selling several short stories before eventually moving to the indie writing model. My short stories have appeared in Fearsmag.com, the single-issue World Fantasy Con chapbook Do Virgins Taste Better?, the anthology; Wolfsongs, and multiple issues of Tales of the Unanticipated (ToTU). My short story collections and novels are available in digital and print formats through Lulu, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and your favorite independent or large chain book seller world-wide. I am a member of the writers group Guts and Rocks (mostly on hiatus right now).
My writing strength is character. My weakness has historically been plot, though this has gotten loads better with practice. Humor has also been a tough nut for me to crack, but I continue to make progress on that front. My life philosophy, based on a read of my works, appears to be: The world is a dark and brutal place, because we’ve made it that way, and isn’t that tragic.
At conventions I like to talk about young adult fiction, writing combat, weapons, and writing craft. I am a 5th degree black belt in Kobiyashi Shorin Ryu, making martial arts weapons my area of expertise.
Trivia
- I am a supporter of the Oxford comma
- Because I have dyscalculia, numbers make no sense, I confuse my left and right, analog clocks suck, and spatial reasoning is a nightmare
- I have aphantasia – the inability to picture things in my mind in image form
- I am ambidextrous
- My entire spine is rotated slightly to the left (I’m literally twisted)
- I am Romani and find most Romani depictions in fiction repugnant
- I learned to walk on stilts in 2019 and enjoy being eight and a half feet tall
- During COVID, I started Chinese dance and it’s become a huge part of my life
- I am an avid canner and am known as the Crazy Food Lady in some venues
*For a complete publication history, visit the Find My Work page.
S.N.Arly 