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is my first short story collection. It contains five science fiction and fantasy stories spanning adventure, comedy and drama—from a star-faring military science fiction tale of love and sacrifice to a romp through the dragon-infested Kingdom of Copperkettle Vale.“A Night for Spirits and Snowflakes” is the story of a young man reliving the last moments of his fellow soldiers’ lives; “The Girl with Wings of Iron and Down” tells the tale of a broken family and a girl with mechanical wings; “Of Parnassus and Princes, Damsels and Dragons” introduces a typical prince, princess, and dragon—and a not-so-typical love triangle; “The Colour of the Sky on the Day the World Ended” follows a girl and her ghost dog as they search for a bright light in the darkness; and “Tide of Shadows” is about a soldier and his lover, a mother, and a planet-wide genocide.I've included notes that explore the origins of each story, reflections on how I've changed as a writer over the years, how the stories might look different if written now, and questions that I hope will make it interesting for readers to revisit them with a new perspective.If you'd asked me this before I compiled the collection, I would have told you there were no overarching themes running through the various stories. Each tale was so individually defined in my head that crossover wasn't something I'd considered. However, reading through the collection as a whole, I noticed several strong themes and explorations that kept rearing their heads throughout.Belonging--almost all of the stories in the collection deal with belonging and community in some way -- whether its a character's struggle to mould themselves to the expectations of others, or the drive within someone to demand of the world that it accept them as they are.The effect of war on individuals--this is central to the first and the last story in the collection. "A Night for Spirits and Snowflakes" shows a young soldier burying his dead companions, and in their final moments, we see the war they are fighting from many different sides. "Tide of Shadows" examines the intense emotions of soldiers on the brink of being dropped into a combat situation that likely means their death. Beginning and ending the collection on this note provides a nice cyclical feelingLight from darkness--As I mention later in this interview, I'm a big fan of post-Tolkien '80s fantasy, which often puts its protagonist into seemingly insurmountable situations and turns out the lights, only to have them persevere through the challenge by finding their own inner power. It's a classic theme and something I naturally think about a lot while writing.Thanks, G. Despite the old adage, we do judge books by their covers, especially in this Internet age that exposes us to thousands of new books each year. A good cover--especially for a self-published book--is an essential tool for capturing the eyes of new readers. Since debuting the cover a few weeks ago, I've had dozens of comments from readers--some I've known a long time, others I've only just met--complimenting the cover. That's a huge win, and I'm very proud of it.The illustration for the cover is by Kuldar Leement , a wonderful digital illustrator and graphic designer from Estonia. I initially fell in love with Leement's artwork for its ethereal ability to transport me to the strange corners of the universe--in a lot of ways its pure, classic SF, full of wonder, and recognizable tropes, but it also manages to be unique, intensely personal, and unpredictable at the same time. I hope to see his art on the cover of more science fiction novels in the future.Within the small budget I had for the book, earmarked some of it for cover art. I knew I wanted to have a piece of art that really caught the attention of readers, but I quickly found out that my budget didn't allow for commissioned artwork from the artists I liked. So, I decided to follow the SF/F Magazines--Clarkesworld, Uncanny or Apex--and decided to license a piece of existing artwork. Leement was at the top of my list of artists, so I found a few pieces from his portfolio that I felt would work well and mocked-up some covers to get a sense of which piece was right. Once I settled on "Resistance" , I reached out to Leement and we negotiated a price and terms that fit within my budget.As I mentioned, I have a bit of an advantage over most other self-published authors in that I have a day job as a designer. So, I was able to handle the layout, design and typography myself. I wanted to capture the feel of Kirk Bischoff's work onby Ann Leckie, but the cover went through several revisions before I landed on the final variation.Outside of a copyeditor, I think hiring a good cover artist/designer is about the best thing a self-published author can spend their money on. It's going to make the difference between your book looking like a pet project and a professional product.Thanks for having me!***