HEIDI RUBY MILLER

AWP was our first in-person conference in two years, and it felt good to be back among writers. Here I am with Mike Arnzen representing our genres. Our Seton Hill table had several recognizable faces, even under the masks, including MFA director Nicole Peeler (pictured with Jason above, above) and Natalie and Matt Duvall. We also ran into other academic friends: Gerry LaFemina (pictured with Mike and Jason), William Hamilton, Tod Goldberg , and Anthony Kapolka. And Jason got to meet Taylor Mali in person to tell him he borrowed his "What Teachers Make" TedTalk for the Pennwriters Keynote in 2019, "What Writers Make." As an added bonus, we got to stay at The Notary Hotel , an ultra-cool spot just down the block from the Pennsylvania Convention Center .

Our tenth volume of the Small Space Big Life newsletter is available now. Here's an exceprt: "After several emails and phone conversations over the past couple of months, we are happy to announce that Cherry Weiner is officially our new agent. That's us signing our agency and co-writer agreements below. It's the first time since our travel writing days that we've shared an agent. READ THE REST HERE. AND SUBSCRIBE HERE. In case you missed other recent editions, you can find them at the subscribe link.

I didn't dig into quite as many books as I did last year, but still had some great reads, many by authors I know personally and a couple which feature me. Action at a Distance (Aaronovitch / Cartmel) The Big Book of Science Fiction (Vandermeer / Vandermeer) Boyfriend Material (Hall) Childhood's End (Clarke) Christmas on Cavanuagh Hill (Elizabeth) Christmas on the Coast (McClain) Clash of Flesh and Metal (Ellis) Daddy's World (Williams) Dead Man's Party (Jayne) Death and Doubloons: A Cumberpatch Cove Mystery Book 1 (Robertson) Dragons of a Different Tail: 17 Unusual Dragon Tales (Pyle / Scott / Lynch / Mastro) Dreams of Flesh and Metal (Ellis) Effacement (Hawkes) Eureka: Substitution Method (Ramsay) Facing Fear (Williams / Palacios) A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year's (Lau) The Fey and the Furious (Aaronovitch / Cartmel) The Firflake: A Christmas Story (Cardno) Firekeeper's Daughter (Boulley) Flashe

Excited to have a new story from the Ambasadora-verse in this debut anthology from Cabbit Crossing Publishing . Here's an excerpt from my foreword for "Mastering Aesthetics." "I wanted to continue the feminist theme [from Marked by Light] and expand upon it in “Mastering Aesthetics,” which takes place just after the events of Marked by Light and leads into an upcoming tie-in novel Frostfall (From the World of Ambasadora). It will be my first time writing a dragon space opera. I like to shake things up a bit. Rest assured that Xin, Olivia, and the mysterious dragon-person will be making appearances in Frostfall. This is the second published short story from the Ambasadora-verse. The first was “Rainer” in Far Worlds (The Bolthole, 2014). The two stories take place concurrently." The beautiful cover is by Shayne Leighton . As you can see, I'm in good company: "A Friend Called Home" by Francis Fernandez "A Wild Beast of The West&qu

Our ninth volume of the Small Space Big Life newsletter is availbale now. Here's an exceprt: "A bright, sunny hello to our Small Space Big Life community, and a warm welcome to our many new members! Look out for photos and musings from our recent appearances and publications, as well as our exclusive newsletter content and reading recommendations... If you haven’t immersed yourself in the Rivers of London world, what are you waiting for? Yes, we’re obsessed—for good reason. READ THE REST HERE. AND SUBSCRIBE HERE. In case you missed other recent editions, you can find them here: APRIL 2021 - CHARITY ANTHOLOGY JANUARY 2021 - NEW HONOR OCTOBER 2020 - NEW COVER SNEAK PEEK JUNE 2020 - STAYING CREATIVE, STAYING PRODUCTIVE JANUARY 2020 - 1 MILLION VIEWS CELEBRATION

Jason and I had the honor of being interviewed by Marx Pyle and Julie Seaton at GenreTainment . Here's the information and link: "On this episode we’re chatting with two very special guests, authors and professors Heidi Ruby Miller and Jason Jack Miller. It’s an edutainment packed episode as we talk about the value of an MFA, what a Popular Fiction MFA program is like compared to the more common creative writing graduate programs, Heidi’s Ambasadora books, Jason’s Hellbender book and his possible “Snot Otter” book, Appalachian culture, writing about other cultures, writing in someone else’s fictional setting, the charity anthology and online event, tips on co-writing, staying productive, and more! GenreTainment is where Marx and Julie talk about what is happening in the world of film, TV and web series. We give you interviews with writers, directors, producers and actors in both independent and not-so-independent creations." LINK: https://www.scifipulse.net/genreta