How did “In the Hands of the Mountain God” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

This story originated in a Codex contest. Codex is a forum for neo-pro and professional authors, and I’ve been a member since 2016 or so. The contest prompt was the image of a glass bridge between two giant bronze hands sticking out of a mountainside. The story flowed from there, first as a 750-word flash piece, and then expanded into the story you see today.

Where are you in this story?

Oof, that’s a tough one. I am right there in the questioning of gods, asking why bad things happen to good people, and in the idea that sometimes, we have to step up and take personal responsibility. Sometimes we are accountable to the universe, and maybe even gods get tired and need a hand.

What are you reading lately?

I run the Shining Moon podcast, so I read a ton every week to get ready to ask my guests questions! Every week, they inspire me with their work and creativity. I’ve recently read work by R.K Duncan, Priya Chand, Zohar Jacobs, Samantha Mills, and Risa Wolf just to name a few.

Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?

I play tabletop role playing games, though that leads to a lot more writing, hah! I currently run two concurrent campaigns—one Blades in the Dark, and one VtM, on alternate weekends, and guide my players through a play-by-post campaign set alongside the main campaign during the week. I’m also playing in Tuesday and Wednesday games that are each less demanding than that.

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

I am currently working on bringing a poetry collection into the world; it’s already written, but it’s going to be self-published later in the year. It’s called Xenoforming, and is a novella in verse about a group of human colonists of a new world who were involved in terraforming the planet, except then aliens arrive and start their own terraforming project—to include grabbing the colonists, who are resisting the process, and linking them to a hive mind. The colonists are thus xenoformed, and the social changes and how they survive the process—or desperately need to be liberated from it—serve as the bulk of the narrative.