Tag Archives: Isla Vista

here comes my next book!

Here’s the cover of my next book, a thriller/science fiction yarn set in the university town of Isla Vista, California. Imagine a strong smart young woman in Southern California planning to become a scientist, who notices the gradual disappearance of the local homeless, and a sequence of strange events concerning ducks– which mount to a personally threatening … Continue reading →

Posted in: Blog, education, publishing, science, writing

After Isla Vista: Commencement 2014

(I co-wrote this commencement address, a version of which was given last weekend at a UCSB graduation ceremony.) This was the year. A year of change, of disorder, of assault, of murder, of the world moving without us, without our approval. A year of feeling the deep violation of our space and our peace. You have … Continue reading →

Posted in: Blog, education, science, social and anti

Horror, with a Little Help

Picture us sitting by the fireplace, three cats on the footstools, people in the armchairs, fire chirking cheerfully away. “I want to write a horror story,” I said. Husband smiles. Kid still buried in her book., turns a page. “I think it should be set in Isla Vista,” I said, making it up as I … Continue reading →

Posted in: Blog, publishing, writing