bio
I'm a citizen of the Karuk Tribe (California). I grew up in southern California and graduated from Agoura High School and University of California at Santa Barbara. After a series of jobs that weren't wonderful I completed a paralegal training program through UCLA Extension.
There was a terrible period where I couldn't find a job or even a job interview and ran out of money and kept moving and sleeping on couches until I ended up in the Pacific Northwest. I did a number of jobs until I got my big break as a paralegal working with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations. I'm still at it decades later.
I'm married and live in a little house with a big yard where I grow pumpkins and dahlias and take pictures of them. No children or pets. I enjoy baking, yoga, organizing, and the Portland Timbers.
I've been writing since the beginning of time but nothing came of it until 2007 when I won second prize at the Portland book festival known as Wordstock at the time.
I used that story to apply to Clarion West and graduated from the workshop in 2008.
These are my blogposts from the workshop: Overview, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 part 1, Week 4 part 2, Week 5 and Week 6.
publications
"Obstruction"
"Security Breach at the Sugar Pine Suites" Apex Magazine Indigenous Futures issue, October 2021. Podcast here Performed by Marguerite Croft.
"Skinny Charlie's Orbiting Teepee" in Apex Magazine, Issue 99 (August 2017)
Updated in 2016 -- Red Tape Stories from Indian Country. Available at all your favorite online booksellers: Kindle | Apple | Kobo | Nook | Paperback. Twelve stories all in one handy place. There is a post about the re-release here.
In 2015, The Battle of Little Big Science was invited to be included in a collection of sci-fi stories published in the Czech Republic. This is my first time being translated. There's more about the book here.
"Reservations Jobs" (Spring 2014) in Yellow Medicine Review guest edited by Carter Meland.
"The Medicine Woman of Talking Rock" (April 2013) at Podcastle.
"The Last Willow Stick on the River" (Spring 2012) in Yellow Medicine Review guest edited by Steve Pacheco.
"Lottie v. The Moon Hopper" in Future Lovecraft, (Innsmouth Free Press, Dec 2011, Prime Books, 2012)
"Freezing" in my annual holiday letter (Dec 2011). Not really a publication but a story I wrote and am putting here in case anyone out there is desperate for some free fiction.
"The Battle of Little Big Science" in Asimov's August 2010. You can also find it in Second Science Fiction Megapack from Wildside Press for $1 (ereader).
"Estelle Makes the Casino Run" in Innsmouth Free Press, June 2010.
"Social Security" in Wordstock 10 2007
I publish urban Indian romance under the name Pamela Sanderson.
interviews and readings
ephemera: speculative fiction reading series hosted by KT Bryski and Jen Albert, streamed live on November 17, 2021.
Fantasy Magazine Author Spotlight by Veronica Henry, October 2021.
Apex Magazine Author Interview by Rebecca Treasure, October 2021.
Inclusivity and Exclusivity in Fiction discussion with Luc Reid. January 2013.
Everything I write is set in Indian Country, usually the mid-Klamath region in Northern California. I massage the geography a bit to suit my purposes. Like lots of people, I struggle with work/life balance issues so my output is modest. I'm working on all kinds of stuff. More coming soon.
