It’s day 66 of sheltering in place in San Francisco. Clear blue skies and blinding sun are dominating the day, and the the Assistant—Kanoqui the Feral Prince—is quite happy with this change in weather. Kanoqui tends to get rather cranky when there is no sun for him to bask in …
I’m very grateful to be able to work from home and have been keeping busy with working on the sequel to The Deadbringer. One of the chapters I was recently working on had a placeholder for a drink of some sort, and by placeholder I mean typing out the letters “XXX” or “YYY” …
Hello!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. It’s a cold and rainy day in San Francisco as I write this post. The Assistant is sitting in his chair beside me, buried under a blanket because the room that is my office doesn’t really heat up …
Tomorrow’s the day!! Prepare to dive back into the world of the Ellderet, to continue the stories of Kira, Eutau, and the Sanctifiers as they fight to survive.
The Faceless God - Part One: Spirits & Ash is the first of two parts that make up the complete book. Because a frustrating amount of time was stolen from me by the chemotherapy treatments I had to undergo this year, I’ve decided to publish The Faceless God in two parts.
Horror fantasist E.M. Markoff writes about damaged heroes and imperfect villains; she is also an inkblot artist. She is the creator of The Ellderet Series, a diverse dark fantasy epic exploring how family bonds are tested in a violent world. Mexica New Year is nearly here, and I will FINALLY be able to attend the celebrations in San Jose, CA! Unfortunately, the past two new years (Chicoace Tochtli/6 Rabbit and Chicome Acatl/7 Reed), FogCON have fallen on the same weekend as the celebrations …
Horror fantasist E.M. Markoff writes about damaged heroes and imperfect villains; she is also an inkblot artist. She is the creator of The Ellderet Series, a diverse dark fantasy epic exploring how family bonds are tested in a violent world. This post is spoiler free. This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them …
Horror fantasist E.M. Markoff writes about damaged heroes and imperfect villains; she is also an inkblot artist. She is the creator of The Ellderet Series, a diverse dark fantasy epic exploring how family bonds are tested in a violent world. At Worldcon 76, I was fortunate to be a speaker on a panel addressing imposter syndrome. The panel was excellently moderated and touched on a number of points that people with imposter syndrome can use to move forward. Some of the techniques discussed to help "make it to the end credits" included using writing as a cathartic release, viewing your insecurities as monsters that you can conquer, #buildaladder by adding rungs - no matter how small - to help you climb out of your darkness, learn to say "thank you" and to accept praise, or to reward yourself with something positive, like "cake".
Horror fantasist E.M. Markoff writes about damaged heroes and imperfect villains; she is also an inkblot artist. She is the creator of The Ellderet Series, a diverse dark fantasy epic exploring how family bonds are tested in a violent world. The Mexicanx Initiative was a scholarship fund started by artist John Picacio to bring more Mexicanx representation in science fiction and fantasy to Worldcon 76. The scholarship was awarded to 50 people of Mexican ancestry and, let me tell you, those 50 people made a HUGE impact. The Mexicanx Initiative made Worldcon 76 a powerful experience for me because I got to see myself represented on those panels, in those stories, in the language, the idioms, the anger at the injustices of deportation, criminalization, forced separation and herding of children from their parents, and so much more.
Horror fantasist E.M. Markoff writes about damaged heroes and imperfect villains; she is also an inkblot artist. She is the creator of The Ellderet Series, a diverse dark fantasy epic exploring how family bonds are tested in a violent world. 
