EVERYTHING IS THE HUNGER GAMES NOW, ONEZERO, JULY 2020
Returning to the most successful Young Adult dystopia of the 21st Century in a time of unprecedented crisis
I Don’t Know What A Sympathetic Character Is Anymore, Tor.com
July 2022
I’ve lost track of the number of times the characters I write have been called unsympathetic.
On Loving Monsters, Crimereads
July 2022
It is the easiest thing in the world to love a monster.
Letter from Home, Tor/Forge Blog
July 2022
I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes something scary.
An Invitation to the weary, uncanny magazine
april 2022
We are reaching for each other.
ON trauma-informed writing, sfwa: the bulletin
october 2021
I’ve never believed in endings.
Do Hippos Count as Dragons: An Examination of Identity and Taxonomy, tor.com
July 2021
I am a total mark for structure.
I Like That The Boat Is Stuck, stone soup
March 2021
It's bad that the boat is stuck. It's bad for lots of people and for lots of reasons. I know that.
5 Types of Relationship to Share With Your Clone, tor.com
february 2021
So you’ve got a clone! Congratulations!
Everything Is the Hunger Games Now, onezero
july 2020
Returning to the most successful Young Adult dystopia of the 21st Century in a time of unprecedented crisis
The Neverending story and the legacy of war, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
October 2019
the neverending story is the story of author michael ende’s childhood in a germany at war.
Magical Accessories, definitively ranked, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
October 2019
a definitive ranking of magical accessories (pretty much what it says on the tin)
WHat makes a story queer, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
JUNE 2019
At a recent event for my new book Magic for Liars, someone in the audience asked a question I’ve been wanting to answer since I finished writing it.
Sarah Gailey on Bodily Autonomy and Magic, BOOKISH.COM
JUNE 2019
Love spells are bad.
The enduring legacy of bunnicula, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
MAY 2019
In the Spring of 1979, Bunnicula hit shelves. And it stayed there.
Imposter/Abuser: Power Dynamics in Publishing, Fireside Magazine
MArch 2019
I’m not important. It’s the little black dress of self-deception: easy to accessorize, appropriate for a variety of settings, goes with everything.
Revolutionary Honesty: Mallory O'Meara's Lady From the Black Lagoon, TOR.COM
MArch 2019
In the first episode of her YouTube series, Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova discusses the nature of truth and memory.
The 7 Scariest stories to tell in the dark, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
FEBRUARY 2019
This August, the worst nightmares of a generation will come to life in the film adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz’s anthology of American folktales originally published in 1981.
Leave the Hookhand Murderer Alone, STONE SOUP
FEBRUARY 2019
Don't worry: this is not a newsletter about how scary stories are bad.
Whiskey, Trauma, and The Doctor, STONE SOUP
FEBRUARY 2019
suddenly, a little over a month ago… I liked whiskey.
Highway to the Danger Zone: The Heterosexual Tragedy of Top Gun, tor.COM
JANUARY 2019
Top Gun is a motion picture. Say what you will about it: it’s a film, and that’s undeniable.
7 Books That Helped Me Survive 2018, Tor.com
December 2018
2018 was a hell of a decade.
Iconic outerwear of sff literature, ranked, barnesandnoble.com
December 17, 2018
gimme more p o c k e t s
The Future tornadoes want: twister, Tor.com
July 2018
jan de bont's twister is an expression of patriarchal fear of feminism in the family structure. also tornadoes.
between the coats, book smugglers
june 2018
I’m queer, which is why I always thought I’d be dead by now.
Space Dads for america: armageddon, Tor.com
June 2018
michael bay's armageddon is about the american subconscious desire to be the abusive father figure to a grateful world
Vanity, Patriarchy, and Futility: Death Becomes Her, Tor.com
May 2018
Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her is an ode to the perils of mortal sin
Fear No Evil: On Sorting Hats and Forest Gods, BarnesandNoble.com
February 2018
Step forward and allow your teacher to place the omniscient, transdimensional sapient hat upon your head. Yes, sapient. More than sentient. It is no magic mirror, no crystal ball.
The time I accidentally made a blood sacrifice to the gods of the White Mountains, STONE SOUP
January 2018
Ceci n'est pas un arbre.
Gods and Beggars, Locus
January 2018
How might a God test the worthiness of their people?
In Praise of Rereading, barnesandnoble.com
December 2017
every year, no matter what, I make time to reread a few important books.
2017 Book Yelling Round-Up With Sarah Gailey, The Book Smugglers
December 2017
read these things. now.
Fear of the Female Voice, Tor.com
December 2017
a strange woman just told you to do something, and you listened.
The Date I Witnessed Between Wolf Girl and James Spader’s Lonely Doppelganger, Tor.com
October 2017
what follows is a true story. (happy halloween?)
This Future Looks Familiar: Watching Blade Runner in 2017, Tor.com
October 2017
i told a lot of people that i was going to watch blade runner for the first time, because i know that people have opinions about blade runner. all of them gave me a few watery opinions to keep in mind going in. none of them told me the right things, though.
Harry Potter: A Beginner's Guide to Evaluating Authority, B&N Sci-FI
September 2017
harry potter is not a resistance manual. harry potter is a guidebook.
The Hubris of Icarus: Women Who Fly Into the Sun, TOR.COM
August 2017
there are two kinds of hubris.
A woman, explaining things, B&N Sci-fi
July 2017
there's a new doctor in town.
River song in hades, Tor.com
July 2017
the connections between River song and persephone are deep but threatening.
Why millenials yearn for magical school, uncanny magazine
July 2017
we were told that there was a better world waiting for us.
bread and circuses, B&N Sci-fi
July 2017
an examination of the escapism inherent in circus narratives.
On feasting, B&N Sci-fi
June 2017
on the colonialist underpinnings of feast narratives in fantasy literature.
I Understand Space Opera Very Well, barnesandnoble.com
May 2017
i’m pretty sure this puts me at the top of the list of space opera experts here at the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog.
Facing Facts: American Identity is Based on Alternate History, TOR.COM
May 2017
the fiction of american history is the best alternate history ever written.
city of villains: why i don't trust batman, uncanny magazine
May 2017
can there be a billionaire playboy in a just world?
The literary art of drunken secret-telling, B&N Sci-fi
May 2017
an analysis of the ways writers rely on booze, and not just to forget the characters we've killed.
The ecology of alt-history, B&N Sci-fi
April 2017
the connections between ecology and the structure of alternate history
Hippos, Worldbuilding, and Amateur Map-Making, Tor.com
April 2017
Her lips brushed the mic, and her voice was a little distorted by her enthusiasm, and she said “Okay, but can we talk about maps?”
Sarah Gailey Yelling About Books: Max Gladstone’s Hugo-Nominated Craft Sequence, B&N Sci-fi
April 2017
I’m coming to you live from the internet for an interview with actual genius and Hugo Award nominee Max Gladstone.
The Woman in white, TOR.COM
March 2017
In a blood-soaked world where survival is dependent upon grit and determination, the woman in white is spotless. She is radiant. She is pure.
10 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books That Will Remind You What Joy Feels Like, B&N Sci-fi
March 2017
These days, I find it absurdly easy to slip into despair. (Don’t worry, this post is going to be fun, I promise.)
The Badass black tank top walks the line, TOR.COM
March 2017
She can accurately fire a pistol over her shoulder while riding a motorcycle between two semi-trucks full of spy robots.
The Allure of the Red dress, TOR.COM
February 2017
A dress the color of ripeness, of warning, of danger, of invitation.
A Well-Worn Story: Examining Iconic SFF costumes, TOR.COM
February 2017
an examination of the role of costuming in storytelling.
minerva bright and burning, TOR.COM
January 2017
She who has hidden, and fought, and hidden, and fought. She who has never laughed in the face of danger—she who has instead stood and faced it with a straight back and a thin-lipped, unamused stare. If anyone has the right to say “do your duty,” it’s Minerva.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Relentless Optimism, TOR.COM
December 2016
Luna has spent years being told to give up. She has spent years being told that if she doesn’t give up, she’ll be left alone, barefoot and reviled. She has spent years among the Ravenclaws, being treated as stupid because she will not bend to cynicism.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Evil in Authority, TOR.COM
November 2016
We trust that the system will stand strong against evil. We hope that it will break before it allows us to bleed. But sometimes, it doesn’t break. Sometimes, it doesn’t even crack. Sometimes, it just… bends.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Molly Weasley: Rebel Par Excellence, TOR.COM
OCTOBER 2016
molly weasley fights.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Ginny weasley is not impressed, TOR.COM
OCTOBER 2016
Ginny weasley is not impressed by your nonsense.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Mentally ill women belong in your stories, too, TOR.COM
OCTOBER 2016
literary fiction loves stories of mentally ill women - so, why doesn't genre love us?
Why We Write About Witches, TOR.COM
October 2016
When we write witches, we are writing about our expectations of women, and what we hope—and fear—they would do if they had access to power.
Hermione Granger: More than a sidekick, TOR.COM
September 2016
When Harry’s not there, Hermione is busy. She’s not waiting for him. She decided at some point that it wasn’t Harry’s story, it was everyone’s story, and she acts accordingly.
[part of the women of harry potter series]
Do Better: Sexual Violence in SFF, TOR.COM
AUGUST 2016
I don’t want to accept “that’s unrealistic” for an answer from a genre that typically takes “that’s unrealistic” as a prompt.
In Defense of villainesses, tor.com
August 2016
a defense of cartoon villainesses. What could you become if you burned all the bridges that were holding you back?
TRIGGERED, THE BOSTON GLOBE
MAY 2016
a personal essay exploring post-traumatic stress disorder. content warning: misogynist slurs, mention of assault and violence.
Character-Driven Narrative (Or: How to Make Fictional People Do All The Work), Fantasy Literature Magazine
January 2016
In this three-part column at Expanded Universe, I explore and workshop character-driven narrative.
Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3