Have You Met.... ? Monday #2: Emma Michaels

Have you met.... Emma Michaels? First off, she's awesome. And not just "awesome", but, like awesome awesome. Like awesome on caffeine. In a microwave. Bluetoothed. With a fricking Einstein-Rosen wormhole. 

And in case that verbiage seems a bit...um... effusive?... then allow me to point out that she's not just an author and cover artist (and doesn't just play one on TV), but she's a bona fide student of aeronautics and aerospace engineering. So, you know, like rocket science and stuff. ROCKET SCIENCE. Seriously. Pretty damn impressive.

Also, her books are wonderful. Take, for example, Owlet. "Somewhere between falling and flying… there is a girl." COME ON. Awesome. It's a fantastic story about a girl who discovers that the world she has always known is not the life she is actually a part of. Emma did a wonderful thing, by building a story up from her own experiences with having asthma into a story where what might have otherwise been seen as a weakness, becomes the means by which she discovers the truth. Weakness becoming strength... what a perfect analogy for youth, I think. 

Emma got into writing the old-fashioned way - - by working her butt off. By being nice to people. By helping contribute to the industry she dreamed of being a part of, and not just hoping one day to be discovered. Hard work, people. Take note. 

Emma is one of my Steampunk friends - which has a very special space in my heart anyway, but she's also a rampant Whovian and a friend to Studio Ghibli movies. So, you know, if you didn't already realize how awesome she is, now you have no excuse.

Go check her books out at www.emmamichaels.com and support this fantastic and really wonderful storyteller. You'll be so glad you did. And, obviously, she will be too. ;)

Check back here next monday for our next "Have You Met...?" - and feel free to make recommendations below for people you think everyone else should meet!