You probably know me as a historical fiction writer, but have you heard I have an epic fantasy novel coming out in 2022? It’s the beginning of a series, even. BIG change. We’ll have a cover reveal soon, and I’ll tell you more about the book then (including its title, premise, all the good stuff!)

To go with that shift, I’m making some other changes, including expanding my beat at Chicago Review of Books to include more fantasy and sci-fi along with the historical fiction and thrillers I’ve been reading and review the past couple of years.

So I was thrilled to read Kerstin Hall’s STAR EATER and interview her about all the rich complexity of her novel, including the joys of world-building, the “minefield” of genre categorization, and why some readers insist on labeling books with no teenage characters as YA.

I also got to ask her one of my favorite questions about SFF:

Fantasy novels set in matriarchal worlds seem to be surprisingly few and far between, considering how open the genre is to invention and imagination. Why do you think that is?

Read Kerstin’s answer, and the complete interview, here.