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Vanessa MacLaren-Wray writes poetry and speculative fiction exploring the challenges of communication and attachment in a diverse, complex universe. As an engineer, she has worked on climate-safe energy use. Her short stories have appeared in Fault Zone: Reverse, Dragon Gems, and The Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy. Her first book, All That Was Asked, is the first entry in the alt-universe collection, Patchwork Universe. The next entry is a duology, with both books, Shadows of Insurrection and Flames of Attrition, released in 2023. Her latest contribution to the Truck Stop series is an aliens-on-the-station middle-grade adventure novel, The Smugglers. Her poetry can be found in Fault Zone: Detachment, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, and Hadrosaur Tales.
Vanessa lives in rural California, where farmers still outnumber developers. When not arguing with her cats about whether it is time for treats, she works on new stories, her erratically-published email journal Messages from the Oort Cloud, and her website, Cometary Tales. You can find all her stories, snag a copy of Messages, connect via social media, or join her ARC team from her website.
She is an active member of the California Writers Club, the Women’s National Book Association, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA).
Her story “Heart’s Delight,” in Fault Zone, received multiple award nominations, and “Coke Machine” is the winner of a literary contest for humorous, fast-paced storytelling. She is actively seeking representation for a new fantasy series, while continuing to develop new work.
Vanessa is also a Ph.D. mechanical engineer with decades of experience in the electric power industry—a technical career focused on energy storage and renewable energy, so you’ll often find her on technical panels at science fiction conventions. Not surprisingly, she’s a big fan of space science—astronomy, current space missions, robotic exploration of the solar system and beyond.
Games? She loves LARPs and will happily lose to you at any tabletop game. She’s a maxed-level Ingress player. (Resistance all the way, but she designs banner missions for both factions to enjoy.) Play Pokémon Go? If you meet her at an event, be sure to bring up your friending code--she loves to make new PokéFriends to trade gifts and shinies. And she's nearly level 60 in Pikmin Bloom.
Vanessa has been a guest (and guest host) on podcasts, YouTube programs, and online events. Catch up at her website and sign up for her newsletter for access to special events.
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