essays
My most thoughtful nonfiction pieces — the ones I take substantial time to craft — are currently going into Nine Lives, an irregular longform newsletter that I started in January 2023. The name is a nod to Alastair Reid’s poem “Curiosity”, and also the webjournal that I wrote in the late 1990s. If you want to see my newest longform essays, subscribe to Nine Lives.
Well that explains a lot …
Between 2019 and 2022 I wrote a number of essays relating to my epiphany, at age 49, that I was an undiagnosed Autistic.
March 2026: I am in the process of porting the Re-Cognition essays over from Medium; some links will break until the move is complete.
Re-Cognition
A Body in Perpetual Motion
I’ve been hiding my autistic stimming, even from myself
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The ‘Deep Compensation’ of Social Calculus
Some autistic brains do a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes
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They Called Me a Clutz
But my clumsiness was a clue I didn’t know how to interpret
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I Thought I Was a Virtuoso Reader of People
How could my most extraordinary skill also be my greatest weakness?
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Learning I’m Autistic Has Transformed My Middle-Aged Life
I thought it was too late for change, but I was wrong
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The Salad Bar Metaphor for Autism
Because ‘spectrum’ is awfully confusing
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Why Generic Inspirational Messages Are Harmful
Identifying and accepting our individual strengths — and weaknesses — is crucial to our success
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Mexico Is Inhospitable to My Autistic Self
If I’d understood my own disabilities, I might not have made the move
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Contract negotiation
In 2023, my unscientific canvassing of author friends suggested that for short fiction sales (which are unagented) most authors simply sign whatever contract the publisher offers them. This is not great! So I wrote an article for SFWA with some practical advice about “Negotiating Your Short Fiction Contracts”.
Tying an unconventional knot
My partner Jak and I had been in a polyamorous relationship for more than twelve years when we decided to get legally married at last. We wrote our own vows, which I later released online into the public domain: “Jak and Karawynn’s Wedding Vows”.
… and a grab bag
Assorted other longform essays dating from 2018 to 2020:
We Should Care More about Campaign Finance
Science shows that principles are no match for money