Hi! I'm E. Marie Robertson, a speculative fiction author currently living in South Carolina with my husband and 9 rescue cats. (Yes, that’s a lot of cats. No, it’s not a problem. No, I didn’t plan to have 9 cats, it just sort of happened. Yes, I'm always covered in cat hair. No, I doesn’t mind.) Short Version: I have degrees in Journalism (BS) and Studio Arts (MFA). I’ve published lots of journalistic articles in various places, and some short stories in small literary magazines. My debut novel, Nothing Larger Than These Stars, was published in June 2024. The second book in the duology, Beyond This Dark Horizon, is scheduled for publication in March 2026. Both books are best described as science fiction mystery/adventure, no matter what Amazon wants you to believe. Long Version: I wrote my first short story when I was in the third grade, I think. I vaguely remember it had something to do with spelunking, and ghosts, and two kids exploring a cave and a magical ham sandwich. (I mean come on, I was a little kid. My main influence was Scooby-Doo.) A teacher dubbed me “the writer” and after that, it was on. I decided I was going to be a writer. Along the way I was somehow convinced that “being a fiction writer” wasn’t a real thing (thanks, junior high school guidance counselor), and instead wound up with a degree in journalism. So that’s what I did after college. It was great from a writing standpoint, because I got to do a lot of writing that was actually published, and from a people standpoint, because I got to meet a lot of really interesting people. But not so great from the standpoint of the fact that I kind of hated being a journalist. The introvert part of my “extroverted introvert” didn’t like pestering people for comments, or bringing up unpleasant things. (I’ve also recently realized that I like being the expert, and when you’re a journalist, you always have to quote someone else as the expert, even when it’s an area in which you really do have expertise.) I went on to become a corporate communications specialist, a magazine editor, a newsletter editor, a video production manager, a communications planning strategist, a web developer/designer, a print project manager, a digital project manager, a digital marketing consultant, a fine art photographer/videographer/installation artist, a painter, a hands-on art teacher, a web development/object oriented programming professor, a virtual reality build hobbyist, an art appreciation/art history professor, and a media arts/web design professor (again). All great experiences. None of them the kind of thing I’d had in mind when I was in the third grade. At some point, I again remembered wanting to be a writer and I decided it wasn’t too late to do something I’d meant to do for basically forever, and here we are.   My Bibliography: • Nothing Larger Than These Stars, novel, published June 2024 • Shoot the Moon, novelette, published 2025, available free when you sign up for the newsletter at https://www.emarierobertson.com/get-my-newsletter/ • Beyond This Dark Horizon, available March 13, 2026. Sign up for my newsletter and get early access and discount pricing! https://www.emarierobertson.com/get-my-newsletter/ My webshop: https://emarierobertsonauthor.square.site/ (print books at a deep discount. Coming soon: Iona Duology bundles at a special price!)