I’m so excited to take part in Rachael Harrie’s 4th Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign! I joined up last August for the 3rd round, and had an absolute blast discovering new bloggers and writers. If you want to sign up for Round 4, fill out this form, add your name to the list of campaigners, and don’t forget to follow #writecampaign on Twitter.

First, a little about me. I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but I’ve spent almost 3 years living in Santa Barbara, CA and working my way through a PhD program in sociology. I’m doing the big-time juggling act, balancing coursework, research, and teaching with writing, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My Kindle is my inanimate lover, I am obsessed with Byronic heroes, and I drink more tea than is probably healthy… but it’s all good, right? 😉

I’ve been writing for fun since I was a kid, but I decided to tackle writing as a career almost a year ago. At the moment, I’m trying to wrap up the first draft of TELL ME NO LIES, a steampunk murder-mystery set in 1890s San Francisco, and work through PATH TO THE PEACOCK throne, a fantasy novel I started during NaNoWriMo 2011. You can see my works in-progress, along with a couple of excerpts, here.

I also try to blog a couple of times a week, though depending on how much grading I have to do, that can change. 😉 In the weeks to come, expect to see some flash fiction, major fan-girling for Hugh Jackman, and some life reflections (these seem to be connected with turning 25). I’ll also be posting regular updates for A Round of Words in 80 Days, “the writing challenge that knows you have a life” (a writing community/challenge that I highly recommend).

You can find me around the interwebz on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook (feel free to friend me or subscribe to my public updates, whichever you prefer). I also post writing inspirations to Tumblr and Pinterest.

I look forward to connecting with old and new friends, and getting to know all of you.

-Lena