A Thousand Truthful Lies

Writer, science fiction fan, student, Renaissance woman—at least three of these are terms people could use to describe me and my complete lack of false modesty.

Since graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Calgary, I believed that the only way to realize my dream to someday force all my friends and family to call me Dr. Osborne was to go back to school, get myself in gear, and come home with a Ph.D. That dream is now in the process of becoming a reality.

After developing my skills as a child care counsellor for five years, working with teenagers with addictions, self-harm issues, and/or at risk of sexual exploitation, I realized that fleeing into the welcoming bosom of academe would actually be far less stressful.

Flinging myself into a second undergraduate degree, this time in English, my ears rang with the bewildered cries of everyone I’d ever met: “Wait, you mean you weren’t an English major the first time?” I challenged myself not only to graduate, but to graduate with First Class Honours, write and defend a thesis, and generally knock my GPA out of the park, the better to impress scholarship-granting bodies everywhere.

Happily, this was accomplished by the spring of 2009. Laden with my spoils, I decided to face one of my greatest fears: to leave my hometown and live for the first time more than a half-hour’s drive away from my family. (Feel free to add ‘debonair international traveller’ to the list of descriptors above.) I chose to come to England, mainly because the University of Liverpool offers a Master’s degree in Science Fiction Studies.

A lifelong fan and inveterate con attendee, I have been writing speculative fiction since an age too tender to record. I joined the Imaginative Fiction Writers’ Association when I was yet too young to follow them to the bar after the meetings. Attending workshops with pros such as Robert J. Sawyer, Rebecca Bradley, James Alan Gardner, and Edo von Belkom, I honed my abilities as an editor and critiquer. During my English degree, I took a concentration in Creative Writing, under such Canadian literary luminaries as Aritha van Herk, Robert Majzels, and Suzanne Mayr.

My writing has been published in speculative fiction anthologies, romance anthologies, non-fiction magazines, and the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest. Every year I fail abysmally at Nanowrimo and every year I try again. Writeordie is my most constant and beloved companion. I aspire to finish my languishing novel and have it accepted by a prominent press, whereupon of course it will become the next Twilight or Harry Potter, leaving me financially solvent forever and my critics silenced by my overwhelming success! (Alternatively, modest commercial gains but universal critical acclaim would also be good.)

In the meantime, I strive to better myself as a lowly master’s student, writing essays, submitting to peer-reviewed journals, and entertaining the masses with my endless ability to be fascinating. (Speaking of which, @heatherkosborne is sure to become a crowd-pleaser, just you wait.)

I leave you with that in mind as I go into the world with a love of words.