Once upon a time, there was a princess named Isabella; and when her father died of old age, it was Princess Isabella who would choose a new king. She couldn’t rule the kingdom herself – though she believed she’d make an able queen – because she wasn’t a man, and she hadn’t served in the army. […]

I was never quite happy with how this parable ended; it was a little too tidy for what I’ve been trying to accomplish. (My guiding principle has been: if there’s a moral to the story, boo — but if there are three, or four, or five possible morals, then I’ve crossed into sufficiently murky territory.) […]

Long ago, when the world was new, seasons lasted for a hundred years. During the first winter – after a hundred years of spring, and a hundred years of summer, and a hundred years of fall – so much snow had descended on the earth that all the names of the colors had been forgotten, […]