Personal Canons: Ender's Game

When the esteemed and excellent Sarah Gailey put out a submission call for pieces about your personal canon—the books that formed you, shaped you, will never leave you no matter what happens, even if you kind of wish they would—I knew instantly that I had to write about Ender's Game.

Back when I was full-time permalance with Bleacher Report, writing passionate reaction pieces was something of a specialty of mine. But in recent years, I haven't often had either the cause or the opportunity to drop everything and pour a thousand burning words into an essay-shaped form. When that email hit my inbox late one night, though, I knew I had to bang it out right then.

Ninety minutes later I had my piece, which is now live at Gailey's excellent Here's the Thing newsletter. Subscribe while you're there!

This anthology series, in which genre writers of many backgrounds and walks of life have delved deep into their lives and memories to wring out the truths about the books that have shaped them (for good, ill, and both), has been spectacular so far. As nervous as I still am to be so personally vulnerable, I'm thrilled and proud to be part of it.