Two of Emma’s favorite childhood memories are of typing out nonsense words on her parents’ black Royal manual typewriter, and watching the neighbor mow the lawn. She went to Beloit College, where she majored in English, then moved to Minneapolis, where there are two seasons: Snow removal and road repair. (Or, as it sometimes seems, snow repair and road removal.)

After that, she moved back to her native southern California, where she would’ve driven with the top down if she’d had a convertible. She was a resident of the Republic of Bisbee (AZ) and loved it (except on the few days of the year when there was snow). And now she’s living in Tucson, Arizona, where she would ride the range if she had a pony. But she does have a great cowboy hat.

She’s written novels, screenplays, a children’s book, and short stories. She and her husband, Will Shetterly, are members of the Interstate Writers’ Workshop, aka The Scribblies. Emma and Will conduct writing workshops now and then; they’ve taught in Los Angeles, at Clarion West, the Pima Writers Workshop, and elsewhere.

Emma played guitar and sang in the Flash Girls, a goth-folk duo. She was a member of Cats Laughing, a psychedelic improv folk-jazz band that included Steven Brust, Adam Stemple, Lojo Russo, and Bill Colsher.

She is the producer for Shadow Unit, a webfiction project she shares with Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Will Shetterly, and Amanda Downum. It combines novella-length episodes of a series story with hypertext “DVD extras” and character on-line journals. Contributing writers in its eight-episode second “season” include Holly Black and Leah Bobet.