If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be a full-time author and artist, I wouldn’t have believed you. I certainly would’ve never believed I would autograph books sitting next to Connie Freaking Willis at the Locus Awards or that I would be a panelist at so many freaking conventions, at least prior to COVID.
They call me the PROFESSIONAL PANEL HOSTESS for a reason.
They also call me a geek and a gamer and a crazy cat geek who’s married to a game engineer. They also call me CENTAUR! which has a lengthy story behind it. Ask me sometime, and I’ll tell you. Sometimes they call me that crazy writer whose hair color changes as frequently as Seattle’s weather. I’ve had the normal colors, but also teal, varying shades of purple, blue, black, green, red, orange, and yellow–as in highlighter yellow.
I’m also that writer who cried when they met Todd McCaffrey because he reminded me of my grandmother (who happens to have shared Anne McCaffrey’s birthday and died around the same time). It had nothing to do with Todd and everything to do with grief, which is a wild thing that presents itself at odd times. Usually when you least want it to do so.
Before I was a published speculative fiction author, I taught high school computer classes at a Title I school for some of the best damn kids ever. Before that, I taught English and reading classes. I spent a good chunk of my teaching career as the yearbook advisor and school videographer. Prior to that, I was a music major and musician, and if we go back before that, I was just scraping by as an administrative assistant. I’ve also held jobs in graphic and web design, and have done PR work for Epic/Atlantic Records as well as multiple non-profit organizations. The non-profits were more fun.
I have several degrees, none of which make me a ton of money (even though they’re not liberal arts degrees). If we keep going backward into my past, I wrote my first full-length novel in between 6th and 7th grade. 320 pages of teenage angst wrapped in a wannabe-Pern shell. I even drew a detailed map to go with my world, complete with misspelling the word Isle.
I belong to way too many local writing groups because I love my job. Writing can be quite solitary, so I do what I can to get out of my office (beautiful though it is) and out writing with others. I’m one of a bazillion writers living in the greater Seattle area, which is kind of cool because a) OCEAN and b) WRITERS. A+B=WIN.
I’m owned by three amazing, special-needs kitties, which I post about obsessively on social media. If you want to join in the craze that is me (and my cats), you can find me at any of the following:
Facebook*: http://facebook.com/authorroak
BlueSky*: https://bsky.app/profile/ravenoak.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_raven_oak/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kaonevar/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/raven_oak
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@author_raven_oak
Mastadon: https://wandering.shop/@raven_oak