So, you've found Alex Piper's webpage. But who is Alex Piper?
'Alex Piper' is actually the pen name of Rachel Blackman. However, since my name is fairly well-ensconced in the technical world, where I've been a video game programmer, a microchip engineer, and a number of other engineering roles. Writing as Alex lets me keep the two worlds a bit seperate.
I've been writing since childhood. At age seven or so, I wrote my first science-fiction story, The People of Tahl-Purr, which was about a post-apocalyptic world where cats had taken over. (But as this was the direct result of my father subjecting me to a marathon of The Planet of the Apes, it shouldn't be held against me!)
More recently, I decided to get back into writing more seriously. I've completed and have been polishing a novel in the Ex Libris world that a friend and I co-created, as well as amassing a small mountain of short fiction. I've also amassed a similarly sized mountain of rejection letters, but I'm assured this is part and parcel of the writing world.
I can be found hanging out in the discussion groups on SFF.net, as well as with the Vanguard crew here in Seattle. Vanguard is one of the greatest communities for a fan -- or aspiring author -- of speculative fiction in all forms, and I owe my friend Vonda N. McIntyre thanks for pulling me into that crowd.
