The lesson I learned about magic ✨

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

That's Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law, and I love it.

I love it because it feels true as I sit here, pushing buttons that make words appear (like magic) on the screen in front of me that will, with the push of another button, make the words appear on a screen in front of you.

I love it because it makes me think about how magic, in turn, can be indistinguishable from technology. Even though they might seem like completely opposite things, an ineffable flight of fancy vs. nuts-and-bolts science.

I love it because things not being exactly what they seem is (while often not so much fun in life) such catnip in a book.

For me, anyway. And "write the catnip you want in the world" is my organizing principle.

All of that is backstory for why I wrote a book about magic and technology, and two opposites attracting, and things not being exactly what they seem. Oh, and also banter and bookishness and bargaining and annoyance-to-lovers and twisted fantasy tropes and a college basement nicknamed the Inferno and a gratuitous reference to rolled-up sleeves.

(I like a lot of things, OK?)

The Opposite of Magic was my first book. Last year I gussied it up with the benefit of another decade's writing experience, so I suppose it's a writing collaboration between past and nearly present me. This is the vibe:

But back to the idea of catnip: Any sufficiently absorbing book is indistinguishable from life for a little while, and so it's a great distraction when life is being a little Too Much.

Now that is magic.

And I've been so grateful in recent years especially for books that give my overloaded brain a break.

Does it work that way for you? What are your top five catnip-in-book items? Hit reply to tell me.

You know I love talking about books.

(Oh, and remember I wrote three Opposite of Magic stories for you to enjoy after that book. My gift to you.)

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You made it to the end! You're awesome. (Of course.) And oh hey, here are my latest books.

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