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Rachel Neumeier

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Rachel Neumeier

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Member Since
November 2008


Rachel Neumeier started writing fiction to relax when she was a graduate student and needed a hobby unrelated to her research. Prior to selling her first fantasy novel, she had published only a few articles in venues such as The American Journal of Botany. However, finding that her interests did not lie in research, Rachel left academia and began to let her hobbies take over her life instead.

She now raises and shows dogs, gardens, cooks, and occasionally finds time to read. She works part-time for a tutoring program, though she tutors far more students in Math and Chemistry than in English Composition.

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Popular Answered Questions

Rachel Neumeier I have favorite authors who write as though they are scientists!

1. Rosemary Kirstein, whose Steerswoman series is amazing for the scientific point of …more
I have favorite authors who write as though they are scientists!

1. Rosemary Kirstein, whose Steerswoman series is amazing for the scientific point of view infused into some of the characters.

2. Marie Brennan's Lady Trent series, where the style and topics do a wonderful job of reflecting the type of worldview and work done by early naturalists.

3. James Cambias, whose debut SF novel A Darkling Sea drew very heavily on knowledge of biology and animal behavior, though I don't think he is an academic or a practicing scientist.

4. Some real thought went into the alien species we see in Eric Flint's Mother of Demons. He's a history guy, not a scientist, but I was impressed with how he worked out those species.

I've never been super-crazy about Golden Age science fiction, so some of the physics-heavy SF written by actual physicists doesn't really appeal to me. I'm thinking here of Gregory Benford and Fred Hoyle.

If you haven't tried Kirstein's series, I hope you do. I bet you love it even if it isn't finished yet.

(less)
Rachel Neumeier Thanks for asking! Yes, I don't have the cover yet, so I can't put it up for preorder on Amazon or put a page on Goodreads, but Copper Mountain will v…moreThanks for asking! Yes, I don't have the cover yet, so I can't put it up for preorder on Amazon or put a page on Goodreads, but Copper Mountain will very definitely come out pretty soon -- I'm aiming for Oct 31 as the release date.

Yes, I fully intend a fifth book, which at the moment I believe will be the last installment. The full series will then be five books, with four short story collections in between each novel and the next. I should be releasing the 4th and last short story collection next year, 2021, and the fifth novel most likely in 2022.(less)
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Update: Finished! For Real This Time

All right, so, this morning I will be making the final, the very final, corrections to Sekaran and then loading the file to Draft to Digital and making the epub file, which I have already confirmed looks fine, and then I will drop that at my Patreon.

Therefore, Sekaran should go live on my Patreon before ten this morning (Central)

And by “VERY FINAL,” I mean that if anybody spots any typos, I will

Read more of this blog post »
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Published on October 12, 2025 23:18
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Rachel’s Recent Updates

Rachel Neumeier wrote a new blog post

Update: Finished! For Real This Time

All right, so, this morning I will be making the final, the very final, corrections to Sekaran and then loading the file to Draft to Digital and makin Read more of this blog post »
Rachel Neumeier made a comment on Titles are hard
" The Fifth Head of Ceberus IS brilliant! "
" Thanks! Good things to look at! I didn't realize I used "now" three times in three sentences. Ugh. ...more "
" Glad you thought so! I felt I was kind of scattered in this post, but this is the kind of thing I want to make sure to address in the panel. "
" I reversed the clauses as you suggested. That works just fine. "
" I was trying to remember who wrote that! No wonder it was scary. He could definitely write. "
Rachel Neumeier has read
An Aria of Omens by Patrice Greenwood
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Quotes by Rachel Neumeier  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Some men are not capable of learning anything that does not agree with their own opinions.”
Rachel Neumeier, The Floating Islands

“When we endure loss, the past reaches out to grip us from behind, but it's not wrong to turn your face forward.”
Rachel Neumeier, The Floating Islands

“The grief doesn't go away, ... "But you...get used to it, you know? It's like carrying a heavy stone, one that's really too heavy for you: you learn to settle the weight properly, and then you get used to it, and then sometimes you can forget you're carrying it.”
Rachel Neumeier, The Floating Islands

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3rd Quarter 2019 - Fantasy #1

 
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Topics Mentioning This Author

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Ira Glass

8255 Tips for Self Promotion, Sales, and Advertising — 2402 members — last activity Jul 10, 2025 06:00PM
Tips from authors for authors. List what works for you and what hasn't. Whether you're selling a few author copies or just trying to get your name out ...more
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Rachel Neumeier Oh, I'm sure I will! [Watches TBR pile expand into the indefinite future...]


Estara Thanks for the friendvite ^^ - I feel flattered and hope you'll find as many interesting books via my friends and me as I find via your blog posts.


Rachel Neumeier That's definitely the best reason!


Cheryl Landmark Good luck with your new manuscript! I can't wait to read "Lord of the Changing Winds".


Rachel Neumeier Well, plus I'm finishing a manuscript . . . I think by Wednesday. Probably. Maybe. Soon, anyway. Then, before revising, a break to tear into the growing To Be Read pile!


Cheryl Landmark I know. So many books, so little time! :)


Rachel Neumeier Of course; thanks for your request.

I've just started to use Goodreads more, so I hope to start reviewing books here and reading other members' reviews . . . any day now, as soon as I have time!


Cheryl Landmark Thanks for accepting my friendship, Rachel.


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