Eww! There's some geology in my fiction

My short SF story, "Jigsaw," has just been reprinted in the online magazine, Issues in Earth Science. IES is "dedicated to raising awareness of the science of our world and our place in it.  It provides essays, challenges, a forum for discussion, and fictional stories related to the Earth and Space Sciences."

"Jigsaw" incorporates plate tectonics in a deep space adventure where Cassie Morant, our young geologist protagonist, races the clock to solve a planet-sized puzzle before time runs out for her crewmates. You can read the story at IES here. The very cool illustration that accompanies the story, pictured here at the left, is by Erin Colson of IES.

"Jigsaw" first appeared in the anthology Odyssey (edited by Julie Czerneda) in 2004 and was a finalist for the Aurora Award. I hope the story makes studying geology a little more fun for some students out there. Not that I'm saying that geology is boring — Cassie would never forgive me.