To celebrate my 70th birthday, my husband organized a big party. He and our friends and families made the evening memorable in many ways. Among the festivities, my brother-in-law Tom Finn sang a song, and soon everyone was joining in the chorus.

You can enjoy the performance here.

Sue’s song (Sung to the tune of “Paperback Writer” by The Beatles)

She spent her life doin’ all kinds of work

That wasn’t enough for Sue Burke

Reading books from cover to cover

Despite marrying my brother, she was gonna be a sci-fi writer

Sci-fi writer

Research, then, was so tough, you see

You had to go to a place called the “library”

But things were different in the modern age

She advanced a stage, finally ditching her typewriter       

Sci-fi writer

Life in Milwaukee just seemed so lame

She spent some time in Austin, then went to Spain

Being a writer’s not a life of ease

Translated Amadís, but she needed something to ignite her

Sci-fi writer

Sci-fi writer!

Habla y escribe bien español

Pues hecho un refrán en castellano

Cervantes sí mismo la certificó

Ya no es solamente una traductora

¡Es autora!

She taught us what happens when you take a chance        

On a distant world with sentient plants

And Glassmakers interfere to see you through

You can’t lose with rainbow bamboo who’s quite a fighter

Sci-fi writer

And we’re really hoping that she sells the rights

To usurp a million dollars overnight

After seventy years, she has proved she can write

And for seventy more, she’ll delight us as a sci-fi writer

Sci-fi writer

Sci-fi writer!

Indigo, Canada’s biggest bookstore, is running an online 25% off sale from July 14 to 20 for its Most Anticipated Science Fiction. This includes the pre-orders for the paperback edition of Usurpation.

While you’re there, check out the many outstanding Canadian authors. Here’s the 2025 Aurora Awards ballot, if you need a suggestion.

Barnes & Noble is holding a promotion for pre-ordered print books from Tuesday, July 8, to Friday, July 11. Prices are 25% off Premium and Rewards members. Use the code PREORDER25

The trade paperback of Usurpation will be released on October 21, 2025. If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance to get a good price — and to buy more books from your other favorite authors!

When I was 10 years old, before a measles vaccination had been developed, the adults knew an epidemic was coming, and sure enough, I got sick, very sick.

Among my many bad memories of measles was waking up one night in a pool of vomit while hallucinating from a high fever. I remember my mother coming to clean me up, and as she cleaned up the bed, I sat on a bench in the corner of my room.

While I waited, Snagglepuss, a cartoon character I liked, a pink lion, came to sit and talk with me. He was comforting, calming, even a little funny, and he genuinely made me feel better and feel safe.

A few days later, as I thought about it, I appreciated Snagglepuss talking so soothingly to me when I really needed comfort, but the whole thing was obviously a hallucination. (I had other, very unpleasant hallucinations that night, too.) What puzzled me was the way I had imagined his personality, very unlike the TV persona. Normally he was a smart-aleck, even.

Much, much later, I realized that yes, I had been hallucinating, but not the way I thought. Through my mental haze, I hadn’t recognized the kind person providing such gentle, loving care, but in retrospect I could distinctly identify his personality. He had been my father.