In October of 2011, my career in holding down office furniture came to an end with the sweep of a budgetary axe. Now I write, edit, and review fiction and non-fiction. I am much happier. The cats tolerate me being at home more often. I work with amazing, awe-inspiring, and creative people. I'm a woodworker and toy builder in my spare time.

BJ Sikes is a 5'6" ape descendant who is inordinately fond of a good strong cup of tea, Doc Marten boots, and fancy dress. I live with one large cat, two sweet teenagers, and one editor-author, plus an array of chickens in a place very unlike my homeland. My fave genre is historical fantasy with themes of a woman’s struggle for agency. After writing a dissertation on avocado root rot, I was drawn back to my first love, fiction. My debut novel, the Archimedean Heart, is the first book in the Roboticist of Versailles world, a French Belle Epoque that never was. The Vitruvian Mask is the second full novel set in that world and The Electric Prophet occurs between those two books. The Cultist's Wife is a departure from that story world and genre, but still features women trying to find independence. I am the Author Head for Clockwork Alchemy, a steampunk convention in the San Francisco Bay Area. For anyone who loves sci-fi with an alternate history spin, Clockwork Alchemy presents three days of immersive entertainment. I happily wrangle the cats called authors who share their amazing knowledge at the event. In my day job, I write and edit scientific publications for a university. I’m married to a novelist/freelance editor and our children are composing their own fiction in the NaNoWriMo Young Writers’s Program. I like words. I also like tea, chocolate, cats, and chickens, not necessarily in that order. When I am not playing with words, you might find me mucking about in the garden or making herbal concoctions in the kitchen.