When not writing for YaleGlobal Online, she writes mystery novels. The most recent is Fear of Beauty, published by Seventh Street Books/Prometheus in January 20132. The novel,set in rural Afghanistan, is about a woman desperate to learn how to read. Previous novels: Royal Escape (2008), about a fictional British princess who wants to remove her children from a system that reinforces inequality; Alaska Gray and Interruptions are environmental mysteries set in Sitka, Alaska.