Howdy! My name is Claire Atkinson. My pronouns are she/her. I’m an aerospace engineer by trade, which means I’m a fancy mechanical engineer who took a few extra courses on fluid dynamics and some fun stuff on propulsion and aerothermochemistry. I’ve worked on testing aircraft structures, designing and analyzing the fluid-carrying guts of rockets, readying airplane programs for certification from an airplane safety standpoint, and explaining to project managers why Hofstadter’s law applies viciously to aerospace development programs..

I’m also a writer, and you can find my work in CALYX. I enjoy writing speculative fiction (mostly sci-fi) and about the weirdness of gender. The blog on this site is where I get to have fun without an editor, and where I mostly focus on the latter.

I was born in 1989 and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve lived in Texas (where I went to college), Washington, California, and now Oregon. My family of origin comes from southern Illinois, but I’m stuck in the gravity well of the west coast and I don’t particularly mind that. The Pacific northwest is one of my favorite parts of Earth. I’m happy to call it home at the moment.

I’ve been married since 2014 to a woman who makes me a better human every day. We have three children who are what I care for and am proud of most in the world.

In August 2021 I made the rather startling and sudden discovery that I’m transgender. I describe it as “startling” and “sudden” despite clear signals something was very wrong with the way I experienced my gender for at least half a lifetime. This is more common than you might think.

This site is my platform for documenting the work I do in the engineering and writing worlds, as well as my noodlings and musings on how humans and femaleness work. I hope it finds you well.