Join me for the Hayward Lit Hop!

Hi Friends! Tomorrow is Hayward Lit Hop 2023! https://haywardlithop.com/

I’ll be hosting two groups of readers for this event:

Women Who Submit: Bay Area Chapter at The Dirty Bird Lounge at 5:00pm with readers Dera R Jones Williams, Karma Bennett, and Joyce E. Young

– East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at The Bistro at 6:00pm with readers Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, Author, Sibyl Saint, Caitlin Dwyer, and Sophie Green


Hayward Lit Hop occurs Saturday, April 22nd from 2-8pm on Earth Day and National Poetry Month. Conceived and organized by volunteer community members, Hayward Lit Hop is free for all ages. The Hayward Lit Hop celebrates our active and dedicated literary scene.

The event begins at 2 pm at Heritage Plaza Park, across the street from the Downtown Hayward Public Library, with a welcome from Hayward local civic and literary leaders and a musical performance from the East Bay Symphonic Band. At 3pm, Hayward-area Poet Laureates’ read with East Bay teens. As it’s Earth Day, the reading will have a nature and ecology theme. Local environmental organizations will set up tables in the Plaza to promote their work, as well.

From 4-7 pm, we’ll hop to different venues up and down and near B Street to with spoken word performances including the AfroSurreal Writers Association, students from Chabot College, a bilingual Spanish/English reading, the Queer Writers, local Horror Writers’ and Mystery Writers’ Association chapters, the Peer Writers’ Group, Women Who Submit Lit, the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, the California Writers’ Club, and students from CSUEB and Hayward Unified School District K-12 students.

Readings will occur at local venues including Aranea’s Craft Studio, the Sun Gallery, the Odd Fellows Lodge, The Bistro, Dirty Bird Lounge, the Pizza House, The World Famous Turf Club, Yoga Sociale. Hayward Lit Hop concludes with an afterparty at the Sun Gallery where there will be music, food and drinks. The gallery features a climate art exhibit.

This event showcases local businesses, celebrates Hayward’s diverse cultural scene, and allows people to meet their neighbors and hear and see each other’s talents. We’re here to help people with an interest in writing or art find local groups to support and foster their talents.

A detailed schedule will be posted at https://haywardlithop.com/.
Hope to see you there! I’m looking forward to hanging out in our fun downtown all day long.

Join me in Brooklyn for the Rooftop Reading Series on April 18!

I am super excited to be reading at Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room in Brooklyn on April 18 at 7pm! The Rooftop Readings series — currently indoors and not on a rooftop due to, you know, THE COLD — is organized by the super awesome debut novelist and super-talented entertainment journalist Randee Dawn. This reading will also feature Nadia Uddin, Richie Narvaez, and Katharine Duckett!
Barrow’s is at 86th 34th Street, Brooklyn, NY (D train to 36th Avenue, then about a 5 minute walk). You DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE A TICKET to attend, but if you’d like a drink while you’re listening, please make sure to snap one up for $10 at Eventbrite. Which honestly? A cocktail in Brooklyn for $10? What a deal! Nevermind the entertainment! Purchase a ticket here: https://buff.ly/3G9ZVEZ and learn more about the Rooftop Reading Series here: https://buff.ly/3Mq63wT

Yes, this is basically my springtime promo blog tour for Wings Unfurled, and I cannot wait to share this sequel with East Coast epic fantasy fans! SF in SF went great, and now NYC will get its own taste of this book. And I’ll get to taste Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liquor, and honestly, I’m probably just as excited for that.

I’m looking forward to raising a glass with you, Brooklynites!

Pondering the Orb features Wings Unseen!

I am delighted that the Wings Rising series appears on the current episode of Pondering the Orb, a vidcast from fantasy author Jay Requard. In the episode, Jay reads the first chapter of Wings Unseen, Book 1 in the duology. This is where we first meet Vesperi Sellywn and the story gets going with a bang–or more fittingly, a poof.

Watch it here:

The episode also features a conversation between Jay and Sam Montgomery-Blinn, who’s actually the reason that Jay and I met in the first place! Sam invited us both to read for an NC Speculative Fiction Night in 2013, which was also celebrating the launch of Bull Spec #5, which Sam edited and in which my “Bother,” my first SFF pro sale, appeared. I actually still have video of my reading that night!

Unfortunately, I think Jay stays just out of the frame, but Sam introduces me at the pedestal. That one night was the first time I met so many great authors local to the RTP area, some who’d become critique partners, some Game of Thrones TV night buddies, and others support in all the ways that we authors need each other to continue in this career.

Thanks, Jay, for sharing Wings Unseen on Pondering the Orb and for reminding me of those wonderful memories. Sure, some writers are known for their drama, but in my experience? Writers are just plain awesome and supportive people. You should get to know a few. 😉

SF in SF with Mia Tsai and Me! Sunday, March 26

Don’t forgot! Tomorrow, I appear at SF in SF for the second time, to celebrate Wings Unfurled! This reading series takes place on Sunday, March 26, at 6:30pm at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco. There’s a $10 entry fee, but no one is turned away for lack of funds.

After our readings, Cliff Winning will interview me and fellow guest, Mia Tsai, who’s promoting her paranormal debut Bitter Medicine. We’ll be taking questions from the audience as well, and Soma FM will be recording the event for their station. Come grab a seat and ask me whatever you’d like. Even what my characters would pick as their favorite cocktails. 🍹 All proceeds from the $10 entry fee and the cash bar are donated to the American Bookbinders Museum.

See you there!

March Events! Readings & A Book Fair in the Bay Area

I’ll be appearing at a few events in the Bay Area, coming up this week and next. Here’s the deets:

The Wizard’s Homecoming Book Launch

I am thrilled to celebrate my friend, the talented Elwin Cotman, and his new speculative poetry collection, The Wizard’s Homecoming, this coming Friday, March 17, at 7:00pm Pacific Time! I’m also thrilled that he asked me to read as part of the celebration.

elwin cotman wizards homecoming speculative poetry

The book launch takes place at Hasta Muerte Coffee in Oakland, and Elwin will also be hosting comic artist Dan McCloskey for the evening. Come on out! More Info.

Strong Women • Strange Worlds Birthday Book Fair

I’ll be taking part on Facebook in Strong Women • Strange Worlds’ Birthday Celebration Book Fair on Saturday, March 18, from 12pm to 1pm PT!

This event intimidates me, to be honest. Why? Because it’s not a reading but twenty minutes of time for me to just talk about my books, my writing process, the publishing industry, and maybe even how my foodie ways influence my fiction. I’m afraid of being a rambling mess….but if you’d be entertained by a rambling Rebecca Gomez Farrell, check it out! SWSW’s birthday festivities will be going on all day, but you should be able to tune in here on Facebook at 12:00pm to find me. Sumiko Saulson and KC Grifant will also be authors on display during that Book Fair hour.

SF in SF

I am delighted to return to SF in SF for my second reading with that great celebration of speculative fiction writers! It takes place on Sunday, March 25, at 6:30pm at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco.

After our readings, Cliff Winning will interview me and fellow guest, Mia Tsai. We’ll be taking questions from the audience as well, and Soma FM will be recording the event for their station. Come grab a seat and ask me whatever you’d like. Even what my characters would pick as their favorite cocktails. 🍹 All proceeds from the $10 entry fee and the cash bar are donated to the American Bookbinders Museum.

Will I see you in March? I hope so! But if not….more April events will be announced soon!

 

 

The Circle Broken: Pushing Daisies Leaves Room for Pie

Somehow, I managed to overlook posting here about a nonfiction essay I wrote last fall! “The Circle Broken: Pushing Daisies Leaves Room for Pie” appears in Journey Planet #58 “Cancelled Too Soon!”

A magazine cover with images from several TV shows that were cancelled too soon.

This special double isssue of the Hugo-nominated fanzine was “dedicated to Television Programs that were cancelled after two seasons or less! Thrill to tales from fans, critics, show-runners, inspirations, and writers about the shows that were loved, or at least watched, and lost.” Steven H Silver edited the issue. You can download it here for free.

What did I write about? Why, as you can tell from the title, the answer is Pushing Daisies!

I’ve long listed Pushing Daisies as one of my all-time favorite shows, but because it lasted such a short time, that was really more wishing for what could have been than the reality of what the show was. You see, it’s easy to view something with rose-colored glasses when it’s been snuffed out in its prime, before the realities of a long life add depth to that vision….but now, I’m getting ahead of myself. 😉 If you’re interested in pondering how Pushing Daises broke the cycles of life and death, and how having the show’s own cycle get cut short may have been the best thing that could have happened to it, then take a few minutes and dive into “The Circle Broken: Pushing Daisies Leaves Room for Pie.”

Of course, there are a great many other essays on great works of television that did not get their due in this issue of Journey Planets! Enjoy the excuse to relive a little of those works that you loved and download the issue.

Wings Unfurled Review at Big Indie Books!

We have arrrived at the final stop of the Wings Unfurled Blog Tour. And we’re ending with a doozy – a wonderful review from the folks at Big Indie Books!

Cover art for Wings Unfurled, featuring a silver stag with blue tones and two moons in the background.

My head is spinning with delight! Here’s my favorite part:

Written from multiple points of view, including that of a Moon, Esye, the writer seems to have really hit her stride with this second offering. The book nicely ties up the overall story and the reader will appreciate the resolution of the various relationships we learned about in Wings Unseen, and that come full circle in Wings Unfurled.

The whole review is thoughtful, and I appreciate the amount of time and effort it takes to review books. Each and every one means so much! Especially because they aren’t intended for writers, but to help readers find the works that they’ll most connect with. I hope you’ll consider connecting with the Wings Rising duology! Be sure to read the full review at Big Indie Books!

Only two days left to enter the $50 giftcard drawing from Meerkat Press to celebrate the Wings Unfurled Blog Tour! Don’t miss your chance to profit off my success. 😉 And now for today’s contextless quote from Wings Unfurled

“The flame must fly to be found again. That’s what my father said, remember?”

Questions to Consider When Writing A Series at WritingForums.com!

Today at WritingForums.com, I shared questions that writers should consider when writing a series.

These are questions I had to wrestle with while writing Wings Unfurled, and they may be slightly different questions than writers who intend from the get-go to write a series might consider. That’s because Wings Unseen was writtten as a standalone novel, so the writing process for a second book in the same world was a different one. But many of the questions are likely useful either way.

WritingForums.Com is quite a useful forum, too, and I was excited when they joined the Wings Unfurled blog tour. They often come up when I’m searching for information on the industry or craft advice. I’m looking forward to finally starting an account with them and poking around. They do also organize manuscript critiques, which I point out because folks are ALWAYS asking for where to find critique.

I hope you pick up some tips from the post! Don’t forget to also visit the Meerkat Press Wings Unfurled Blog Tour masterpost to enter our $50 giftcard prize drawing! And now for today’s contextless quote from Wings Unfurled.

And now, for today’s context-free quote from the book:

“Listen to your father,” the specter said, billowing like a sheet of pressed metal in decay.

Wings Unfurled Book Review at Monty’s Book Reviews!

Today’s Blog Tour review of Wings Unfurled is glowing! Thanks to Monty’s Book Reviews for sharing their thoughts. Here’s a snippet:
“An enthralling story told from three separate viewpoints which are skillfully woven into a free flowing narrative that keeps the reader’s interest throughout. The characters are both interesting and flawed which endears them to you as the story progresses and ensures that a vested interest in their future is maintained. “
Read the full review at https://montysbookreviews.blogspot.com/…/wings-unfurled… and find an excerpt from Chapter 3, the silver moon’s first POV chapter! Have you entered the Meerkat Press Wings Unfurled prize drawing yet? Only four days left to enter….
Cover art for Wings Unfurled, featuring a silver stag with blue tones and two moons in the background.
And here’s today’s contextless quote from Wings Unfurled:
He wilted, a vine in the sun. Alive, but with too much taken from him.

Worst Writing Advice I’ve Ever Received

Today, on the Wings Unfurled Blog Tour, you can visit Ali Lucia Sky’s blog, where I answer “What’s The Worst Writing Advice You’ve Ever Received?” It’s a claim I’ve heard many times, from many writers, but one that lacks the nuance that newer writers need to hear, in my humble opinion.

You’ll also find an excerpt of Chapter 1 in the book! This comes from Serra’s point-of-view, and she’s at Castle Callyn for the first time in quite a while….and for reasons she needs to report to King Dever right away.

Don’t forget to also visit the Meerkat Press masterpost to enter our $50 giftcard prize drawing! And now for today’s contextless quote from Wings Unfurled.

“I heard the Green Lady was building a new glass house, so I came with my hammer and thought to help.”