About a month ago, I took part in Winter Tales, a reading of holiday-themed works by local authors that was hosted by the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough. Poems, essays, stories, and songs were all shared that evening, and now we have video of each reading! I'm embedding them all here so you can enjoy the event as we did.

First, because this is my blog, I'm sharing my reading of a personal essay, "Treasures in Cardboard Boxes." It's a reflection on losing a mixtape of Christmas carols and on growing up a little different from your family.

http://youtu.be/RASxC6VbDnw

Next is "Winter Sonnet," a poem by James Maxey, the organizer of the event. It is a quick, sweet listen about celebrating winter with his wife.

http://youtu.be/0n8d_4kxufM

Also from James is a personal essay, "Christmas Dismemberment," about receiving presents you don't really want as a child.

http://youtu.be/JyMesp5iZxM

The evening began with a reading of a drabble, a 100-word short stories, by Mur Lafferty, the first of which was "Zuzu's Bell" about Lucifer on his birthday.

http://youtu.be/FvO5Xr4mYWY

Mur's second reading was "750,000 of Your Friends Like This," a futuristic, cynical, yet fun take on the Christmas Carol revisions in the future. Sorry it's a bit lower quality than the rest of the excerpts.

http://youtu.be/rXQn3qydFhU?t=4m47s

Alex Granados gave less of a reading and more of a storytelling, sharing an adventure with in-laws called "Death By Big Screen TV." It's a great portrayal of his father-in-law and his can-do-anything attitude.

http://youtu.be/DWLtPhQDqq4

Last, but not least, are two songs from Gray Rinehart. The first was inspired by his time in Greenland and is titled "Winter Simplifies the World."

http://youtu.be/NcuFopdrE3Y

The second song is light-hearted and FILK, meaning it's a play on science fiction or fantasy works. This is "Tauntauns to Glory," a fun tribute to the majestic tauntauns of Star Wars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6RS-YAgk2U&feature=share&list=PLQpBV0kAm077EazC-jrPE5iaGkhIn_-5j

And thus concludes these Winter Tales. Hopefully, they brightened yours, wherever it may be.

Winter Tales Reading: Come listen to me read!

This coming Thursday, I will be one of five speculative fiction writers participating in a reading on the topic of winter tales at the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough (137 W. Margaret Lane) at 6 pm.

Personally, I’m most intrigued to see what a pack of sci-fi writers comes up with for holiday-themed readings! I am opting for a personal essay, and I know at least one of the other authors is writing a song or three. I’m honestly expecting this to be a lot of fun. Here are brief bios of the other participants. By brief, I mean this is how I am most familiar with them:

• James Maxey-Author of the Dragon Age fantasy saga and his current Dragon Apocalypse series. He’s also a great conversationalist at dinner parties full of people you’ve never met before. Or at least that’s my experience.
• Gray Rinehart-Author of several short stories, slushmaster general at Baen Books, and singer of songs.
• Mur Lafferty-2012 Campbell Award nominee, author of Playing for Keeps and the Afterlife series, expert podcaster, and composer of snarky social media statuses.
• Alex Granados-Author of Cemetery Plot, producer of the State of Things, and that guy that was supposed to edit a short story for me once.
• and me, Rebecca Gomez Farrell-Author of Maya’s Vacation and several short stories, food blogger extraordinaire, and the person who wrote this post.

Please come on out on Thursday at 6 pm and join us for the merriment! It will continue all evening for me, because I have a date with the Hobbit at midnight that night!

Official invitation is here.