Find me at FogCon this coming weekend! I'll be moderating, sitting on panels, and giving a reading during this jam-packed three days of speculative fiction lovers and writers coming together in Walnut Creek.

The Borderlands vendor table will have copies of Wings Unseen for sale, should you be looking to pick up a copy. And I'll have a pen for signing, of course. Don't be shy, just come up and ask for that signature!

Here's my schedule during the con:

• Friday, 3/9, I'm moderating The Play Within the Play: An Analysis of Going Meta in Speculative Fiction at 3 pm. Description:

Among many other qualities, Shakespeare was a master of using plays within his plays to amplify his themes and plot arcs. This technique of self-reference has been used for dramatic and comedic effect in many works. Orson Scott Card had Ender Wiggin playing through a story game that ultimately tied into and reflected his "real life" story; P.C. Hodgell has traditional stories in her novels that shadow the main action; Stephen King pulled the ultimate coup and wrote himself into his Dark Tower series as a character, incorporating his struggles with substance abuse into the decay of the universe; Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story famously loops in on itself. Is this an effective tool for writers to use? What makes it work and when does it fall flat? Let's analyze the phenomena!

• At 8 pm on the same day, I'll be a panelist during the Speculative Fiction, Science and the Sacred session. Description:

As scientists learn more and more about our astonishing universe, from the macro to the micro, does science begin to awe and inspire, as religion can? Does religion fall away, or evolve? How does science affect our mood, our hope, and our outlook on life? What might religion look like in "the future" (very scientifically advanced societies, such as in Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series)?

• And immediately after that, I'll be participating in the Broad Universe: Rapid Fire Reading at 9:30 pm. This is the second year we've done a rapid fire reading at FogCon. They are a fun way to liven up a reading, cycling through the authors two times, reading short selections rather than a longer work. The variety never stops! Broad Universe is an organization that supports the work of female speculative fiction writers.

• On Saturday, 3/10, my final panel will be Wilderness in SFF at 10:30 am. Description:

Wilderness is an interstitial space, existing between cities, roads and settlements. People have held many different views of wilderness form a place to be tamed, to a place to be preserved. Yet the idea of “untouched” wildlands remands problematic. Recent scholars such as William Cronon have questioned if wilderness even exists. How have works such as Lord of the Rings, Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor & Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley engaged with these ideas? How will our changing ideas about wilderness effect new and future work?

Interested in attending FogCon? More info here. Let me know if you're coming! Though I will not be on the agenda after the Wilderness Panel, I will definitely be at FogCon for the rest of Saturday and likely Sunday, too.

Woosh! That was my schedule zooming by too fast for me to keep up with it. Thus, I haven't had time to give my next reading much promotion, but there's still time! Barely.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday 10/24, I'll be reading at the Literally series at the Shop at Flywheel Press in San Mateo at 7:00 pm along with author Peter Carroll. Flywheel Press is an art and design center in San Mateo that has fostered a unique creative space in many different forms: as a letterpress studio, a co-working space for artists, a First Fridays destination, an art gallery, and a provider of classes for kids and adults.

If you'd like to share your own work, there will be an open mic afterward, too! And of course, I'll have Wings Unseen available for purchase, should you like a signed copy. ;)

I hope you'll join me!

I'm going to be busy this Friday promoting my fiction, through two different mediums! You, of course, are invited to join in.

First, S. Evan Townsend will interview me at 3 pm PST for the Speculative Fiction Cantina Livestream and Podcast show.

This show takes place weekly and includes a reading, so I'll be sharing a selection from Wings Unseen. It'll be a chance for my "radio voice" to come out, which people have told me I have for most of my life. I'll be appearing along with author Brian James, and based on past shows, it should be a fun, casual time of speculative fiction appreciation. You can tune in here on Friday at 3 pm PST: LINKY LINK

Second, I'll be reading for the At the Inkwell Flash Fiction Night, which takes place at Alley Cat Books in San Francisco at 7 pm.

This is the second time I'll have read with At the Inkwell, which is a national organization dedicated to helping writers get more exposure through reviews and reading series. The Alley Cat Books space is one of the best I've been to for literary readings, and I'm excited for flash fiction to be the chosen topic - it'll give me a break from reading book excerpts! I'll likely be sharing "What Scattered in the Wind," which is published in Little Letters on the Skin, and some Halloween-themed micro-fiction I've been working on. If there's time, perhaps "Hobgoblin" will also make an appearance at the mic. More info on the event is here: LINKY LINK.

I would love to see you at Alley Cat Books or know you've tuned in to the Speculative Fiction Cantina this Friday!

I have two more Bay Area readings coming up in the next two weeks! Which means two more opportunities for locals to come hear a little more about Wings Unseen and get me to sign your book - it's a harmless experience, I promise!

A Reading of the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group #

Where: Mad Monk's Center for Anachronistic Media, Berkeley

When: 9/2 at 1 pm

What: The East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group has been going strong since 2011! This critique group for speculative fiction writers of all adult ages and career stages has provided input for a great number of talented writers over the years. A great collection of talent has come through this group, and we thought it'd be nice to spotlight a few of them finding success as featured readers while also giving current members the chance to read their works in a supportive setting for perhaps the first time in the form of an open mic. We will have three featured readers: Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Andrew Roberts, and Tantra Bensko. Afterward, the reading will transition to an open mic for authors of speculative fiction to share excerpts of their works of up to 600 words, or 5 minutes of reading time.

More Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1384209081676428

SF in SF #

Where: American Bookbinders Museum, San Francisco

When: 9/10 at 6:30 pm

What: Join SF in SF as they present authors DARYL GREGORY and REBECCA GOMEZ FARRELL! Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by audience Q & A moderated by Terry Bisson. Booksigning and schmoozing follows - both authors' books will be available for sale, courtesy of Borderlands Books (feel free to bring books from home as well!). Doors and cash donation bar open at 6PM - and, it's DEBUT NOVEL DRINK NIGHT! Help us raise even more money for the Bookbinders Museum by imbibing a little bit :) $10 at door - no one turned away for lack of funds All proceeds benefit the American Bookbinders Museum.

More Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/117232002272576

I hope to see you at either, or both, events! More info coming on LA and NC stops soon....

Due to rain and potential flooding, this event has been cancelled. Hopefully, I will be able to read at Moshin in March or April instead! I'll keep you updated.

My next reading will be in the midst of wine country! On February 20, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm, Moshin Vineyards will host a writer's salon to welcome their next Writing Between the Vines author.

What is Writing Between the Vines? It's a writing retreat that pairs writers with vineyards willing to host them with "a space to work, a place to create -- surrounded by the beauty and majesty of vineyards in locations around the world," per [the website](http://a space to work, a place to create-- surrounded by the beauty and majesty of vineyards in locations around the world.). Interested authors apply in the fall and the winning applicants spend 4 to 6 days at the wineries.....writing. Just writing. How lovely that sounds!

Why am I invited to read? Beyond the wine connection from my food blog, of course, I came in as a runner-up for the retreat at Moshin Vineyards.

Thus, I was asked to come in for the salon that kicks off the retreat. I am excited to share an important scene from my upcoming book, Wings Unseen, that features a treasured family wine.

Time allowing, I will also read "Thlush-A-Lum," my horror story published in PULP Literature, which also draws on wine imagery.

But I am nearly as excited to try Moshin's wines for the first time. The thrill of discovery is always galvanizing! The reading will take place at Moshin Vineyard's tasting room in Healdsburg. Full details are available here. I hope to see you there!

The last week of September will be a busy one for me! I will be participating in two groups readings, and I'd love if you came out to support me and the great slates of other authors sharing their work at these series.

Me, reading last spring at Alley Cat Books for the At the Inkwell literary series.

I will read excerpts from my short stories released this fall, though I'm not sure which one I'll do on which night quite yet. Those stories are "Mixed Signals, or, Learning How to Speak," a humurous sci-fi tale that is available now in Issue #9 of Typehouse Literary Magazine (info on how to get it here), and "Good Genes," a horror/Weird West story that will appear in the Future Fire's Issue #38, publication set for mid-October.

Each of these readings is a regularly occurring literary series in the Bay Area. You'll get to hear from talented authors who write a range of genres, which is always a treat for me, as I think literary and genre fiction share more in common than in divergence. Here are the details:

What: Literary Speakeasy (link goes to Facebook Event page, where you can RSVP) Where: Martuni's, in the piano room Address: 4 Valencia Street, San Francisco When: 9/29 at 7:00 pm

There's no event page yet for the Liminal reading, so just let me know below if I will find your smiling faces in the audience! I look forward to seeing you.

What: Writers-in-Residence Reading and Art Closing for Affordable Art Prints Where: Liminal Address: 3037 38th Avenue, Oakland When: 9/30 at 7:00 pm

I will also be attending Con-Volution in Burlingame on 10/1 & 10/2, so I would love to meet you there as well! Let me know, and we'll figure out how to make our paths cross during the Con.

Tomorrow, I fly out for my first WisCon experience.

I'm super excited because I've heard so many great things about this conference from other writers. It has a heavy concentration on the craft of writing, which is the #1 reason I'm choosing it as my first con in years. I love the speculative fiction genre, but I love writing it more than I love the fannish activities that go along with it. Nothing wrong with going wild, Fandom! It's just not how I engage with the works that spark my passion.

And I am thrilled that I will get to share some of my passion with you! I am one-third of the superpowered trio in the Triple the Strength! Triple the Power! reading with fellow writers Sally Wiener Grotta and Laura Lis Scott on Sunday at 1:00 pm in Conference Room 2 at the main hotel.

Thanks to Sally for our flyer! Unfortunately, Laura won't be with us in the flesh, but I'm delighted to read a selection from her novella, Half the Sky, on her behalf. I'll also be reading "Thlush-A-Lum", my most recently published horror short story, and if time allows (it should), the first chapter of my epic fantasy novel, Wings Unseen.

But that's not all! On Monday morning, in the waning hours of WisCon, I'll be on the Worldbuilding Through Food panel in Senate B at 10:00 am. Writing about food has been a huge part of my career over the past six years, and food has always been an honored guest in my fiction as well, so this panel's topic spoke to me on many levels. Ty Blauersouth is our moderator, and my fellow panelists will be Nino Cipri and Amy Thomson. The official description:

The food crops and domestic animals an author uses in a fictional world shape underlying presumptions about where and when a story is set…or "not set," in the case of not-quite-our-world-but-just-barely worlds. Medievaloid Europeish taverns with potatoes and tomatoes in their stew. Cultures that spice heavily, or lightly, or eat a wide range of animals; even if crops and livestock are all named with new words they often trace back to our-Earth models. How can one thoughtfully use food in your worldbuilding in ways that support themes and characters, without falling into shallow sloppiness? What SFF authors do food description particularly well? What's good about it?

I'm especially excited to talk about how food choices can reveal character and ways food can be more central to the plot than just a lush description of a feasting table. Turkish delight, anyone?

Of course, I'll be out and about all over the place during the rest of WisCon 39, but I haven't had the chance to pick which sessions I'll attend just yet. I'll update you all on those plans as I make the decisions! Meanwhile, I always love meeting new people, so if you'd like to join me for coffee or a cocktail or a meal, just drop me a line at becca at thegourmez dot com or through Twitter @thegourmez. I arrive Wednesday evening and leave Monday afternoon.

See you soon, Wisconsin! It'll be lovely to make your acquaintance.