Over at Shepherd, which is a newish website to help shepherd readers toward their next favorite books, I compiled a list of books that impress me with their sometimes poetic, sometimes beautifully figurative, prose: The Best Speculative Fiction Books with Lyrical Prose.

My choices:

This list is heavily informed by my love of African American literature (this was my Modern Literature focus in college) and my willingness to follow gorgeous imagery anywhere, anytime. Feel free to ask me more about any of my choices; I'm happy to gush.

I also mention in the article that I'm preceded by THREE GENERATIONS(!) of poets on my mother's side. Thanks to my mom, my grandfather William Parker, and my great-grandfather William Lee Popham for that legacy!

Wishing you some great new lyrical prose favorites! If you like my work, you may also want to check out the Shepherd list of Ominously Atmospheric Stories for Winter's Night for suggestons, as Wings Unfurled does have a good share of its own haunting. Also take a gander at their new Magicians (Fantasy) shelf on their bookshelves.

I am delighted to share that you can now pre-order Wings Unfurled. Officially Book 2 of the Wings Rising series, Wings Unfurled releases on December 6, just a little over a month from now. Just in time for those holiday gifts, right? *wink wink nudge nudge*

The print version is $18.95 and the ebook is $8.95.

At the Meerkat Press listing page for the book, you can see all the ordering options. But if there’s one thing authors know, it’s that we should give you direct ordering links to your favorite service whenever possible! So here they are:

• Amazon Print
• Amazon Ebook
• Barnes & Noble Print
• Barnes & Noble Ebook
• Kobo
• Meerkat Press

You can also order it from your fave local bookstore!

Now, the first question you’re going to ask me is which vendor should you buy it from so that I get the most royalties? The answer is honestly that I get the same royalties no matter where you buy it from. But if you’d like to support my publisher, then ordering directly from Meerkat Press is best.

The second question is “So, what's it about, Becca?” Well, here’s the backcover blurb!

The vicious claren that used to plague the reunited countries of Medua and Lansera are long gone. So what are the new dark patches appearing in Lady Serra's second sight?

She rushes to King Albrecht to report the danger, only to discover that he's ailing and Vesperi, Prince Janto's wife, has fled far to the north to grieve her disappeared daughter.

Vesperi still wields the silver flame, possesses all the authority she's ever wanted, but nothing can heal the wound of a missing child. When the silver moon Esye begins to fade, a gnawing fear preys on her for the first time since she escaped her father's cold rule.

Ominous creatures once thought mythical are now rampaging through the countryside. Janto sends Serra to investigate. But without her friendship and Vesperi's love, he fears he cannot slay this challenge. He failed to find his own daughter, after all.

To save the Lanserim, the legendary bird with three heads must fly again. Will Janto, Vesperi, and Serra find the strength to raise it? Or will this menace, with the might to drain a moon, devour them first?

I hope that gets you excited to read about the new adventures and challenges Vesperi, Janto, and Serra face, six years after the events of Wings Unseen. I also shared a geeky writer note on book structure with my newsletter subscribers this past weekend, so I'm going ot share it with everyone now: I didn’t know that Wings Unfurled’s organization would so closely follow Wing Unseen’s when I started writing it, but I’m delighted that it worked out that way. Wings Unseen is laid out in two parts: The Breeding Season and The Culling. Wings Unfurled also has two parts: Moonfall and Moonrise. Two stanzas of prophetic prophesy are also very important to both plots! Here’s a teaser of the first two lines of the new prophecy from Wings Unfurled:

When leaps the mighty cantalere the dark brother drains his foes.

Uncover the rest of that prophecy and what it portends for the Lanserim by preordering now!

In March, I was delighted to appear on Story Hour, a weekly speculative fiction reading. Audiences can join the Zoom recording directly or they can watch live or in replays on Facebook. This is the second time I've read for Story Hour, and I have to say, it's great fun that a reading exists that so appreciates the short story form. I read two short stories, "She Could Be Me" and "Fresh Catch of the Day," during my half of the episode. At the time, they were upcoming publications (or re-publication, in the case of "She Could Be Me"), but as life has continued the untimely delay of my posting updates here, both have since come out!

I'll have posts very soon announcing where you can find the stories. In the meantime, enjoy my Story Hour reading! It takes place in the first half of the episode, and I was delighted to read with Edward Austin Hall, who reads in the second half of the hour. Do note that Edward's excerpts are on the graphic side of horror, should that be a concern for you. Mine are both fairly lightweight this time around, one Twilight Zonesque horror short and one low-fi fantasy tale.

Thanks so much to Daniel Marcus and Laura Blackwell, who host Story Hour, for the invite back!

I am so delighted to announce that Wings Unfurled, the sequel to my epic fantasy novel Wings Unseen, will be coming out in 2022! Meerkat Press will publish the sequel, just as they did Wings Unseen. Here’s their official announcement of the upcoming publication.

Some of you may remember that I wrote Wings Unseen as a standalone novel. Or rather, I first dreamed of it as a trilogy in the early 2000s, but by the time I seriously started writing it, in 2009, the going advice was that a first-time novelist couldn’t get a multi-book deal. So I shifted gears, focusing on writing the full story in one book instead. That made for a much tighter narrative, but by the time I began shopping the manuscript around, the collective wisdom in speculative fiction was back to recommending series of books as the best bet for a writer, first-time or established!

Luckily, Meerkat Press took the risk on Wings Unseen as a standalone book, and I’ve always been happy that I could tell people that the story is complete in and of itself.

Such a shiny, pretty debut novel![/caption]

But after its release, my publisher, Tricia Meeks, the driving force behind Meerkat, mentioned that she’d be interested in a second book. So of course the wheels of a new story for Janto, Vesperi, and Serra began turning!

My wheels don’t turn very fast. Wings Unseen was published in 2017, and I didn’t begin writing Wings Unfurled in earnest until October 2019. Yet somehow, I managed to send off the manuscript’s third draft for consideration by Meerkat in March 2020, and they purchased it! That’s the fastest I have ever written a book, for sure – faster than I’ve written most short stories, to be honest. I’m definitely someone who puts manuscripts aside for a while, letting time do the solving of plot puzzles before coming back with fresh eyes.

So what’s Wings Unfurled about? Well, I’m not going to spoil it, but it begins about six years after Janto, Vesperi, and Serra have rid Lansera and its formerly Meduan lands of the invisible plague of claren and the thrall of the Guj. I won’t tell you more than that for now – except to tease that there’s a fourth, and briefly a fifth, new point-of-view character in the book. Not a pigeon this time! But rest assured, there are plenty of feathers left to lash in Lansera.

I'll be dropping hints about Wings Unfurled along the way to its publication, leaving you a tasty trail to follow until then. Maybe I'll even share a recipe for the lemon cakes that Janto, and another family member, so loves! Waits are always easier to endure when there's a snack.

That image is of Pittsburgh's Grandview Bakery's almond cupcakes - NOT Mar Pina's lemon cakes in Lansera, but not far off from what I imagine...

In the madness of moving, I haven't had time to share this news: "Submission Caws" received an audio production by the Centropic Oracle!

The recording was released on January 29, which was the day we were originally scheduled for escrow to close. The release of "Submission Caws" stayed on schedule, though our escrow took a few days longer...

...but that's another story! This story is a fictional rant about the process of submitting manuscripts out for publication. It is funny and silly, particularly if you are also a writer undertaking this process on a regular basis. It's a fantasy take on the concept, with recipes for magic spells subbed in for manuscripts themselves. It ends with a dare that the editors at the Centropic Oracle took, just like Defenestration did before them when the story was first published in 2019.

Jill Raymond performed the audio version, and I quite enjoy her take on the story -- the character of Betty, a bubbly and annoyingly successful composer of magical recipes, comes through loud and clear. To listen to or read "Submission Caws," head to the Centropic Oracle's website here.

Or of course, you can read "Submission Caws" at its original home at Defenestration, right here.

The first few lines to entice you onward:

A black crow swoops onto the open window ledge, and yearning gushes from deep within me. I tamp down the emotion swifter than the crow can deliver its charge: a rolled parchment that bangs against the bookshelves as it flips toward the floor. The crow musses its feathers and launches into the air, off to retrieve its next assignment. Soon, someone else will receive fresh misery. I retrieve the parchment, find it quaint that the Gate Keepers use it for correspondence when they could just place a call by sandspelling. The parchment’s seal displays a sentinel guarding a mountain of scrolls piled behind an ornate, locked gate.

And some photographic inspiration:

It's award nomination season in the speculative fiction world, which means it's time for me to roll out my annual review of my publications for the previous year! And by annual, I mean, I haven't done one since...2018? Oh wait, 2018 was the only year I've ever done one? Um...oops? But I am recently inspired by Rosemary Claire Smith's "Reason to Publicize Your Award-Eligible Works" article to to give it a go. So here goes!

Yes, I had seven publications to my name in the last year! That's my highest total yet in terms of sheer numbers - I'm around a 15% acceptance rate at the moment, which is pretty gosh-darn good. Writing is a rejection grind, so anytime my acceptance rate is above 10% for stories I've sent out to be considered for publication, I'm feeling darn good. And I do feel good about the quality of my work published in 2020! Unfortunately, of those seven publications, only a couple are actually eligible for nomination for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus, or other awards of your nominating choice. Those are....

• "It's Only Vampire" - A humorous horror tale released in FARK in the Time of COVID: The 2020 Fark Fiction Anthology. The anthology was released in December 2020. What I most enjoyed about writing this one was finally capturing a bit of the humor in the generational battles we humans so often undertake - think, "OK, Boomer," but for the fang and crypt crew.
• "An Inconvenient Quest" - A flash fantasy quest in A Quiet Afternoon: Lo-Fi Speculative Fiction for a Peaceful Break from a Stressful World, released in July 2020. I wrote the first draft of this short story several years ago, when I wanted to really dig into using senses other than sight more often in my fiction. The result of focusing on smells? A synesthetic union of scent, emotion, and color for a lonely sprite who must find a way to save his ailing queen.
• "Wishing for More" - Oh, oh wait. This urban fantasy romance about graduates of the Jinn school trying to make their way in world came out in December 2019. I just didn't learn that it had been published until a few weeks into 2020. Now that's a story for another time. You can read "Wishing for More" in Helios Quarterly Magazine 4.4, but unfortunately, you cannot nominate it this year.
• "Some Who Wander" - Oh, no, nope. Not that one either. Because it's not fiction at all, but a fun little whirl of micro nonfiction about a bad choice I made one day while hiking through my neighborhood. "Some Who Wander" can be stumbled upon at Intrinsick.
• Consider "Hobgoblin" instead! Except you can't because it's a reprint, found in Whigmaleeries & Wives Tales.
• "What Scattered in the Wind"? Nope, also a reprint, this time in the ACCOLADES anthology.
• Surely, "Thlush-A-Lum" is up for some nominating fun? Assuredly not, as it enjoyed its fourth printing this year, in It Calls From the Sky. Clearly, I believe in the power of making your words work for you again...and again...and again. Reprints are great! But they are not eligible for nominations...unless I put them together into my own collection someday! A girl can dream.

So I guess those first two stories really are the only ones I have eligible for nominations this awards season despite my great publishing year. With seven publications added to my grand total of thirty-one, I'm not at all upset about that. If you read either "It's Only Vampire" or "An Inconvenient Quest" and liked them enough to give them a nomination, then you have my thanks.

And if not...more Stories by Rebecca Gomez Farrell are certainly coming your way in 2021. In fact, a new recording of my "Submission Caws" is up now at the Centropic Oracle here! More on that soon. One of my earliest stories, "She Could be Me," will make its way into Bards & Sages Quarterly in the spring. My brand-new "Fresh Catch of the Day" is coming out in A Quiet Afternoon 2 as well. And more new things that I can't quite speak about yet...but soon, very soon.

That's it for my second-ever awards eligibility post! Maybe next year, I'll have three pieces that'll qualify. Fingers crossed - or rather - poised over the keyboard, ready to write.

My short story, "An Inconvenient Quest," appears in A Quiet Afternoon, an anthology of Low-Fi speculative fiction from Grace&Victory Publications. The anthology is due out on July 1, 2020.

What's Low-Fi speculative fiction? Foreward writer Laura DeHaan describes it as "The stakes are low. The expectations are reasonable. The resolutions are quietly satisfactory. Problems are solved with words, not violence. And sometimes, not much happens. There might not even be an appreciable amount of fantasy or science fiction. Still, it’s Low-Fi. It feels cosy. It reads easy. It enjoys the little victories."

My "An Inconvenient Quest" fits right in with that billing, though for the main character, a funny-smelling sprite named Levolin, the stakes are rather high indeed - the sprite queen is sick! Levolin must wield what he's always viewed as a fault to save the queen, who's never found any fault in him. Here are the beginning lines of the story:

Raindrop-sized jellyfish skittered out of Levolin’s reach, a familiar reaction to his presence. The sprite’s people had skittered away from him since his youth, once his unique pheromone sequence had matured into a less-than-pleasing blend. Most sprites enjoyed each other’s scents. Every feeling, person, and experience had its own redolent signature: roasted cacao beans, or rain on warm asphalt, or perhaps, peacefulness. Levolin’s just happened to be unappealing.

I do hope you'll follow Levolin on his aromatic journey into purposeful mischief and heroism. A Quiet Afternoon will be available in e-book formats on its page at the Grace&Victory website on July 1, 2020.

Here is some photographic inspiration as you read the story. Just imagine yourself as a tiny sprite, drawn in by an irresistible smell . . .

I hope you enjoy "An Inconvenient Quest" and all the stories in A Quiet Afternoon.

Fogcon 2019 starts tomorrow!

As per usual, I don't feel ready, but do I ever for conventions? This year, I'll be at Fogcon all weekend. Here is my schedule, should you care to join me at any point:

Friday, 4:30 pm, Salon A/B: It's Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This--Writer Support Networks in the Bay Area. Panelist.

Scene: The writer types alone, perhaps with a bottle of bourbon for companionship and a cat on the lap. The writing lifestyle is often portrayed as solitary, but as with all careers, writers need support to improve and to get their work seen by the wider world. Come learn what resources are available for speculative fiction writers in the Bay Area, from critique groups, to marketing, to writing classes, to kicking back and talking writer shop with others going through the creative struggle of the written word.

Saturday, 10:00 am, Salon F: Discovering Short Fiction. Panelist.

We live in golden age for short SFF, but there’s so much out there and relatively few reviews and recommendations compared to novels. How are people finding short fiction? What are some techniques the panelist can suggest for those looking to read more short stories? And what can the community do to help showcase the awesome short fiction happening now?

Saturday, noon, Lobby Bar: East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group Craft Klatsch. Host.

Join my East Bay critique group for SF/F writers during Saturday's lunch hour in Fogcon's lobby bar to unwind from the con so far and catch up on what's been great and what folks are looking forward to next.

Saturday, 8:00 pm, Salon F: Small Houses, Big Futures--Publishing SF with Small Presses. Moderator.

While many of us dream of a Big 5 deal, there are numerous Small Press publishers that are taking risks the larger publishers can't, giving more writers access to the market. But that access comes with smaller (or no) advances and a larger proportion of labor on the author. What's different about publishing with a Small Press vs. a big publishing house? How is the experience different, for the editor and for the writer?

Sunday, 1:30 pm, Santa Rosa room: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading. Host and Reader.

Broad Universe is one of the oldest organizations supporting female writers of speculative fiction. At conventions nationwide, Broad Universe hosts Rapid Fire Readings to highlight the amazing work of our members. Several members of the group take part by sharing short bursts of fiction that keep the reading lively and exciting.

And from there...home! Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to that last part already?

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!

This coming Saturday evening, I am thrilled (or is it chilled?) to participate in Shades & Shadows, Los Angeles's only dark fiction reading series:

Details:

8:30 pm, doors open at 8 $10 entry fee. Tickets here. THERE WILL BE CAKE At the Mystic Museum 3204 Magnolia Blvd Burbank, CA

Click here if you'd like to RSVP at the Facebook event!

Dark fiction, you ask? But isn't your fantasy novel YA? Well, as many of the reviews can tell you, Wings Unseen is quite a bit darker than some readers expect for YA! I did pitch it as having elements of horror, for both the creatures contained within it and the horrific power struggle in Medua. Believe me, there is plenty of darkness to draw from in the worlds of Lansera and Medua. Now will I go dark horror, dark magic, or darkened halls for my selection? You'll have to come to find out! This is my one and only SoCal stop on my book tour, so I do hope you'll make it. If not, stay tuned for the podcast release of the evening's festivities....which may take a while -- the Shades & Shadows crew is about a year behind in podcast production. So you're best bet is to show up! I hope to see you there.

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....

Wings Unseen, my debut epic fantasy novel, is now available at bookstores and libraries and everywhere online! Here's a perspective you don't see of the cover often, the full front and back:

If you'd like to see it in paperback near you, request to have Wings Unseen ordered at your favorite store. Such requests are much appreciated! And so are online orders. You can get it from any of these retailers in paperback or ebook forms:

I would absolutely love it if you would rate and/or review the book after reading as well - ratings are life for authors! We all know we are swayed by them. ;) So a big virtual hug from Mazu for those of you able to do so.

To celebrate the release of Wings Unseen yesterday, I thought I'd do a reading on Facebook Live...but I have a ton of Wings Unseen readings coming up, so I thought it'd be more fun to share some of my earliest short stories instead. And by early, I meant second to fifth grade. You can watch the video by clicking through to Facebook or click the video to play below:

Ah, elementary school storytelling. I was so precocious. You can also follow the Wings Unseen Blog Tour--full of interviews, guest posts, excerpts, and reviews of Wings Unseen from book blogs--over the next three weeks! Find the full schedule of tour stops here at the Xpresso Books tour page.

Upcoming Readings and Appearances To promote and celebrate the publication of Wings Unseen, I'll be reading at or participating in several events over the next few months, and hopefully, one of those will be near you! Here's the list of where you can find me coming up, including 4 Bay Area appearances in the next two weeks:

• 8/25, 8 pm, Feminist Spec Fic night at the Liminal Center, Oakland, CA
• 8/26, 4 pm, Wings Unseen Book Launch, the Octopus Literary Salon, Oakland, CA
• 8/27, 3 pm, A Trilogy of Shivers, Adventures, and Fantasy, Borderlands Books, San Francisco, CA
• 9/2, 1 pm, A Reading from the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group, Mad Monks Center for Anachronistic Media, Berkeley, CA
• 9/10, TBD, SF in SF, Location TBD, San Francisco, CA
• 9/16, TBD, Shades and Shadows Podcast, The Mystic Museum, Burbank, CA
• 9/19, 7 pm, An Evening of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy, the Regulator, Durham, NC
• 9/23, 2 pm, Barnes and Noble, Cary, NC
• 10/20, 3 pm, interview with the Speculative Fiction Cantina
• 10/20, 7 pm, At the Inkwell Short Fiction Night, Alley Cat Books, CA
• 10/24, 7 pm, Liminal Series, Flywheel Press, San Mateo, CA
• 10/26-10/29, SirensCon, Veil, CO

Events with more information available online are linked - I'll be adding links as I get more details ironed out as well! I would love to see you in the crowd, and of course, to sign your book! I think I'll also be posting some musings about the process of book publication once I get the chance to breath...which may not be until October. 😅

Thank you for your support, dear readers, and I hope to see you in the world of Lansera soon!

The first time Wings Unseen, my debut epic fantasy novel, got a map was out of desperation. I simply could not keep my own world-building straight without a visual to look at, and my artistic abilities are HORRIBLE, so I forced my husband to draw me one. Ben is a software developer and designer, so he can sneeze and create something pleasing to look at - the closest I can get is taking snapshots of artwork already in existence.

So I knew early on that this book would need a map, and what self-respecting fantasy book doesn't have one, anyway? I am pleased to share with you the final map that will appear in the final book, which Meerkat Press revealed on Monday:

I love it! The main shape of the land remains the same from that day that I forced Ben to craft it for me, but we've added terrain, made the fonts used for countries, regions, cities, and points of interest uniform, and see that smashing compass top right? Yep, it incorporates the three-headed bird featured on the cover of the book! It'll be a helpful resource for readers, as I do, or my characters, rather, cover a LOT of ground in Wings Unseen. One of my biggest regrets is actually how many cities remain unexplored in the book, which I may be addressing in my early plotting of a sequel...

Want to dive into that map? Pre-order Wings Unseen today! Less than three weeks until it's out!

For the first time ever, I will have a short story included in an anthology! In fact, I will have *two* stories in anthologies in the coming months, in addition, of course, to the publication and book tour for Wings Unseen, my first novel. "Treasure," a fantasy fable appearing in Dark Luminous Wings from Pole to Pole Publishing, shares quite a lot in common with Wings Unseen, actually. Here's the early anthology cover art that co-editor Vonnie Winslow Crist revealed in May:

"Treasure" is one of my oldest short stories -- I began Draft #1 in 2007, and my filename at that time was "black and white." That name reflects what I wanted to accomplish in writing this story -- I wanted to play with the idea of a female thief being thrust into a culture very different from the more violent, selfish one in which she'd been raised, so different that she has a difficult time believing such a culture is real. Can someone raised to distrust everyone around her accept grace and love when freely given it? Is it truly given freely? You'll have to read "Treasure" to find out what Enkid, the story's protoganist, makes of these questions...under threat of a flying sea monster called the Laklor and the lure of a rock pillar that manifests jewels and....

And, I think that's enough info on "Treasure" for now. ;) If you've read an early ARC of Wings Unseen already, then you know those same questions are ones that factor heavily into Vesperi's point of view in the book, though I might argue that figuring out how to deal with a culture so foreign to one's own is also a hurdle for Janto and Serra, the two other main POV characters. Challenging our perspectives of how the world works can be one of the hardest quests there is. Obviously, the concept was strongly on my mind then; I began writing W__ings Unseen in earnest around the same time I drafted "Treasure." Both tales also heavily feature creatures with menacing wings. So does my horror short "Thlush-A-Lum" now that I think of it...

I guess I have a thing for spooky wings.

Before Pole to Pole's acceptance of "Treasure," I submitted it out a total of 18 times, resulting in 1 author withdrawal, 7 form rejections, and 9 personal rejections, including 2 from pro-level speculative fiction markets that got THISCLOSE to publishing the story -- and I mean that! The editors of both mags told me they held onto it for so long because they'd been hoping to find a place for it but ultimately could not. I also significantly rewrote the story at least twice in the six years since I first sent it out. After all that, I think Dark Luminous Wings is truly where this story was destined to go as I can't imagine a more perfect fit for it than what their call for submissions detailed:

The volume draws inspiration from Richard Henry Stoddard’s poem, Mors et Vita, particularly stanza two:

Under the awful wings Which brood over land and sea, And whose shadows nor lift nor flee— This is the order of things, And hath been from of old: First production, And last destruction; So the pendulum swings, While cradles are rocked and bells are tolled.

Send us your stories about angels and demons, dragons and fairies, airplanes and ornathopters—and more. Let your imaginations soar, but let your stories be found in the darkest of places.

Late October is Dark Luminous Wings' planned publication date, and I'll let you know where to order once I have that information. Until then, may your dreams be free of dark wings, but your mind prepared to tangle with them.

What lurks in the wild?[/caption]

The LibraryThings giveaway of Wings Unseen is now complete! But do not lose hope, dear readers. There are other ways to get your hands on an early copy of my book....

...Like on Goodreads!

Through June 24, you can enter to win one of five print copies of Wings Unseen through Goodreads. Yes, that's right! I said print! How exciting is that?! They are advanced reading copies, which means some important details have not yet made it into the book design, like that dedication and acknowledgment I still need to write....but the story is all there and the book is 90% what it will be in the final version.

The odds are not as much in your favor this time around, with 235 people already entered in the giveaway, but you should totally try. Why? Because I'm proud of this book and I hope you will be proud of it too, enough to leave a review and rating after you get a sneak peek at it.

Goodreads Book Giveaway #

Wings Unseen #

by Rebecca Gomez Farrell #

Giveaway ends June 24, 2017.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

To enter, you can either click the link in that widget right above this or head to the website to enter directly there - the result will be the same either way! And you may be among the first to hold a copy of Wings Unseen in your hands! Heck, I haven't done that yet.

To encourage you to enter the Goodreads giveaway, I am giving away a sneak peak myself of one of the four character sigils that Meerkat Press has commissioned for the book! These sigils appear on the chapter title pages for each of my point-of-view characters - or at least the four of them that matter most. The first one is...

Serrafina Gavenstone #

Serra is the daughter of Midra and Goning Gavenstone, the liege-lords of Meditlan, a land of spices and wine - thus the grapevines of her sigil. Both her parents tragically drowned when Serrra was a child. As the book opens, her older brother, Agler, is on a quest for the Ravens, the spies of her home country, Lansera. Serra is engaged to Janto Albrecht, the prince of Lansera, and will wed him in a month. Being a part of the Albrecht family and the someday queen of Lansera is all that Serra has ever wanted, since she moved into their home after her parents' death. But at 18, Serra has much to learn of wants and what the future holds.

Get your chance to follow Serra's journey to her own future with an ARC of Wings Unseen from Goodreads! Enter here.

Wow. I signed a contract to publish my first book, Wings Unseen, an epic fantasy. With a traditional press. And a print run. And an advance. Folks, I’m still amazed this is happening, and five months in, and I am so happy with my choice to entrust Meerkat Press with this book.

And there it is. The cover reveal officially went down today at 7pm/4pm at the Meerkat Press website. And I LOVE it. I especially love the more modern style, which is one of the reasons I trust this publisher.

How could you not trust this logo? <3

We looked at a traditional fantasy design, but it didn’t feel right at all. This design stands out to me -- the artist rocked it! A three-headed bird stares straight at you, claiming you, perhaps inspiring you to flip the pages. And when you peer closer, something else comes into focus: other winged creatures fluttering around the title letters, blinking into your sight, and giving you an instinctual shiver.

And then there’s the color blue behind it all. I don’t know if Meerkat Press chose blue with intention, but no other color would fit quite as well for this book. Beneath much of Wing Unseen’s action is a force whose presence is signified by blue, so it’s beautifully appropriate that blue is the background for the cover as well. That it is there is enough, quietly holding together what can be more obviously seen.

It’ll be out in August! *leaps for joy*

I’ve talked with friends many times about how I’m one of those writers who achieve something on their goal list then immediately feel as though I’m not a real writer yet, that there is a higher hurdle to jump and only when that happens will I feel I can say it. Place in a contest – nope, not good enough. Have short stories published -- nope, doesn’t count until I get paid for one. Have a novella published -- well, it’s not a whole book, is it? Sell enough pro-level short stories to join SFWA – but an associate doesn't count as much as a full member. Sign a traditional book contract – well, I certainly never expected to clear that hurdle before achieving the full SFWA membership goal! Yet here I am, and I’m pretty sure I can call myself a real writer now.

The cat obsession probably qualified me on its own years ago. ;) I look forward to the next few months of the whirlwind that is publishing, and I’m going to share that experience here with you. For now, here’s the first paragraph of my Wings Unseen query that earned me two separate contract offers after three years of submitting the manuscript out:

The Meduan and Lanserim ways of life are as compatible as oil and water. But when an invisible threat consumes both countries, leaving husks of human skin in its wake, Lansera’s Prince Janto and his fiancé, Serra, must learn to work together with Vesperi, a Meduan who possesses the only weapon that can save them.

And I’m off to stare at my cover dreamily for the rest of the night….or actually, to share in a virtual wine tasting at Wine Antics, starting at 9 EST/6 PST! This real writer keeps herself busy juggling her spheres of writing influence! Fiction writer mode on SLEEP. Food blogger mode: ENGAGE!

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.

I am thrilled to announce that you can now read my steampunk retelling of the Battle of Jericho, "Blow 'Em Down," in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Special 5th Anniversary Double Issue #151!

The full text of the story is now available on BCS's website for free, along with the rest of the fantastic stories in the issue. On that page, you will find download links for all e-reader types that you can also use to acquire the issue for free.

Of course, I would encourage you to purchase the issue for your e-readers because I think it's worthwhile to support good art, and I hope you will think "Blow 'Em Down" qualifies as good art. If you agree, you can make that wallet-busting $0.99 purchase at Amazon or at Weightless Books.

And now for your teaser,

From our brass band’s vantage point at the Gilgal plains, the glass dome was impenetrable. An immense central copper tube supported it, using a full city block for its foundation and generating energy for the whole town by absorbing the sun rays trapped within the glass. One skygate operated through the top of the dome, opening only to let merchant airships and their escorts in and out. The ships floated by so high, we could barely make out what was seared into their taut material: giant brands bearing profiles of the cityscape. The same image, embossed in a black pattern, circumnavigated the dome’s bottom edge. A single word in bold typeset appeared above each repetition:  Jericho.

They never sent so much as a volley our way. Who could blame them? We looked a sorry mess after forty years spent crossing the desert, but we were many. Forty days our parents had been told, but as it turned out, solar-powered chariots don’t work so well in the desert. The salt from the Red Sea air had rusted most of their steel frames within days of the crossing, leaving us with only a handful, and those were barely powerful enough to raise one person off the sand at a time. Then there was the pillar of smoke blocking out half the sky. Little sun meant less energy for our solar cells to regenerate. When the pillar lit up like a fireball that forgot to fly at night, we tried to mine the heat, but we never could get the calibrations right.

Again, you can read the rest of "Blow 'Em Down" right here.

In February, I let you all know about the opportunity to get your hands on one of my short stories for free for a limited time. And now that time is almost at an end! "Bother," along with many other fantastic stories collected by M. David Blake for the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology, will only be available until 4/30. So what are you waiting for? Click your browsers on over to Stupefying Stories and get your copy! And be sure to give Durham author Mur Lafferty your congratulations on being nominated for the Campbell Award for the second straight year. Some of her work is also available in the anthology. You can find her at the Murverse.

Here's what I posted to explain the anthology in February:

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free -- that's right, free! -- for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What's that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the "Golden Age" of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of "Bother" to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven't had other speculative fiction published since then -- I've been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But "Bother" has been reprinted in the anthology, and now's your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read "Bother," please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free -- that's right, free! -- for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What's that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the "Golden Age" of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of "Bother" to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven't had other speculative fiction published since then -- I've been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But "Bother" has been reprinted in the anthology, and now's your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read "Bother," please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

It's been a few weeks since the last installment in my Thursday Bragging series. We are now almost caught up to a year ago in my published works. This one is a fantasy flash fiction piece that happens to be one of my favorites, likely because it stems from my love of poetic prose and abstract plots. Enjoy the first few lines of "Apocalypse," published at Yesteryear Fiction.

Corena sits on a bench in a field of marigolds and cement. She sits and watches the people walk past her in the same direction, which is away. They tread on the endless sidewalks lying between the rows of marigold planter boxes. Their expressions are serene as they stare ahead, wearing shapeless clothes the color of corn silk. Some of the people turn and look at her; they turn their heads but don’t stop walking. Most continue onward, focused on the path that is the future. Corena sits. She records the sky’s markings in her notebook. There are many clouds, dark and light grays swirled together like mixing paint. They give her comfort, though the wind is strong today. She fears the time is near, but she hopes the clouds will stay.

You can read the rest of "Apocalypse" for free here. And because I've developed a habit for adding a possibly scene-setting photograph, here is a potential view of Corena's bench as she waits for the world to end.

And here might be the sky on this fate-filled day.

Enjoy!

I'm joining in with Six Sentence Sunday this week, giving my fiction fans six sentences from one of my works to see if it entices you. Six Sentence Sunday is mainly perused by romance authors and readers, so when I participate, I try to include something a bit similar to that genre. This six comes from my short story, Treasure, that I'll soon be submitting to a speculative fiction magazine.

By now, she knew such things were repulsive here, that killing another human was anathema to his race, yet she was amazed he could focus on anything but her curves in the morning light.

“Get dressed,” she commanded, “or don’t you plan to work today?”

He gazed at her for a moment, groaned, and then rose. With both hands, he pulled her face toward his, kissed her, then whispered in her ear, “You’re safe with me, Filor.”

Her cheeks colored, both with flattery and shame. She could not trust him with her real name—did the shame mean she wanted to?

Hope you enjoyed it!

For this week's Six Sentence Sunday, I'm sharing the very first six lines from my work-in-progess, an epic fantasy novel. I'll be spending all of August working hard on this book--I'm really hoping I finish it this year. Feedback on if this first paragraph grabs your interest is definitely welcome.

He was an enticing prospect, especially the way the candlelight accentuated the curves of muscle seeping through the black sleeves of his tunic. He’d taken off his cloak, hot from the ride, and was holding it hooked around his pointer finger. Vesperi stifled a giggle at its vivid hue, the bright purple of the Meduan sunset on a cloudy night. Illa wasn’t trained in subtlety. Anyone wearing a cloak that bold was practically announcing his ambition the moment he rode through a town square. Maybe that was the point; her father was a man drawn to power like a priest to intrigue.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to browse my other works available for purchase or for free. Also, I have a giveaway of my romance novella, Maya's Vacation, over at I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Leave a comment there to be entered to win an e-copy of it!

For Six Sentence Sunday this week, I'm venturing into my recently published urban fantasy short story called Bother. Let's just dive right in, shall we?

The sound of crunching bones came next, like nuts cracking but louder, so much louder. It went on for what seemed like ages, but it could only have been a few minutes. She knew it didn't take the beast long to finish a meal. The shaking died down, and the smell of sulfur grew weaker, but the creature had to be nearby. She would have to risk it; she had to get up, to go see for herself. She had to know.

Intrigued? Here's a synopsis of Bother:

The apartment is taking dingy to a new level. Air quality is suffering. Trees keep falling down, and there are piles of refuse all over the neighborhood. Yet Jonah's more concerned about his awesome day at work than he is about the dragon that's taken up residence outside his home. His wife, Susan, isn't so apathetic; she spends every waking moment with a vigilante force, trying to rid the district of the dreaded creature. Can they figure out what's worth fighting for together, or will this couple be yet another casualty of the dragon.

Bother, along with a bunch of other wonderful fantasy and sci fi short stories, is available  in Bull Spec, Issue #5.

You can purchase a year's subscription to Bull Spec here for $15 + shipping and handling, or you can order Issue #5 on its own in either print or PDF forms. Or head over to my blog on its release for a full listing of stores you can find it at.

Thanks for dropping by!

Yes, folks, it's time for more shameless self-promotion! On Saturday, I had a short story published over at Yesteryear Fiction.

It's a free daily Webzine that publishes flash fiction fantasy of all stripes, whether they be paranormal, epic, urban, or poetry. This particular piece, Apocalypse, is poetic prose that takes place in an alternate world--unless you'd prefer to read it as an extended metaphor. Here are the first three lines:

Corena sits on a bench in a field of marigolds and cement. She sits and watches the people walk past her in the same direction, which is away. They tread on the endless sidewalks lying between the rows of marigold planter boxes.

Now go and read it!

Today, I have an update on my writing ventures, specifically, on two writing ventures that are coming up in the next two months! At the end of March, my romance novelette, Maya's Vacation, will be released by Astraea Press! It will be available in e-book formats only, but Astraea hopes to add print-on-demand to their repertoire in the future. Regardless, I'm super excited to have signed with them and to have Maya's Vacation out in the world soon.

I'm posting the synopsis in a moment, but I think this novelette will be great reading if you're a fan of this blog---my years of writing and pondering food and wine play a huge role in the story's concept. If you enjoy how I describe a dish or beverage, I hope you'll buy a copy and delve in! It'll be a fast read and safe for anyone who enjoys passionate characters without the busom-busting to go along with them. Astraea only publishes nonerotic fiction, which is one of the many reasons they and Maya's Vacation are a great fit. Here's that synopsis.

Twenty-year-old Maya knew, as she watched Dean walk away from her front door, distraught at her silence and her father’s threats, that she would never love anyone with the intensity that she loved him. He was her painter, her artist, her soul mate and being apart from him hurt too much. She tucked those feelings away, determined to enjoy the safe and secure life her parents approved of: business school and a marriage to Chuck, a successful real estate agent.

Thirty years later, Chuck has cheated on and divorced her. But when he comes back, begging for reconciliation, Maya follows her intuition and takes a vacation to think it over. Her love of art, food, and wine combine at this retreat in the woods, and she prepares for a week of making new friends, tasting exquisite wines, and learning to paint again. What she hasn’t prepared for is the familiar voice she hears the first morning at camp . . . a voice that makes her skin tingle and brings back memories of who she used to be before Chuck. Has Maya buried her passion too deep to find love with Dean again?

In other news, the fifth issue of Bull Spec is set to to appear on April 15, with my short story, Bother, in the fiction section. Woo hoo! The release party for Issue #5 will be at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on the same date.

As part of the festivities, I'll be reading from Bother. Be prepared for urban marital angst and dragons! If you don't want to miss my short story or you're just a fan of speculative fiction, you should definitely subscribe to Bull Spec now. It's a gorgeous print magazine, but if you prefer reading online, e-subscriptions are available too.

Don't worry, I'll be posting reminders as the dates draw near, and I will definitely keep you posted on any release night plans I come up with for Maya's Vacation. My family will be in town, so dinner out, at the very least, will be in order!