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!

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?”

Along with a new book publication comes a new blog book tour!

I invite you to take a tour of a number of different book-based blogs over the next two works for interviews with me, excerpts from Wings Unfurled, posts on various writerly topics, and book reviews! A new blog will post a new piece each day from now until December 16! And what's more....

Meerkat Press is giving away a $50 gift card at the end of the tour! At any of the featured blog posts or at Meerkat's master schedule of the blog tour, you can find the giveaway form to complete. So far, we only have 26 entries, so your chances are high!

Today's book tour blog post features more book recommendations from me!

Check out "Five Book Series Where Women Wield the Power" at BigIndieBooks.com for recommendations of more recent book series I've read that explore the power of women in the narrative, just like I do in the Wings Rising series. And....enter that $50 gift card raffle while you're there!

I'm going to share a teaser quote from the book with each new post on my own blog these next two weeks. Here's today's:

Once before in her life, Vesperi had felt this thoroughly at sea, when she’d held her father’s corpse, drained of all life and matter.

When I wake tomorrow, I will be the author of two published books! Life goals achieved! I hope you enjoy following Vesperi, Serra, and Janto as they pursue they own in this next stage of our Lansera adventure.

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...

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!

Folks, we are nearing the end of May and nearing the time when the first batch of readers will be getting their hands on ARCs (advanced reading copies) of my book! I am excited and nervous and probably mostly overwhelmed with the whirlwind coming as Wings Unseen gets closer and closer to publication.

This'll help, right?

And you can be one of the first people to have it in your hands if you sign up for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and request my book! 100 review copies of Wings Unseen are flying out from there soon, absolutely free. So far, only 160 members have requested a copy, so your odds are pretty good at getting one! But you only have 3 more days to request it, so get going! Here's the link again (click here). The giveaway ends on May 29, 2017.

You will find Wings Unseen about two-thirds of the way down that list of books for May. So after signing up for the program, or if you are already a member, you can CTRL + F to find Wings Unseen on the page or keep your eyes peeled for the cover:

And to encourage you to sign up, I am sharing this picture of my ARCS that that Meerkat Press just shared today! Can't wait until I get to smell that new book smell myself...

Our favorite smell: NEW BOOK #WingsUnseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell coming soon! @thegourmez @midpointnyc #FANTASY #books 🏰🐞 pic.twitter.com/MpHEr3xdGS

— Meerkat Press (@MeerkatPress) May 26, 2017

There is another giveaway also underway, which I'll be posting on soon. But for now, one last time, here's the link for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers request page! Click the link here.

Sound the horns!

Ooh, maybe not that one. That looks dangerous. Regardless, it's time to celebrate because my YA/New Adult epic fantasy, Wings Unseen, is now available for pre-order!

You can order it from Amazon or from Barnes & Nobles for now, and you bet I'll announce when it's available from other sources. The official release date is August 22, 2017! Did I not mention that before? *browses website* Wow, I really did not mention that before. Apparently, getting your tonsils removed puts you off your promotional game. Luckily, Meerkat Press is continuing to be a phenomenal small press, so word is getting out about this book, and ARCs go out this month. So exciting! Stay tuned for giveaway info, but also go ahead and click on one of those pre-order links if you can...what, you want more enticement? How about an excerpt from the book? Here's one of my photos to conjure your imagination:

And here's the excerpt. In it, Vesperi, a main point-of-view character who lives on the Meduan side of the mountains, where a highly questionable moral code reigns, makes a visit to an herbalist:

"Vesperi Sellwyn! It has been ages since I saw you last. You have been too busy with those fancy lordlings to come visit old Graw." His voice scratched like the black scruff on his chin. "Though I have noticed fewer coteries riding through of late." He cocked his head. "Did those suitors find the merchandise too used?"

She glared. "None of them were suited to my needs."

"Oh, I am certain I have something that would suit your needs." He grabbed at the sagging bulge beneath his belt.

She ignored him. "You do, actually. I have need of fallowent. Do you know of it?"

"Fallowent, aye, I may have some of that, though it's scarce these days. The plants grow best by the river, and they disappear as fast as the Sell's waters." His face lit up as he spoke, confirming what Vesperi had pieced together years ago—this man loved his craft more than his pleasures. He was harmless, as far as men went.

Each hobbled step he took drew forth a curse. After some shuffling and banging, he returned with a pot in hand. Cloying scents of honey and musk rose up as he lifted the lid. She dipped a finger and it came out coated in black, sticky seeds no bigger than a flea.

"I will need more of it." She had no idea how long it would last. "So you had best figure out how to get some or my father will hear of it."

His face paled. "I will. There is no need to tell your father. I will have the guards take me foraging tomorrow."

"Good. I will return for more next week."

He raised his elbows as she made to leave but stopped her at the door. "You were right­—"

She narrowed her eyes.

"—about those men, your suitors? To reject them."

Vesperi had little patience for stammering, but this was an unexpected compliment.

"I know you are a woman and Saeth teaches that women are prized only for their cunts and the kitchens, but fallowent won't do anything to make that brother of yours a man. He would let us all fall into the hands of Durn, or Saeth forbid, the cow lords of Yarowen."

Graw shuddered, and Vesperi gave him a brilliant smile, encouraging him to continue. "I would—I would rather you take over than him someday, and you can't do that if you get married. I am very attached to my store, you see—" he petted the padded arm of his chair, "—and I would prefer things stay this way."

"If we are lucky, my father will live many more years."

"Of course," he said hurriedly. "I did not mean to suggest—"

"You didn't," she assured him. "And Saeth may yet give my mother another son Lord Sellwyn can be proud of. We must pray for that."

He nodded, eyes downcast. But his head lifted when she placed an extra pile of souzers on the table.

"Your loyalty is noted by House Sellwyn." It was all she could say safely. She exited without another word, but the hood did not feel quite as binding when she pulled it over her head.

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!