Rainbow Space Magic – March 2021

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope your March has started off well. Are you as glad to hear, as I am, that we now have three vaccines for the Rona? I can’t wait till it’s my turn to get the shot or shots. It will be a big weight of my shoulders.

Regarding things to look forward too, I hope you have all checked out one of the virtual con’s I’m involved with this year; Rainbow Space Magic (more info here). The con will be the weekend of March 12th so in little over a week. Here are the details:

Rainbow Space Magic (RSM) is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ science fiction and fantasy community, a place where everyone can gather, discuss, promote and create queer speculative fiction in a safe and supportive place that is accessible to our diverse community.

Join us Friday March 12th through Sunday March 14th, 2021 for this free virtual conference.

This year we are pleased to welcome Jewelle Gomez – author of The Gilda Stories and Bones and Ash, as our Keynote Speaker and special guest throughout the conference.  Jewelle is a two-time Lambda Literary Award recipient with her writings appearing in hundreds of anthologies. She is a prolific play write and presented at the African American Fantastic Imagination, the first conference of black speculative fiction writers. She has also taught creative writing workshops and lectured at institutions around the U.S. including San Francisco State University, Bowdoin College, Cornell University, Spellman College, Bates College, and others. She was on the original board of GLAAD and the Astraea National Lesbian Foundation.

The conference this year will have writing workshops during the day on Friday March 12th prior to our Keynote address Friday night. The rest of the weekend will consist of panels and readings spread out over Saturday and Sunday.

This year we are raising money for Lambda Literary, Glad Day Lit, Trans Media Watch, Shade Literary Group, and BLF Press. Donate to one of these groups and come and join us March 12th – March 14th, 2021. To register and learn more about this exciting event please go to our website: www.rainbowspacemagic.com for more information.

Well, Scribblers, that’s all for this week I hope to see you at the con, I will be on two different panels (Cover so White on Sunday at 7am [PST] and The Queering of Modern Pop Culture in Recent Years on Sunday at 6pm [PST]) it should be a blast. As you all know, I love hearing from folks so please drop me a line in the comments below. Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really does help, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time have a great week and see you RSM!

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Writing Update and Book Announcement – The Called

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. Reminder if you can get the vaccine please get it. In the mean time I hope you are wearing your mask, washing your hands, practicing your social distancing, and more importantly staying safe. I have been so encouraged hearing that the US has passed the 50 million vaccine mark and that hospitalization are going down. There is still a long road ahead of us, but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Enough about that. Today I wanted to share my book announcement and a couple of writing updates.

Like the title says, The Called is on it’s way. This is the sequel to my internationally award-winning debut novel The Calling. The Called is schedule to be released on April 19th and I can’t wait.  Here is the blurb from the book… so spoilers if you haven’t read the first book The Calling (and why haven’t you read The Calling yet? You really need to, buy your copy here or get your signed copy here.):

The world is changing quickly for Chris now that he’s part of the Immortal Community. With the events of his past finally behind him, he’s still having visions and true magic is gradually taking hold in our world. There are new challenges that the Immortals must face, but Chris is still new and has no real standing in the immortal community. Learning that nothing in the Immortal community is what Chris thought and now having to face new threats, how will his new world unfold? Old enemies must work together and longtime friends may not be trustworthy. Who is lurking in the shadows? Why are they here? What does this mean for witches, immortals and humans?

Can Chris’ visions even be trusted given recent events, and how easily his mind is manipulated? With Juliet, Amanda, and Kirtus by his side they have to prevent the immortal and witch community from being exposed. Can they trust the local witches that are there to assist them? Can they trust their fellow Immortals? New friendships are made, and longtime alliances are called into question. How will The Called defeat these latest threats, and what does it mean for our world?

This story is going to pick up right at the end of book one. In fact, the last chapter of The Calling, is the first chapter of The Called (Find out more about both books here). So, there will be no time jump. I’m proud of this duology and I can’t wait for folks to be able to pick up their own copy and enjoy. Also, in The Called we are going to expand on some popular characters from The Calling and introduce some fantastic new characters in The Called, which I’m thrilled to finally add into the story.

Here is a beautiful graphic that will give you an idea of the feel of The Called :

Also, as I hope many of you have seen by now I’ve been working on my YouTube channel, click here. I’ve been cleaning up the channel, making it more user friendly, organizing it, updating content, and adding the various engagements I’ve had: including appearances on OUTLook Video, LocalLit 2020 as well as some other fun readings and events that I’m able to share.

To celebrate my revamped channel, I’ve set up a challenge, if I can get 250 subscribers (clearly a lofty goal) by April 19th I have something really fun planned. The surprise will coincide with the launch of The Called. Help me spread the word and meet this goal.  I know with all your help and support we can reach 250. In the meantime, I’m going to be adding more readings and other content to my channel so I hope you will follow me there, plus you get to see me in my natural habitat, my home.

As a reminder on March 12th – 14th I will be participating at the Rainbow Space Magic Conference. This three-day virtual event is packed full of great content for readers, writers, and anyone who loves books. Learn more about it here.

Also, on May 8th I and several other amazing authors will be holding the first ever virtual IQARUS Book Con. This international event is open to everyone. We will have panel discussions about writing, marketing/social media, podcasts, vlogging, editing, etc. Also, we will host both live and video readings from authors of romance, horror, sci-fi, contemporary, all sorts of genres, so there is something for everyone. Check it out here.

Well, Scribblers, that’s all for this week. If you want to learn more about what I have coming up next check out my events page here. I love hearing from folks so please drop me a line in the comments below. Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really does help, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time have a great week.

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Rainbow Space Magic 2021 Virtual Conference

RSM 2021 – Announcement

Rainbow Space Magic (RSM) is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ science fiction and fantasy community, a place where everyone can gather, discuss, promote and create queer speculative fiction in a safe and supportive place that is accessible to our diverse community.

Join us Friday March 12th through Sunday March 14th, 2021 for this free virtual conference.

This year we are pleased to welcome Jewelle Gomez – author of The Gilda Stories and Bones and Ash, as our Keynote Speaker and special guest throughout the conference.  Jewelle is a two-time Lambda Literary Award recipient with her writings appearing in hundreds of anthologies. She is a prolific play write and presented at the African American Fantastic Imagination, the first conference of black speculative fiction writers. She has also taught creative writing workshops and lectured at institutions around the U.S. including San Francisco State University, Bowdoin College, Cornell University, Spellman College, Bates College, and others. She was on the original board of GLAAD and the Astraea National Lesbian Foundation.

The conference this year will have writing workshops during the day on Friday prior to our Keynote address Friday night. The rest of the weekend will consist of panels and readings spread out over Saturday and Sunday.

Current Writing Workshops include:

• Combat Writing

• Book Justice: Criminal Justice for Authors

• The Writer’s Guide to Green Stuff: Plants, Herbs, and Wild Places That Make Sense

• Branding Sci-Fi

Panel Discussions include:

• Writing Queer Female Protagonists (#Ownvoices lead panel)

• Magic and Folklore

• Writing for Bisexual and Pansexual Characters (#Ownvoices lead panel)

• Aging in Queer Spec Fic

• Dis/Abilities: Disabled, Chronically Ill, and Neurodiversity in Queer Fiction (#Ownvoices lead panel)

• Queer Role-Playing Games

• Fandom and Fanfiction

• Covers so White

• Intersectional Identity (#Ownvoices lead panel)

• Query Letters and Getting an Agent

• Humor and Cynicism

• The Queering of Modern Pop Culture in Recent Years

This year we are raising money for Lambda Literary, Glad Day Lit, Trans Media Watch, Shade Literary Group, and BLF Press. Donate to one of these groups and come and join us March 12th – March 14th, 2021. To register and learn more about this exciting event please go to our website here for more information.

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