Mosaics is Live!

The print paperback (trade paperback size) for the Mosaics Anthology is live now! We worked really hard to get the formatting all perfect by Monday because we had understood that we must have it submitted to the printer by the 1st or it wouldn't be ready by our target March 8 date.

And we did such a good job, the printer cleared it already!! So even though the Kindle pre-orders aren't ready yet, the paperback is! Yay!!

We already have our first review. Author Shebat Legion called it "Disturbingly Inspirational." Which I"ll totally take. 

I'm thrilled. Seriously. 

Go grab a print copy here. 

And you can see the book trailer here:

Racism & Privilege and the "Drive By" Racist Meangirl

In crafting the intersectional feminist anthology that I'm working on, my writing partners & I are committed to finding writers from communities not always well represented in indie publishing, or anthologies, or just about any literary scene. So we wrote a call for submissions that stated exactly what we were hoping for, being specific about welcoming womanist and racially intersectional feminism in addition to GLBT and disabled stories.

A lot has happened during the process, including getting somewhere near 500+ submissions from all over the world. The anthology we're putting out (anthologies, actually, since we committed to doing two after I saw how many we had gotten) is amazing. Potentially award winning. And I say that not as a result of my writing but as a result of the response we got.

But what also happened was that yesterday, a now former Facebook friend decided to attack me. It was kind of out of the blue, and surprised me because said former friend would likely, if you asked her, consider herself pretty progressive. Certainly not a racist.

But she said my acknowledgement of my own personal privilege (because of which I can afford to front the money on an indie publishing venture and pay the writers with actual cash, not "exposure," which we all know is BS) was me being desperate to "hang out at the rap kids table." That I was trying too hard. That if I wanted to really help "them" I should donate money or something (to a nebulous "them" and not the people I actually do help in several ways every single day.)

I won't write a long bit about how I grew up really underprivileged, how I score every time on that "how privileged are you" quiz that goes around in a range you wouldn't believe. With a single mom, a deadbeat dad, and times being homeless, I get to check a lot of boxes. But I've grown up, and through my husband & my business ventures, done pretty well. And so I've reached a place where I can, as Kevin Spacey said, send the elevator back down.

I also spent more than 10 years studying women's & minority literature and social culture in college, received a PhD and read countless hours of theory on race and privilege in our society. Including the Marxism from which my former friend was throwing darts at me. In that study, I hoped to teach at a college level and help expose students to amazing literature and history that they might not have heard. I am not teaching at college, but I'm still trying to use those studies, and that's where all of my experience, training, and love of writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison have sent me.

The racism implicit in the former friend's assumption that people of color equate to "kids at the rap table" and that I was trying to fit in with my coolness by talking about things better left to them... it just blew me away. It is not just people of color who should be addressing the race problems in this country. We ALL need to be talking about it. All the time. Because people are dying on the street and in jail cells. Indigenous women are disappearing at an alarming rate and people don't talk about it. Trans women and men are murdered and there has been a defense used of "I was worried because they were trans" that has been considered a fair defense!

It's not just the communities who are being oppressed who should do this work. And to imply that I am just trying to be cooler by doing so, or that I'm somehow desperate for attention.... I've thought about it all day and night, how to respond to that. I want people to know this: it's not okay to write a check to some "them" organization and get your feel goods because you're doing some kind of "social justice" by sending an occasional tax deduction towards charity. Stop turning it into an us and "Them." Because when YOU, yes you, nameless former friend, do that, you're continuing the hatred and vile rhetoric that let people like some of our current presidential candidates thrive.

So yes. I will continue the work I'm doing. It's not just being aware of a somewhat troubling trend on Facebook to only show me white "suggested friends" and all that the realization implies about how algorithms are set up for how we are "similar." Social networking might not be changing the world (although I would argue with that, a lot, but just not here). But doing things like sponsoring a charity that is out to end Violence Against Women world wide? And PAYING writers for their work? Writers who don't have a ton of venues already directed at them? All of that is social justice.

And I would rather sit at that table than with the Mean Girls every. single. day. 

2015 in review

I was busy the last couple of weeks & didn't post on my "book birthday" (Dec 24) that Mariposa has been published now for a year. That was the official start, last year, of my 2015.

We felt out of it last year on New Year's Eve and went home early to watch the Brad Pitt movie Fury. While the neighbors blasted fireworks, we watched a movie with all kinds of explosions. It was a bit odd, to be honest. That's been another sort of theme of this year-- not fury, but feeling a little out of touch, socially. Not on purpose or for any reason other than just-- well, our couch is comfy. Our TV set up a little too awesome. Luckily, my kids & my spouse & I all like hanging out with each other, and we have two snuggly cats who prefer us to stay home, too. If I am making a resolution, one of them is to be better about doing things out of the house. Meeting up with old friends over the holidays reminded me that I do love being social. I just have to do it my way....

The early part of last year found me writing Hoodoopocalypse. It was the fastest I've ever written a novel, and I enjoyed it very much. The group of writers who "felt weird" was having a blast, and I would easily crank out 1,000 or more words a day. I thought that was the way you did it now after having written your first novel-- you just could flow that easily. After that one was done, I found that it's not as easy every single time. I'm doing my best to keep up a reasonable pace, but two novels circulating in the space of a year still "a'int bad."

One of the best things this year has been meeting a lot of new imagina-- online friends. As part of my drive to get to know more writers, I followed a few of my favorites online. Then I met more. Now I have some new, dear friends and a few loyal fans who keep me on my toes and remind me that I should be writing. Yes, yes. I know.

Upcoming in 2016: I have two job prospects, and I dearly hope I get one of them. If I don't, I'll survive, but it would be very nice to be back in the classroom again. I miss it-- I miss students, even on their "do I really have to write a paper" days. The next few weeks will be big as far as that goes, or they will fizzle out if I don't get a nibble on one of the two for interviews. Antici-

--pation is the word, then.

We're prepping our house for the move back to San Antonio, and will miss the friends we have here, but are looking forward to purging all the build up of the last 10 years. Getting rid of the toys the kiddos never play with. Me getting rid of something, I'm sure, that I never bother with, too. I'm going to try the Japanese method of "tidying up." Purge purge purge.

I'm also in the process of reading stories, poems, etc, for the Indie Women Anthology that my friend Pavarti & I are putting together. We have gotten a lot of great submissions already, and we still have a whole month 'til the last date of the submission period. It's a project close to my heart in that we're donating the proceeds to the Pixel Project to End Violence Against Women. I've already seen an amazing community forming around the Facebook group for it, and I'm so psyched at the potential to really fill a niche that seems to be there. Women's writing that provides a market and a place for people to actually make something happen for charity. Social activism through social networking, FTW!

The year ahead: big change. Good things, I hope. Starting tonight when we're going to a friend's house for our last "Redneck New Year's" which will entail a LOT of fireworks, black eyed peas, and socializing.

2016: Let's Do This Thing! 

Book Blab Today: Slipstream!

A few writers & I are doing a new thing where we are talking about different types of writing, the challenge of indie publishing, etc. It's on a new platform Twitter is creating called Blab. If you have a Twitter account already, it's easy to sign in and watch us. It's not so much about sales or promotion, but the nitty gritty of the craft-- it's writing talk, mostly.

Today's chat will be about defining "Slipstream" fiction, persistence in spite of or because of negatives in publishing, and anything else we can come up with. It's pretty fun, and if you come during the live stream, you can chat with us, too, ask questions, etc. Come hang out if you have an hour free today! Come check it out!

Our "old" blabs are here on  YouTube where you can see what we've talked about before, if you're interested in that, too. 

Oh, and just for fun, here's last week's blab:

Come Play With Us!! 

Kosa Press Interview with Yours Truly

Pavarti Tyler is a force of nature. She just about always has about forty oars in the water, and is a bundle of energy and fun. When she asked me to be interviewed in the Kosa Press series on Women in Sci-Fi, I was like "HECK YEAH."

Then I got the questions, and they were awesome. Sometimes the typical "blog interview" can get kind of the same, and even when both interviewer & interviewee are trying their hardest, it's just bleh. But I loved the rapport and the funny vibe we managed to pull off. It all started with Pavarti imagining that I have my very own Gimp in the basement to take out my frustrations on-- and I told her nah, he's in the kitchen doing dishes.

Seriously. Go check this interview out and laugh with me, then think about why we HAVEN'T had 9 women on the Supreme Court yet and let's DO THIS!!

#UnCommonBodies Trailer and Book Party

Celebrate the release of this collection of 20 beautifully irreverent stories which blend the surreal and the mundane. Together, the authors explore the lives of the odd, the unbelievable, and the impossible. Imagine a world where magic exists, where the physical form has the power to heal or repulse, where a deal with the devil means losing so much more than your soul.

Featuring Authors: Philip Harris, Sessha Batto, Robb Grindstaff , Brent Meske, Sally Basmajian, Robert Pope, Keira Michelle Telford, Jordanne Fuller, Michael Harris Cohen, Deanne Charlton, P.K. Tyler, Bey Deckard, Vasil Tuchkov, Laxmi Hariharan, Samantha Warren, Rebecca Poole, Daniel Arthur Smith, S.M. Johnson, Kim Wells, Christopher Godsoe, and Bob Williams.

I can't believe I haven't shared this here!! Where has my brain been? Here's the book trailer promo video for the #UnCommonBodies anthology, which you can actually pre-order now!!

I did a couple of other promos for some of the individual stories. Mine is first, for my UndeadGirl story. I love this one so much.

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Then there's the promo for a story by author Jordanne Fuller, which looks amazing, and I can't wait to read. 

I've offered to do promos for all the stories, so there may be more eventually. These are so much fun to do. I told them in a way, doing a promo video is just my form of relaxing, the way people knit while they're watching TV.

Here. I made you a sweater. I mean, a video. 

The launch party is shaping up, too.

Go RSVP to it here on Facebook.

There will be some amaaaaaazing prizes, as well as cool hanging out with friends.

Pinteresty #UnCommonBodies Goodness!

This is so much fun! The other authors from #UnCommonBodies and I have all designed images from our stories. And my friend Daniel made a Pinterest board for us. It looks so neat to see the different ideas represented all in one place like this. It's a very quirky anthology, and it's gonna be really fun.

Step right up to the modern freakshow — We have mermaids, monsters, and more. You won’t be disappointed, but you may not get out alive.

#UnCommon Bodies presents a collection of 21 beautifully irreverent stories which blend the surreal and the mundane. Together, the authors explore the lives of the odd, the unbelievable, and the impossible. Imagine a world where magic exists, where the physical form has the power to heal or repulse, where a deal with the devil means losing so much more than your soul.

#UnCommon Bodies Includes

Phantom Pain by Philip Harris
The Zealot by Chris Godsoe
Undead Cyborg Girl by Kim Wells
Made for This by Sessha Batto
Rudy and Deidre by Robb Grindstaff
Skin by Brent Meske
The Well-Rounded Head by Sally Basmajian
Mermaids by Robert Pope
All the Devils by Keira Michelle Telford
Scars: The First Session by Jordanne Fuller
We is We by Michael Harris Cohen
Poetry by Deanne Charlton
Reserved by SM Johnson
Ruby by Bob Williams
Daedalus’ Daughter by PK Tyler
Don’t Touch Me by Bey Deckard
In Her Image by Vasil Tuchkov
UnTamed by Laxmi Hariharan
From the Inside by Daniel Arthur Smith
Saltwater Assassin by Samantha Warren
Unbreakable Heart by Rebecca Poole

Check out the full sized versions of the promo images here.

UnCommon Bodies

I'm going to be in a most amazing anthology. It's called #UnCommon Bodies, and it's due out November 24th. Seriously: I have talked with the other authors in this anthology, and Pavarti, who is the curator, is one amazing editor/beta reader/story picker. (Her story in the anthology is also really cool). Check out this cover!! And go follow more info on the GoodReads page here. Someone said it was like Meghan Trainor met Clive Barker. I love the eye in the eggshell. It looks nicely poached.

My story is going to be the Undead Cyborg Girl story I've already talked about a little bit. The plot synopsis is here:

When she wakes up undead after receiving a cyborg assassin upgrade surgical procedure, Undead Girl's life is forever changed. Is it for the better? She has all the skills, but she needs a job, she needs some friends, and she needs to remember who she is. Part 1 of the Cyborg Story trilogy.

It's  part one of the trilogy, and I want to release parts 2 & 3 when the anthology comes out. I need to get rocking on it. Part 2 is about 2/3 done, but Part 3 is still all in my head. Let me say this about it: it's an unusual story about Cyborgs. And the Undead. There's a little bit of romance, a lot of supernatural characters, more cyborgs than you can shake a stick at. And lots of great coffee.

Someone shared this picture, below, to our group about the stories. And I think it's apt, and a great summary of what we're going to be sharing with y'all. The other authors are slap damn bangerific, and I seriously can't even wait til this book is out.

Oh, and ARCs will be available to people who promise a fair review, so if you're interested in getting an ARC for that purpose, go follow me on Facebook and see when that gets announced.