I’m findable at online readings, conventions, and open mics and available for more at the drop of a … microphone. I used to have a lovely, wordy page here with lots of photos and links to videos of my recent appearances. At this point, I’ve had just a few too many such appearances to make that type of page workable. Besides, we’re back to in-person for so many things. I need this to be simpler. So…here we go.
Upcoming events where you can meet my publisher, my books, or me. Keep connected via My So-Called Newsletter for details each month.
February The San Francisco Writers Conference, San Francisco, California. A pricey gathering of the literati and publishing honchos. Good choice if you can snag a free ticket or a speaking gig. I won a ticket in a drawing to their one-day Poetry Summit.
March Sac-Con, a comic-con in Sacramento, California. All I can tell ya is, there’s a great lot of books gonna be in the dealer’s room.
mid March My interview with Clara Ward drops on Small Publishing in a Big Universe.
April. Total eclipse of the sun happens across many places in the US. Catch the show, if you can, or follow on livestreams.
May FanimeCon, in San Jose, California: Best fan-run anime con. I can’t go this year, but you can!
First weekend in June The Bay Area Book Festival, in Berkeley, California. Paper Angel Press (and their imprint Water Dragon) will be there, as will Small Publishing in a Big Universe’s Marketplace, offering table space to indie authors in need of a spot at the festival.
Second weekend in June The Nebula Conference is back, in Anaheim, California: Nebula Conferece. A hybrid event for and by SFF writers. I hope to be part of the tech team again.
July BayCon is fourth of July weekend, in Santa Clara, California. C’mon down to the SF Bay Area’s own SFF convention.
August The World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Scotland: Also a hybrid event, so I hope to be in attendance
October Octocon, in Dublin, Ireland. Promises to be hybrid once more, so I hope to spend time with everyone via Twitch.
November LosCon happens in Los Angeles, California. It’s the SoCal regional SFF convention. I’m working on my friends to make it a regular part of our annual “tour des books”.
If you can’t make it to LosCon, FanExpo should be running again in San Francisco, California. Not a fan-run operation, but draws lots of fun cosplayers.
December There might be a Strong Women – Strange Worlds event.
With two books coming out last year, I was really in the thick of things. You might have caught me at one of our California Writers Club online open mics. Those aren’t recorded, but they’re a fun way to test out new material and practice readings.
January “The True Son” was released. This prequel short story for Shadows of Insurrection came out on Insurrection Day (January 6th) as a special edition in the Dragon Gems series. To celebrate, I inflicted readings upon my local open-mic pals.
March I guest-hosted Small Publishing in a Big Universe, for the “Based on a True Story” episode.
mid March Strong Women – Strange Worlds held a fabulous Birthday Bash, with games and readings and more. Our event, “Bluff the Audience,” resulted in a fun promo book to share.
March 29th: Shadows of Insurrection was released.
April Online launch party, for Shadows of Insurrection. Catch up with my reading.
May FanimeCon, in San Jose, California. I attended as a fan and engaged in my own way: I did a poetry reading in a crazy improv-style contest run by the karaoke crew, and they helped me get that piece (my “sweet” little poem about being totally done with having the Elves lording it over us all the time) into shape as a crowd-energizing manifesto. “Are you with me?” I called out … and the audience shouted “Yes!”
June The Nebula Conference was back in person, down in Los Angeles, but I couldn’t travel. So, I took part in online panels (some of them on the spur of the ‘Help! Our moderator’s had to cancel!’ moment) and also helped behind the virtual scenes. If you’re a member of the conference, you can catch up on my panels. They’re available to all registered members, and NO, you do not need to be a SFWA member to attend the conference, either in-person or online. With the added features of regular montly events online, joining the conference is well worth it for any SFF writer.
July BayCon in Santa Clara, California. I had a reading (excerpts from Shadows of Insurrection and The Smugglers) and a signing, moderated and served on panels, and performed as Marichka Natalyovna in the Talent Show. Alas, the person who planned to record my performance couldn’t come at the last minute.
July I conducted short interviews with several authors, and was interviewed by Marichka Natalyovna, for “Live From BayCon 2023 Part 1” and “Live From BayCon 2023 Part 2” episodes on Small Publishing in a Big Universe.
August Book 2 of The Unremembered King was released. We held an virtual launch party, and Water Dragon recorded the good bits for you!
early October Octocon, in Dublin, Ireland. I was only meant to serve on two panels,
mid October I hosted the episode “Speculations on Poetry” on Small Publishing in a Big Universe.
November My first LosCon, in Los Angeles, California. I served on seven panels:
Can you unplug from technology and survive?
Chat GPT, a new writing tool or a cheat?
3 Mistakes creative people make about protecting their IP
Finding your own voice in writing
50 Years of Doctor Who and still going strong, why?
Editing Secrets: How to polish your writing for the best effect
Is it to late to reverse climate change?
In my very limited time off, I squeezed in an open mic poetry reading with a dozen other poetry lovers: I performed “ALT Text and “Namárië” and shared Ansegwe’s poem that appears in Shadows of Insurrection.
December Strong Women – Strange Worlds held a holiday extravaganza celebration, and I appeared in several capacities:
It was a big year for podcasting!
February I was interviewed by Lisa Jacob for Small Publishing in a Big Universe.
mid March I took part in a Strong Women – Strange Worlds “Quick Reads” event. My own reading, from The Smugglers, has its own link.
June I was part of the “Technical Fiction” episonde on Small Publishing in a Big Universe.
July I was the author guest on Small Publishing in a Big Universe, discussing by Truck Stop stories, Coke Machine and The Smugglers.
August/September Chicon 8, the World Science Fiction Convention, in Chicago, Illinois. I attended in person, and appeared in three in-person panels and an online reading with fellow Truck Stop authors. Alas, to the extent these events were recorded, they’re not available online.
mid-September I was a featured guest on Small Publishing in a Big Universe’s “One-Year Anniversary” episode.
October Octocon, in Dublin, Ireland. I appeared in three panels, gave a reading, and ran a workshop.
Writing Through the Dark Times
Peace and Ways to Find It
Just One Beat: How Music and Anime Shape Each Other
Workshop: Manuscript Boot Camp
November FanExpo in San Francisco, California. With the help of friends and family, I ran a sales table in Artist Alley and moderated two panels on writing and publishing:
The Other 20% of Books: Why Indie and Self-Publishing Can Be Better
World Building and Storytelling
June “Coke Machine” won a major award at the CWC’s Literary Stage event hosted at the San Mateo County Fair, and we held an online reading. My first public appearance as Marichka Natalyovna appears just after the one-hour mark.
August I appeared on Strong Women – Strange Worlds’ QuickReads virtual readings program, with an excerpt from All That Was Asked. The very next month, SW-SW began recording and posting videos of their readings.
October Octocon, in Dublin, Ireland. I appeared in four panels:
Orbital Tidy Towns Committee (not published on YouTube)
late November I was invited back to Fae Productions’ YouTube channel in a Black Friday special with Fairy Princess Lolly, and performed a reading from Parrish Blue, then shared a recipe putatively from the main character of All That Was Asked. Jump to minute 54 in this video.
Early December I joined the virtual-side tech crew for DisCon III, the World Science Fiction Convention, which was the first WorldCon with a virtual side. Watch the Hugos here.
Early December I guest-hosted Small Publishing in a Big Universe, interviewing Lisa Jacob about her latest book, Carnival Farm.
Mid-December The Strong Women -Strange Worlds consortium held a holiday celebration event.
January My first book was released: just in time for lockdown! No appearances, alas. We hadn’t yet adapted to the changes.
October My first Octocon. Thanks to creative energy from the Octocon tech crew, a successful virtual event! I worked behind the scenes as a chat moderator and tech crew, and also hosted a Doctor Who fan get-together. Catch the flavor of the event here.
mid-November BayCon MiniCon #3. G. David Nordley and I discussed Who Is Going to Own Space?A recording was posted for a rewatching, but only for a limited time.
late November I was the featured author on Fae Productions’ Author Reads program, with Fairy Princess Lolly, and performed excerpts from All That Was Asked and an early version of a work in progress. Link to the video.
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