All Books Read at the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Jan 16, 2017 | Events | 1 comment

I ran the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading yesterday, and it was a total blast! Fourteen members of Broad Universe read from their works and gave away prizes. What is Broad Universe, you ask? In a nutshell, it’s a non-profit organization of science fiction and fantasy writers who identify as female, as well as male-identified people who support female writers. We work together to sell our books at conventions and book festivals, organize readings such as last night’s RFR, and share information and advice.

Several people came up last night and asked for a complete list of the books and readers at the RFR. So here it is, to the best of my knowledge. Broads who were there, please correct me if I’m wrong.

• Terri Bruce read from Dear Robot
• Larissa Glasser read from ???
• Randee Dawn read from ???
• Trisha J. Wooldridge read a poem from Wicked Witches
• Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert read from her novella-in-progress, “Fluff”
• LJ Cohen read from Dreadnought and Shuttle
• Deborah Kaminski read from Damian’s Workshop
• Roxanne Bland read from The Moreva of Astoreth
• Heather Albano read from Timepiece
• Elaine Isaak read from ???
• Anna Erishkigal read from ???
• Morven Westfield read from Wicked Witches
• Rebekah Anderson read from a manuscript in progress
• …and I read from A Witch’s Kitchen

Thanks to everyone who came to hear us read and to all my fellow Broads who tolerated my bumbling.

Resources for the How to Write Diverse Characters panel

Jan 12, 2017 | Events | 0 comments

For those of you attending Arisia this weekend who plan to attend the How to Write Diverse Characters panel (Sunday, 4PM, Douglas), this is a list of resources put together by our panelists:

Online Resources

• How Crose-Racial Scenes in Picture Books Build Acceptance
• Grace Lin’s TedX Talk
• Daniel Jose Older on Writing the Other
• SFWA: Transracial Writing for the Sincere
• Jim Hines on Writing the Other
• Tor.com: Non-binary pronouns
• Five Wrong-Headed Reasons for Not Writing Diverse Characters in Science Fiction
• What’s OK and Not OK to Ask a Trans Person
• Trans Girl Rage
• What’s the Deal with Trans Immigrants
• Trans Ethics
• The Carl Brandon Society
• The Dos and Don’ts of Writing About the Disabled
• Writing about Disability

Not directly related to writing, but still of interest: How Diversity Makes Us Smarter

Recommended Reading

• Writing the Other, Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward
• Invisible, ed. Jim C. Hines
• The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley
• Fading Scars: My Queer Disability History by Corbett Joan OToole

Our Favorite Books Demonstrating Diversity

• Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley (positive representation of disability)
• Anything by Topside Press, but particularly A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (positive trans representation)
• Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older (positive Hispanic and Afro-Caribbean representation)
• So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane (positive Hispanic representation)

An audience member noted that the upcoming Northeast Storytelling Conference is specifically about diversity.

And if you need to find someone to talk to about, well, anything, try Quora.com.

Rapid Fire Reading at Arisia, Sunday at 7pm

Jan 12, 2017 | Events | 0 comments

I put together a Rapid Fire Reading sign, in case you’d like a taste of what’s to come.

Arisia Schedule!

Jan 9, 2017 | Events | 0 comments

I’ll be at Arisia, the largest science fiction convention in Boston, Friday, January 13 through Monday, January 16. Here’s my schedule:

Fri 7pm – Geeky Parenting (moderator)
Sat 7pm – Latinx SFF
Sat 10pm – Pitch Mania! (moderator)
Sun 4pm – Writing Diverse Characters (moderator)
Sun 7pm – Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (moderator)
Mon 10am – What do you mean, 10 and up? (moderator)

If it looks like I’m moderating a lot of stuff, THAT’S BECAUSE I AM. And I’ve never moderated even one panel before, so this is freaking me out a teensy bit, so please come to my panels and lend me some moral support.