#broad universe

If you’re going to be at Balticon 57 this Memorial Day weekend, please stop by for the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading on May 27th! It’s happening at 5:30pm in room 7029 and includes Randee Dawn (moderator), Morgan Hazelwood, Roberta Rogow, D. H. Timpko, and myself. It’s my first RFR with Broad Universe so I’d love to have friendly faces there! I’ll be reading an excerpt from Cast a Shadow of…

Save the date … virtual reading this Saturday, March 20

This coming SATURDAY, March 20th, at 8 pm EDT, I’ll be reading alongside some wonderful writers in one of a few special virtual events! I plan to read from my short story “Immolation,” and will be doing a giveaway. More details coming soon! Save the date and get your snacks ready!  

I’ll be up in Cape Cod this week for some much needed quiet time.

The writing life can be crazy, because no matter what anyone tells you about your writing coming first, you can’t always make the time you need to sit down and get to it: there is the job (most writers have some kind of job in addition to just writing). There are family and social responsibilities, house cleaning, errands, and marketing/promoting your work. Then there’s anything else you want to do, like podcasting, projects, and volunteer positions.

Yeah, I know, a retreat sounds like a big vacation or a week-long drinking party. And, sometimes, it might have some time like that each day, especially after everyone’s been off in their corners working in the silence for eight to ten hours. But mostly? A good writing retreat is one that is productive…and it’s always important to find a place that’ll work for you.

When I arrive at a retreat, usually before I even unpack my stuff, I have a cocktail. Last year it was a martini. This is up on the third floor porch, which has a stunning view, especially at night–it’s like you can reach up and touch the stars.

Cape Cod is that place for me. Check out these photos from last year’s retreat…I shared a house with several other writers from Broad Universe (you can learn more about this fantastic networking organization here: https://broaduniverse.org/

This is the main living room on the second floor. It was where many of us did our writing due to the rainy, cold weather. We’re hoping for better weather this year.

This was my room. I didn’t have a roommate, which was great, since I could just throw all my crap on the other bed.

The view from my room.

The decorations in my room.

This is the back yard, and my view on the one nice day I could write outside. I was sitting on a patio off the ground floor.

This was a downstairs living space that was right outside my room. It was a nice quiet place to read.

The home has two bathrooms (as well as an outdoor shower set-up). My room was downstairs, so I used the one on the ground floor. Why a photo of a bathroom? Well, I don’t talk about it much, but I have a thing about bathrooms. I always photograph them no matter where I’m staying.

The home has a spiral staircase that goes from the ground floor to the second. Not a good idea if you’re tipsy, I can tell you that!

Many times at a writer’s retreat, stuff like this is considered an acceptable meal.

Who doesn’t love a bunny rabbit? This guy was out on the lawn.

The owners of the home had a nice stock pile of movies, and since the weather was crappy (again) and we couldn’t hang outside like we wanted to, we decided to pop in this old favorite! Not like we all don’t know every damn line, but it WAS fun to actively watch it. Most of the time when I put this movie in I just have it in to listen to as I’m doing something else.

We were so excited to figure out how the TV worked so we could pop in the movie we found.

A friend and I are about to take a couple of hours’ break.

A rare shot of me relaxed. But also, check out what the sea salt in the air does to my hair! I loved it so much I bought a pump bottle of sea salt spray. It works, but it’s not the same.

The house we rent is actually across the street from the beach. Here are the paths to get there.

The beach near our rented house. It’s my understanding that portions of this beach are reserved for the piping plover, a shore bird whose populations have suffered because of human activity on the beaches, and I did get to see some, which, as a novice birdwatcher, was a real thrill!

The weather, for most of the week, was crappy. On the first nice day, I took some time to play in the waves.

This is a moon snail. I’ve seen plenty at the aquarium, but they’re always small. This one was huge.

A live sand dollar in the palm of my hand! As an aquarium volunteer I’ve seen plenty, but boy was it super-cool to see them in the wild. They were everywhere.

It’s also important to take a little downtime to enjoy your environment. On the first nice day we got, we hit the beach and made a few discoveries.

Kingston 691 by Donna McDonald

Cyborgs – Mankind Redefined #2

Cyborgs…who knew they could be so sexy?

I was fully able to enjoy the story of King and Seetha without having read the first book in the series. The series takes place at some point in the future when artificial intelligence, robots, cyborgs and such are commonplace and easily accessible if rather expensive. King has been released from the program he was conscripted into, has a restaurant and has files on the four women he was previously a cyber-husband to…except…Seetha. His search for her leads to a rescue and stirrings of feelings he cannot understand. With time will Seetha and King develop true feelings for one another? Will they find out who the bad guys are and what is really intended for the cyborgs supposedly being allowed their freedom? There are more cyborgs that need to have their stories told and I look forward to reading their stories as they are published!

Thank you to NetGalley and Broad Universe for the copy of this book to read and review.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24365189-kingston-691

Broad Universe’s Full Moon Blog Hop #fullmoonbloghop

  Welcome to Broad Universe’s Full Moon blog hop. We’re excited to introduce you to thirty amazing science fiction and fantasy authors who have given their take on the impact of the full moon. Go and read some fun posts and get your entry in for one of the three wonderful prize packages. Many authors will have their own giveaways, too. Prizes are: The grand prize is a $75 gift voucher on your…

I am heading off to Pi-con today!!! So so excited to be hitting the con circuit again with the babes of Broad Universe. I’m not sure what my internet or free time will be like (there are panels going at 9?? and no times for vending on the schedule??) but I have a really nice queue set up while I’m away.

Stop by at the Broad Universe table if you’re attending! I will be there vending a small amount of items from Patched & Smacked, and chatting about weird things and women in literature/female authors/babes who work with words (like me!).

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend <3

A 30 minute interview with Nisi Shawl on her friend, Octavia E. Butler.

"Welcome to the first edition of the newly imagined Broadly Speaking! This episode’s subject is the late author, Octavia E. Butler.

From 8Pi-Con and more to come

Our day started slow with getting registration and badges.  I was on one panel that that talked about How to Be A Good Panelist.  I met the Women of Broad Universe.  They have set up their room like a store and my books are there for sale.   I also met up with some other friends from other conventions here.

When you’re on some many panels and events like I am,  I you have to pay attention to…