Reading Today!

I'll be reading with Strong Women-Strange Worlds today, June 17th at 5pm. Not only will I be reading a slice of horror, you can also hear some great stuff from Elaine Isaak, C.S.E. Cooney, Ingrid Kallick, Elle Ire, and MB Austin. The emcee will be Sarah Smith. If you haven't already, please register for the event (which, yes, is free) here!

Also, the 43rd issue of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is now available for purchase. The last story, "King Moon’s Tithe to Hell," is mine. If you get your paws on it, please enjoy!

Strong Women · Strange Worlds June 17th Reading!

For the first time, I'll be reading with Strong Women-Strange Worlds! I'm doing a Third Thursday Quick Reads event on Thursday, June 17, at 5:00pm EST. So I recommend a cocktail or pleasant beverage! 

You can now register for the event here!

Looking at the current line-up, which is subject to change, I'll be reading alongside Elaine Isaak and C.S.E. Cooney (both of whom I have prior reading experience and are lovely people to boot) as well as Ingrid Kallick, Elle Ire, and MB Austin. The emcee will be the eminent Sarah Smith!

Their next reading is this Friday at noon and features Barbara Ann Wright, Gloria Oliver, Sarah Jean Horwitz (who I met at a convention a while back), Patricia Correll, Jane C. Esther, and Carol Berg. Please join them if you can.

Updates to register for the event will be available here. You can also sign up for their mailing list to receive information about upcoming events.

LCRW #43 Rides to Hell and Back

I have a story in the upcoming 43rd issue of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, "King Moon’s Tithe to Hell"! I'm so excited (and nervous) to share it with you all. It's a story about fairyland, love, and hell. 

You can order your very own copy here. Take a gander at the super stars in the table of contents. This includes the very talented and cool Leah Bobet, for whom I read slush many moons ago when she was editor and publisher of Ideomancer Speculative Fiction. 

I'm vaccinated and healthy and fizzy and funny and fine. In New England, 70% of adults have received their first shot, the weather is sunny without being too hot, and it's my birthday month. Everything feels new and blooming.

Hourly Comics 2021!

Hourly Comic Day is every year on February 1st! They're a wonderful time capsule, I find. Here are the ones I did 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, the last year I did it. Now, to chronicle this day in 2020 2021!

One more thing. If it's in my head, it's now in yours:

Boskone: February 12-14, 2021

Arisia may be over for the year, but Boskone is now on the horizon! I'm on panels for it as well:

 

Creating Across Media

12 Feb 2021, Friday 17:00 - 18:00, Carlton - (Mtg Room) (Virtual Westin)

Versatility is an author's greatest tool in today's publishing market. Whether it's books, blogging, comics, drama, film, gaming, graphic novels, non-fiction, short fiction, social media, or TV there is a story to be told. When switching from one to the other, what do you need to keep in mind? What are some of the key tips and tricks to creating compelling content no matter which medium you are writing in at the moment?

Christopher Golden, Walter Jon Williams (Word Domination), Scott Edelman (M), Gillian Daniels, Mur Lafferty

Female Character Evolution in Speculative Fiction

13 Feb 2021, Saturday 13:00 - 14:00, Burroughs (Webinar) (Virtual Westin)

Is there more to life than virgin-mother-crone? Let's look at how physical and psychological change in women is portrayed in fiction today. We've talked about how the representation of women in fiction has changed, but we'll talk here about how a woman actual changes through time and experience within today's works. How does SF/F/H approach the physical changes, from childhood to womanhood or the later changes in life? How do print and screen differ in this regard? 

Nancy Holder, Gillian Daniels (M), Maura McHugh, Connie Willis, Tamora Pierce (Tamora Pierce LLC)

 

Horror Comics: The Art of Graphic Terror

14 Feb 2021, Sunday 11:30 - 12:30, Burroughs (Webinar) (Virtual Westin)

From comics to graphic novels, these artists and authors don't pull their punches. Instead they excel at steadily building the narrative dread through a combination of disconcerting story elements that happen both in the panel and off the page as they push old tropes into unknown territory. From body horror to creepypasta, zombies, noirish superheroes, organ farmers, demonic ice cream men, and fairies dwelling inside the rotting corpse of, well, never mind, why do we read them? Is it the sheer inventive fun of titles like Afterlife With Archie; Killadelphia; Die; Crawl to Me; or Gyo: The Death-Stench Creeps? Maybe it’s the sequential-storytelling skills of writers like Joe Hill, Cullen Bunn, Gail Simone, Victor Lavalle, or Carmen Maria Machado? Or maybe there’s just something wrong with us?

Jack Haringa (Worcester Academy), Cat Scully, Maura McHugh, Gillian Daniels (M), Joe Hill

 

The Representation of LGBTQ+ in Popular Culture

14 Feb 2021, Sunday 14:30 - 15:30, Carlton - (Mtg Room) (Virtual Westin)

LGBTQ+ characters are no longer invisible on the screen. While there has been an obvious shift in popular culture, we still have a long way to go in the fight for appropriate representation in film, television, and fiction. The surge in LGBTQ+ representation has brought with it a surge of creators exploiting our desire to see a more realistic representation of diverse stories, often writing characters who are either caricatures or characters in relationships without being fleshed out appropriately. We'll discuss good and bad examples of LGBTQ+ characters. How do they help or hurt popular conception, including self perception, of gays and lesbians?

Jennifer Williams (Circlet Press), Sara Megibow (KT Literary), Gillian Daniels, Julia Rios (Mermaids Monthly) (M)

 

Arisia 2021: Online! Because of a Plague!

Guess what's next weekend? Arisia 2021! And I'm on programming! Which you can see from the vantage point of Zoom!

Here's my schedule:

 

Hold Your Enthusiasm: Problematic Things - Communities, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 5:30pm Friday

In recent years, J.K. Rowling made clear her transphobia. This year, The Flash fired its Ralph Dibney, actor Hartley Sawyer, after several racist, mysoginist, and homophobic tweets resurfaced. Knowing that these people and many others have said and will continue to say incredibly problematic and harmful things, can we continue to enjoy their work? Or is everything they’ve ever done cancelled? If we do continue to enjoy these works, how can we do so in a way that doesn’t harm others?

Arthur Chu (m), Reuben Baron, Rob Cameron, Gillian Daniels, Lee C. Hillman (Gwendolyn Grace)

Writing in the Age of COVID - Writing, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 7:00pm Friday

Speculative fiction writers have imagined all manner of plagues, pandemics, and post-apocalyptic scenarios. Having lived with COVID-19 for the better part of a year, how did speculative fiction writers do? What did they get right and what did they get wrong? This panel will discuss how writers can draw from this collective disaster to make plague fiction more relevant or realistic in the future.

Laurence Raphael Brothers (m), Gillian Daniels, Julie C. Day, Suzanne Palmer, Ken Schneyer

The Octavia Butler future is now - Literature, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 4:00pm Saturday
In her Earthseed series, Octavia Butler gave us a vision of the 2020s that is disturbingly close to our reality, including storms, and droughts brought on by climate change; escapism through addictive pharmaceuticals and games, and perhaps most chillingly a far-right US President backed by extremist evangelical Christians. This panel will review the highlights of these books and discuss the influences on Butler’s writing as well as the influence these novels have had since their publication.
Gillian Daniels (m), Bunnificent, Rob Cameron, Andrea Hairston, Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert, Sam Schreiber 

 
Go Team Venture! (and close the door behind you) - Media, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 2, 11:30am Sunday
Growing quickly from its start as a spoof of 60s Hanna-Barbera action cartoons, The Venture Bros. built a full universe populated by complex characters with intertwined story arcs that kept us coming back for 7 seasons released over the span of 16 years. Many hearts broke when it was abruptly announced the show was not getting a season 8. Why did we love this show so much, how did it change over the long term, and what might have happened with The Monarch and Dr. Venture next?
Gillian Daniels (m), Lyndsay Ely, Eve Leonard, David G. Shaw, Hildy Silverman

Sunday Afternoon Readings 1 - Literature, Reading - 55min - Zoom Room 4, 4:00pm Sunday
Join some of Arisia’s wonderful authors, while they read from their own work.

Laurence Raphael Brothers, Gillian Daniels, Ruthanna Emrys, Sonya Taaffe