Events

Join me for the Hayward Lit Hop!

Hi Friends! Tomorrow is Hayward Lit Hop 2023! https://haywardlithop.com/

I’ll be hosting two groups of readers for this event:

Women Who Submit: Bay Area Chapter at The Dirty Bird Lounge at 5:00pm with readers Dera R Jones Williams, Karma Bennett, and Joyce E. Young

– East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at The Bistro at 6:00pm with readers Vanessa MacLaren-Wray, Author, Sibyl Saint, Caitlin Dwyer, and Sophie Green


Hayward Lit Hop occurs Saturday, April 22nd from 2-8pm on Earth Day and National Poetry Month. Conceived and organized by volunteer community members, Hayward Lit Hop is free for all ages. The Hayward Lit Hop celebrates our active and dedicated literary scene.

The event begins at 2 pm at Heritage Plaza Park, across the street from the Downtown Hayward Public Library, with a welcome from Hayward local civic and literary leaders and a musical performance from the East Bay Symphonic Band. At 3pm, Hayward-area Poet Laureates’ read with East Bay teens. As it’s Earth Day, the reading will have a nature and ecology theme. Local environmental organizations will set up tables in the Plaza to promote their work, as well.

From 4-7 pm, we’ll hop to different venues up and down and near B Street to with spoken word performances including the AfroSurreal Writers Association, students from Chabot College, a bilingual Spanish/English reading, the Queer Writers, local Horror Writers’ and Mystery Writers’ Association chapters, the Peer Writers’ Group, Women Who Submit Lit, the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, the California Writers’ Club, and students from CSUEB and Hayward Unified School District K-12 students.

Readings will occur at local venues including Aranea’s Craft Studio, the Sun Gallery, the Odd Fellows Lodge, The Bistro, Dirty Bird Lounge, the Pizza House, The World Famous Turf Club, Yoga Sociale. Hayward Lit Hop concludes with an afterparty at the Sun Gallery where there will be music, food and drinks. The gallery features a climate art exhibit.

This event showcases local businesses, celebrates Hayward’s diverse cultural scene, and allows people to meet their neighbors and hear and see each other’s talents. We’re here to help people with an interest in writing or art find local groups to support and foster their talents.

A detailed schedule will be posted at https://haywardlithop.com/.
Hope to see you there! I’m looking forward to hanging out in our fun downtown all day long.

Join me in Brooklyn for the Rooftop Reading Series on April 18!

I am super excited to be reading at Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room in Brooklyn on April 18 at 7pm! The Rooftop Readings series — currently indoors and not on a rooftop due to, you know, THE COLD — is organized by the super awesome debut novelist and super-talented entertainment journalist Randee Dawn. This reading will also feature Nadia Uddin, Richie Narvaez, and Katharine Duckett!
Barrow’s is at 86th 34th Street, Brooklyn, NY (D train to 36th Avenue, then about a 5 minute walk). You DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE A TICKET to attend, but if you’d like a drink while you’re listening, please make sure to snap one up for $10 at Eventbrite. Which honestly? A cocktail in Brooklyn for $10? What a deal! Nevermind the entertainment! Purchase a ticket here: https://buff.ly/3G9ZVEZ and learn more about the Rooftop Reading Series here: https://buff.ly/3Mq63wT

Yes, this is basically my springtime promo blog tour for Wings Unfurled, and I cannot wait to share this sequel with East Coast epic fantasy fans! SF in SF went great, and now NYC will get its own taste of this book. And I’ll get to taste Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liquor, and honestly, I’m probably just as excited for that.

I’m looking forward to raising a glass with you, Brooklynites!

Catch me at FOGcon 2020!

Starting Friday, I’ll be attending FOGcon (website) in Walnut Creek, which is a local convention for speculative fiction writers and enthusiasts. It runs March 6-8 this year, and yes, it is still on despite the coronavirus threat. As I am not in a high-risk population, I plan to attend.

fogcon, 2020, walnut creek, rebecca goemz farrell
You can buy a membership for a full day’s events at FOGcon whether you come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or all of the above. It’s a small con, but that’s part of the reason why I enjoy going so much–there’s so much opportunity to check in with other writers and fans that live locally.

These are the panels and readings I’ll be appearing at:

-Food in Genre Fiction, panelist, Fri, 3:00–4:15 pm. Inspired by Mary Anne Mohanraj’s latest publication being a cookbook, let’s think about food and its place in genre fiction! In stories where a stranger visits a new culture, we often hear about their food choices (Becky Chambers’s “Record of a Spaceborn Few” comes to mind). Food can be a marker of similarity or difference between people, and ultimately, it is a necessity. When our worlds change, what happens to the food in them?

-Choosing Your Own Adventures, panelist, Sat, 10:30–11:45 am. For many of us, the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books were an early exposure to speculative fiction — and we remember them with fondness. They are also experiencing a pop-culture resurgence. Panelists will discuss some of their favorite examples, what is different about the books (both the experience of writing and reading them), and their influence on the wider culture.

-People Aren’t Food: Cliches in Description, panelist, Sun, 10:30–11:45 am. Her heart-shaped face. His chiseled jaw. He’s ruggedly handsome. Her rose-colored complexion. The women are stunningly beautiful or haggardly ugly. Her cinnamon visage, his coffee-colored arms. He stared stonily. Women sob. Men weep. What are better ways to describe actual people and what they do, without falling into gendered and racialized tropes?

-Reading #10, Sun, 1:30–2:45 pm, reading with Elwin Cotwin, Jr., and Andrea Stewart. During this event, I’ll giving away a copy of Wings Unseen, and Andrea will also have a few books for audience members to hopefully win! Enticements for coming to the last reading of a convention are always appreciated.

fogcon 2020, reading, rebecca gomez farrell, elwin cotman

And you can often find me hanging out in the lobby bar. Come say hi! Wings Unseen will be available in the vendor’s room (or ask me if they run out!).

Where to Find Me at Worldcon

I’m leaving in just a few hours to join my writer and fan compatriots at Worldcon 77! Also known as Worldcon Dublin. Also known as Worldcon 2019. We like options. 😉

dublin worldcon, worldcon, worldcon 77, worldcon 2019

I will be busy while attending Worldcon, and not just sightseeing! I’m a program participant this year, for the first time ever. I’ll have four panels, one reading, one autograph session, and one kaffeklatsch. Here’s a graphic summarizing my schedule at a quick glance.

dublin worldcon, worldcon, worldcon 77, worldcon 2019, rebecca gomez farrell

And here’s a more detailed list, should you be attending and want to join me for any of them! I’ll, of course, be conquering my Dublin Foodie Hit List in my off-time. But I’ll also be at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America table Saturday morning, at the Hugos, and variously wandering the halls of the Dublin Convention Centre. Don’t hesitate to say hi!

Rebecca Gomez Farrell’s Worldcon 77 Official Schedule:

Thursday, 15 August

-VR and AR: the future of gaming or a fad?

Panelist, 12:00 – 12:50, Wicklow Room-1

In 2015 the gaming industry was abuzz with the potential of both virtual and augmented reality. However, the expected explosive growth of these technologies did not happen. This panel will discuss the potential of these exciting technologies and whether or not they will ever achieve the potential people believed they would have a few short years ago.

-Found in translation: SFF translated works

Moderator, 15:00 – 15:50, Wicklow Room-4

English is the current lingua franca, making it easy to forget that a lot of genre fiction is translated from other languages. Who are the best authors of translated SFF? Are particular languages more likely to be translated than others? The panel will discuss the status of translated works in the wider context of SFF and which non-English books we should be reading.

Friday, 16 August

-Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Reader, 17:00 – 17:50, Liffey Room-3

Broad Universe is an international organization for women and female-identifying authors of science fiction, fantasy and horror, working together to promote women’s works in the genres! Our signature event, the Rapid Fire Reading, gives each author a few minutes to read from their work. It’s like a living anthology of women writers.

broad universe, rapid fire reading, worldcon

Saturday, 17 August

-Kaffeeklatsch: Rebecca Gomez Farrell

Author, 13:00 – 13:50, Level 3 Foyer

A Kaffeeklatsch is a unique opportunity at some conventions to meet up with a writer in a casual setting–in this case, right by one of Worldcon’s onsite cafes–and spend time shooting the breeze on whatever topic floats everyone’s boats. The cutoff is usually around 10 or so people–I’m not sure what it’ll be for Dublin, but I doubt it’ll get too high. And I’ll be thrilled if anyone comes!

Sign up for my kaffeeklatsch at the Infodesk if you want to talk about my writing, about our shared love of good food and drink, about the writing business from a small press author’s perspective, about favorite SF/F shows and movies and books this year, or about…cats! I’m planning to give away at least one book during this session as well.

-Window to the soul: a character’s favourite song

Moderator, 14:00 – 14:50, Wicklow Room-4

Creators often use a character’s musical choices to show us their inner thoughts and hidden motivations: in Guardians of the Galaxy the music Peter plays is a link to his lost mother, in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Miles’s favourite song places him as a member of Generation Z, and Alex’s callous rendition of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in A Clockwork Orange has gone down in infamy. Join our panellists for a walk through our favourite characters’ musical memories.

Sunday, 18 August

-Internet, Censorship, Control, and Influence

Moderator, 13:00 – 13:50, Wicklow Room-1

Innovations on the Internet transformed the ability to have global conversations about politics but also heightened capacities for censorship & control. Have these affected the Internet’s original doctrine? Do they provide greater transparency or muddy the water? We’ll discuss the evolution of the idea behind censorship and control as applied to the Internet in terms of law and modern society.

-Group Autograph Session

Signing, 15:00 – 15:50, Level 4 Foyer

The authors signing for this session include myself, Pat Cadigan, Derwin Mak, RJ Barker, Kathryn Sullivan, and Jim Doty, PhD.

And that’s if for my official schedule! And it’s enough, let me tell you. 😉 But I think I’ll actually feel prepared by the time I step on that plane…soon, very soon.

My Dublin Foodie Hit List

Starting 8/14, I’ll be in Dublin, Ireland, for Worldcon 77, or Worldcon 2019, if you prefer. Whatever number you affix, Worldcon is the annual meeting of the World Science Fiction Convention, the longest running fan convention in, well, the world. This year, I am a program participant, meaning I will be very, very busy moderating and being on panels, signing books, et cetera, and so on. I will post that schedule soon. But when my presence is not required at Worldcon itself, you can bet I will be checking out every foodie wonder in Dublin that I can get to–and not just the hotel bar.

My hit list:

1. The Guinness Storehouse: This is where the famed stout is made! I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I can’t be in Dublin without checking this world wonder out.

2. Caramelized Brown Bread Ice Cream at Murphy’s: There are many other flavors at this Dublin ice cream hot spot, such as apple balsamic and Irish cream. But I have to try that classic Irish bread in ice cream form – it is my destiny.

3. Cockles and Mussels at the Winding Stair: The iconic cockles and mussels that old Molly Malone sang about are a must for my list, yet many of the Irish restaurants renowned for them have only mussels on the menu. Not at the Winding Stair! This Dublin landmark is also renowned for being a popular meeting place for creative types throughout its years as a bookshop and cafe. Now it’s a bookshop and restaurant instead, but it looks just as happening! Reservations will likely be made.

4. Dublin coddle, Gurr cake, and other traditional Irish baked goods at the Bakehouse: This eatery in downtown Dublin serves up the most highly respected versions of Irish classics – you can bet I’ll pick up some soda bread, too, when I stop by the counter. Or maybe dine in at lunch for eggs & soldiers or a pottage?

5. Whiskey tastings at the Dingle Whiskey Bar: Located in downtown Dublin, this bar is made of reclaimed wood from whiskey barrels…and looks like you’re inside one too! Offers flights or a five-page-long list of whiskeys and cocktails.May make a reservation depending on interest.

I already have high tea plans at the Shelbourne Hotel on the books, so I think that’s enough of a hit list for a seven-day trip…though there are plenty of other options tempting me, like cocktails at Delahunt and dinner at the Vintage Kitchen. Care to join me for any of them? Let me know! But be forewarned–per my Worldcon schedule, I’ll mostly be available in the evenings.

Join me on 4/14 for a Litquake panel on Debut Authors!

I am thrilled to be sharing my experience as a debut author with the Litquake and greater Bay Area literary community at this panel. It takes place on Sunday, 4/14, at 2:15 pm, at Z Space in the Mission.

“Debut Authors: Fame and Fortune in Five Easy Steps” will feature myself and fellow debut authors, Lauren Markham and Huda Al-Marashi ,as we discuss just how we made it to our debut years and what we learned after our first books came out. Sarita Cannon, associate professor of English at San Francisco State University, will be our moderator to guide us through sharing the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes mystifying experience of getting to this point in our careers.

Get your tickets here! With the code LITQ20, you can save 25%–Hooray! Our panel is part of the Litquake Writers Weekend at Z Space.

litquake

Day 1 (4/13) is on the art of writing, with panels devoted to discussing flash fiction, short story, and novel writing techniques. Day 2 is on the Pursuit of Publishing, which includes our debut author panel and discussions on traditional publishing and its continuing relevance and on how to draw in readership for your works. Each panel costs $20 for admittance and each one will provide a wealth of valuable information for writers looking to polish their craft or get to the next stage of publication.

And yes, Wings Unseen will be available for purchase and signing at the event! Hope to see you there!

I’m Reading at the Inaugural Parallel Lit 4/12!

Please join me at Parallel Lit on Friday, 4/12 at 8:30 pm at Paulista Kitchen in Oakland!

parallel lit, rebecca gomez farrell

The awesome and amazing Meg Elison, author of the Road to Nowhere post-apocalyptic series, is founding and hosting this reading series that will celebrate speculative fiction in the East Bay. You can get tickets here at Eventbrite, but you can also pay at the door–$10 is not a bad price at all to hear this crew read our fiction and talk about our work! Plus, Paulista Kitchen is a fantastic cafe and restaurant featuring Brazilian cuisine with California influences and the delicious cashew milk ice cream of Mr. Dewie’s.

cashew milk ice cream, mr dewie's, paulista kitchen, oakland

Yeah, Mr. Dewie’s is that good. Mmm.

No, I am not above bribing you with food photos. It’s my superpower. Meg and I will be joined by (and eating ice cream with) three other badass local spec fic authors: Tim Pratt, Juliette Wade, and Caroline Ratajski. Come join us in welcoming the birth of Parallel Lit!

Come to the Alameda Author Series on 2/25!

I would love to have you join me in Alameda for this author event. As I’m the only author on the agenda, I am a bit nervous about having a turnout…this is why I usually invite more authors to read with me. 😉  RSVP through Eventbrite right here, and yes, it’s free. I will have copies of Wings Unseen available for sale.

aauw, alameda author series, rebecca gomez farrell, wings unseen, east bay literary event

Host Kevis Brownson and I will have a conversation about my writing and the organizations I’m involved with, then I’ll do a reading, then there will be audience Q&A, and then a signing and reception to wrap up the evening. 6 pm is early! So don’t worry about sliding in a bit late.

Here’s the series description: For the third year, the AAUW Alameda presents a spring series of talks featuring authors who live and write in Alameda and nearby, now co-sponsored by the Friends of the Alameda Free Library. Our February author Rebecca Gomez Farrell will discuss her novel Wings Unseen and her current writing projects.

Hope to see you there!

Final Liminal Writers in Residence Reading 7/8

This Friday night, you can catch me reading as part of the final reading session for the Spring group of Liminal Writers in Residence!

What: FINAL Reading – Spring Writers in Residence and Workshop Attendees
Where: Liminal, 3037 38th Avenue, Oakland
When: Friday, 7/8, at 7:00 pm

I will be reading from “Garbage,” a humorous sci-fi tale that I’ve been chipping away at for quite a few years, including during the last two months at Liminal. It never fails to draw laughs from readers, so I’m pretty sure an audience will react the same! I’ll be going on right at 7:30 pm, when the actual readings start, but I’ll be sticking around throughout the night’s program, as listening to this diverse and talented group of writers is always a worthwhile evening.

Here’s the Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1761472000741686/

I will not be continuing with the Liminal Writers in Residence co-working program after this, as I am shifting my focus to the speculative fiction community in the Bay Area, but I will make sure to come out and support Liminal’s events whenever possible. There’s always something happening at that great space for female writers of every stripe and background.

Liminal Oakland artwork

Hope to see you Friday!

Reading tonight at Liminal!

Tonight at Liminal, a feminist and womanist space for writers in East Oakland, I’ll be reading the Salvation of Soup, a personal essay I’m working on. Since mid-April, I have been a Writer-in-Residence during Liminal’s new co-working hours, and you can continue to find me there through June from 1 pm to 5 pm on Wednesdays! If you identify as a woman and you’re interested in checking out a supportive co-working space, Liminal is a great option. First time drop-ins are free, and monthly memberships are available at very reasonable rates.

As for tonight’s reading, which yes, I should have posted about earlier, it’s an evening of Liminal’s Writers In Residence sharing works that we’ve been pecking at for the past few weeks. I wrote the first draft of the Salvation of Soup last spring, and I’ve been slowly gleaning out the filler — I originally wrote it for a submission call that asked for 1,000 words more than I really thought this essay should be. So I think I’m getting closer to my original intention!
 
In addition to hearing our WIPs, tonight is also the closing for Sheri Park’s
 art exhibition Wear & Tear: Living Woman. Art response pieces to her work and an art journaling station will be ongoing. Doors at 7, readings begin at 8! Come out and buy some art and lend me your ear!