Tag Archive for reading

My Next Reading & Story: “What Scattered in the Wind”

Update! This reading and publication has been postponed until 8/11. All other details remain the same. Join me in August instead!

My next short story publication is coming up soon! And I will soon be taking part in a reading to celebrate the launch for the anthology/chapbook it will appear in: Little Letters on the Skin. I do hope you’ll join me.

What? The Cleave: Bay Area Women Writers and the Liminal Center Release of the Little Letters on the Skin

When? ~~Friday, June 9, 2017~~ Friday, August 11, 2017

Where? The Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster St, Oakland.

Time? 7 pm.

Eight other writers and myself, who have been involved with Oakland’s amazing creative space for feminists and womanists, the Liminal Center, will be taking part in the reading and small group Q & A afterward. The anthology will be available for purchase, with all profits going to help support the work of the Liminal Center, which I’ve written about before here and here. I will also bring along a few copies to sell of Typehouse Literary Magazine #9, which featured my humorous sci-fi story, “Mixed Signals, or, Learning How to Speak,” last September.

“What Scattered in the Wind” is not humorous sci-fi, that’s for sure. Rather, it’s horror flash fiction done in a poetic prose style, and it’s the first story I wrote upon moving to the Bay Area. I love the mood of it, and the angst within it, that of a woman struggling with her biggest regret in life and sentenced to forever re-remember it. The first lines?

Hollow rasps of laughter pestered her to wakefulness. Any noise would have done the same, though she clamped her eyelids together in protest. For years, Ruth had heard nothing but the teakettle’s hiss or the slow scrape of her cane against the camper’s floor panels. The creaking sound of her voice rarely interrupted the silence. Unlike the other wayfarers, Ruth had never developed the habit of talking to herself. She didn’t care to hear what she’d have to say.

“Hee-hee, hee-he-heee!“

What I am most excited about for this event, however, is the exceptional list of fellow writers reading with me, at least half of whom I’ve read with before and they are STELLAR:

Christine No is a writer, filmmaker and pitbull enthusiast based in Oakland, CA. She is a Pushcart Prize Nominee and the 2016 First Place Poetry Winner of the Litquake Writing Contest. Say hello at www.christineno.com

Gina Goldblatt is the founder of Liminal, a writing center for women, in Oakland California. She is a writer, an educator and an aerialist.

Hannah Rubin is a writer and artist based in Oakland, CA.

Heather Schubert is a published author, visual artist, teacher, Priestess and mother of four.

Jasmine Wade is obsessed with the tumultuous, hilarious, heartbreaking, and never-ending process of growing up. Find a list of her short stories at www.jasminehwade.com.

Jeneé Darden is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, mental health advocate and proud Oakland native. Visit her podcast and blog CocoaFly.com where she covers issues related to women, race, wellness and sex.

Norma Smith was born in Detroit, grew up in Fresno, California, and has lived and worked in Oakland since the late 1960s. In support of her writing, she has worked as a ward clerk in hospitals, as a radio producer, as a translator and interpreter, as an educator, and as an editor and writing coach.

Rebecca Gomez Farrell writes all the speculative fiction genres she can conjure up. Find a list of her published shorter works at RebeccaGomezFarrell.com, and find her debut fantasy novel, Wings Unseen, in August 2017 from Meerkat Press.

Ruth Crossman was born and raised in Berkeley and currently lives in Oakland. She is a poet and a songwriter who teaches ESL to support her writing habit.

Additionally, the anthology is edited by Dr. Raina J. León, who’s an associate professor at Saint Mary’s College and the founder of the Cleave reading series along with numerous other accolades. That’s a stellar line-up that I’m glad to be a part of! I do hope you’ll come out and join us, celebrating what women are doing in the literary arts in Oakland. Here’s the Facebook event page, if you’d like to RSVP. I always like to know what friendly faces I’ll see in the crowd!

My FogCon Friday Frenzy of Events!

This Friday is Day 1 of FogCon, a literary-themed, genre fiction convention that takes place in Walnut Creek every year. But for me, Friday is Day Everything! That’s because I have three–3!–events going on that day, and I would love for you to join if you’re attending the festivities.

First up is the Social Media for Writers and Authors panel, taking place 3:00-4:15 pm in Salon A/B. I thought my food blogging background might yield a different perspective on this topic, the description for which is “Join our panelists for a nuts and bolts discussion from personal experiences in the brave new world of Social Media as Writer and/or Author. What platforms work, and for what? How do you get followers/fans? What is the most effective way to reach people who will buy my books, not just other writers? How do you keep these people engaged and interacting on your networks?”

Immediately thereafter, I’ll be hosting and reading in the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading session in the Santa Rosa room, 4:30-5:45 pm.

Broad Universe is an organization of female writers and their supporters of all genders that work together to raise the profile of women in the industry. Our Rapid Fire Readings are a mainstay at many science fiction conventions around the nation, and this one will consist of two rounds of 8-minute readings from four authors…and we may have a special guest author as well! The slate is myself, Loren Rhoads, L.S. Johnson, and Sarah Grey.

Then, I get to eat dinner! And get more of a break before my second panel, How Did You Survive the Election? We will be tasked with tackling this terrifying topic in Salon A/B at 9:30-10:45 pm. Ah, such a sweet way to send us to slumber…The full panel description is “The 2015-2016 election season drove many of us to desperation, drink, or other distractions. Some of us turned into political denialists, some of us became political junkies, some of us amassed gigabytes of cute cat videos. How did you survive the campaigns, the stresses, the misrepresentations, coping with relatives who didn’t understand/were partisans for the wrong side, and so on? Panelists and audience share their experiences with this tectonic election, as well as tips for surviving the stresses of political campaigns, political work, and dealing with the political news.” I’ll be approaching the topic from a viewpoint of ways to become an activist without breaking down relationships with those close to you whom have a different political persuasion.

And after that…I’m off the hook! Well, almost! Saturday and Sunday, you may often find me at the hotel’s lobby bar when I’m taking a break from checking out someone else’s reading or panel. But you will for sure find me there on Saturday during the lunch block, 12:00-1:15 pm, when I’ll be the point person for members of the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Meetup to, well, meet up! If you’re interested in meeting other East Bay genre writers, that’ll be a great time to swing by. But whenever you see me, I’m generally always down for a chat!

Hope to see you through the Fog this weekend!

CANCELLED: Reading at Moshin Vineyard’s Salon Series for Writing Between the Vines!

Due to rain and potential flooding, this event has been cancelled. Hopefully, I will be able to read at Moshin in March or April instead! I’ll keep you updated.

My next reading will be in the midst of wine country! On February 20, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm, Moshin Vineyards will host a writer’s salon to welcome their next Writing Between the Vines author.

What is Writing Between the Vines? It’s a writing retreat that pairs writers with vineyards willing to host them with “a space to work, a place to create — surrounded by the beauty and majesty of vineyards in locations around the world,” per the website. Interested authors apply in the fall and the winning applicants spend 4 to 6 days at the wineries…..writing. Just writing. How lovely that sounds!

Why am I invited to read? Beyond the wine connection from my food blog, of course, I came in as a runner-up for the retreat at Moshin Vineyards.

Thus, I was asked to come in for the salon that kicks off the retreat. I am excited to share an important scene from my upcoming book, Wings Unseen, that features a treasured family wine.

Time allowing, I will also read “Thlush-A-Lum,” my horror story published in PULP Literature, which also draws on wine imagery.

But I am nearly as excited to try Moshin’s wines for the first time. The thrill of discovery is always galvanizing! The reading will take place at Moshin Vineyard’s tasting room in Healdsburg. Full details are available here. I hope to see you there!

Catch the Hydra (and me!) Reading on 10/25!

Last week, I was invited to join the Hydra literary series for their spooky Halloween reading, and of course, I said yes. Read my horror? I look forward to any spine-chilling I can cause!

What: The Hydra #7 Reading Series!
Where: Woods Bar & Brewery, 1701 Telegraph, Downtown Oakland
When: 7 pm.

More details at the Facebook event page!

The Hydra is hosted by the Association of Black and Brown Writers, an affliate of Oakland’s own Nomadic Press. The series is inspired by the six-headed creature of myth, woken from beneath Mt. Diablo as the Bay Area burst into the poetry scene! Knighted keeper of the beast, Ursula K. Le Guin, declared “With the popularity of poetry readings in the Bay Area, the heads of the beast are growing back at an alarming rate, and the only thing that will slow down the beast is the inclusion of more fiction in the literary scene. We need stories of mythical beasts stronger than the Hydra. We need stories of worlds that is not the world it remembers, or maybe stories of lands the Hydra knows all too well. We need stories of heroes that can destroy it, and villians greater than it. We need experimental stories, we need short stories, we need fiction. Fiction is the only thing that will down the beast for once and for all. Counteract the poetry that is making the beast grow, and do it now.”

I am happy to do my part in this battle against the Hydra and will be reading at least two short stories as my weapons. And if we can get it right this time, Ben will Facebook Live it as well. 😉

But an in-person audience is always best! Hope to see you there.

Mazu gives away the ending of one of my tales…

September Appearances

The last week of September will be a busy one for me! I will be participating in two groups readings, and I’d love if you came out to support me and the great slates of other authors sharing their work at these series.

Rebecca Gomez Farrell reading At the Inkwell

Me, reading last spring at Alley Cat Books for the At the Inkwell literary series.

I will read excerpts from my short stories released this fall, though I’m not sure which one I’ll do on which night quite yet. Those stories are “Mixed Signals, or, Learning How to Speak,” a humurous sci-fi tale that is available now in Issue #9 of Typehouse Literary Magazine (info on how to get it here), and “Good Genes,” a horror/Weird West story that will appear in the Future Fire’s Issue #38, publication set for mid-October.

Each of these readings is a regularly occurring literary series in the Bay Area. You’ll get to hear from talented authors who write a range of genres, which is always a treat for me, as I think literary and genre fiction share more in common than in divergence. Here are the details:

What: Literary Speakeasy (link goes to Facebook Event page, where you can RSVP)
Where: Martuni’s, in the piano room
Address: 4 Valencia Street, San Francisco
When: 9/29 at 7:00 pm

There’s no event page yet for the Liminal reading, so just let me know below if I will find your smiling faces in the audience! I look forward to seeing you.

What: Writers-in-Residence Reading and Art Closing for Affordable Art Prints
Where: Liminal
Address: 3037 38th Avenue, Oakland
When: 9/30 at 7:00 pm

I will also be attending Con-Volution in Burlingame on 10/1 & 10/2, so I would love to meet you there as well! Let me know, and we’ll figure out how to make our paths cross during the Con.

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!

Full details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1707493082822085/

WisCon 39 Appearances!

wiscon39 Tomorrow, I fly out for my first WisCon experience.

I’m super excited because I’ve heard so many great things about this conference from other writers. It has a heavy concentration on the craft of writing, which is the #1 reason I’m choosing it as my first con in years. I love the speculative fiction genre, but I love writing it more than I love the fannish activities that go along with it. Nothing wrong with going wild, Fandom! It’s just not how I engage with the works that spark my passion.

And I am thrilled that I will get to share some of my passion with you! I am one-third of the superpowered trio in the Triple the Strength! Triple the Power! reading with fellow writers Sally Wiener Grotta and Laura Lis Scott on Sunday at 1:00 pm in Conference Room 2 at the main hotel.

Flyer for our reading small

Thanks to Sally for our flyer! Unfortunately, Laura won’t be with us in the flesh, but I’m delighted to read a selection from her novella, Half the Sky, on her behalf. I’ll also be reading “Thlush-A-Lum”, my most recently published horror short story, and if time allows (it should), the first chapter of my epic fantasy novel, Wings Unseen.

But that’s not all! On Monday morning, in the waning hours of WisCon, I’ll be on the Worldbuilding Through Food panel in Senate B at 10:00 am. Writing about food has been a huge part of my career over the past six years, and food has always been an honored guest in my fiction as well, so this panel’s topic spoke to me on many levels. Ty Blauersouth is our moderator, and my fellow panelists will be Nino Cipri and Amy Thomson. The official description:

The food crops and domestic animals an author uses in a fictional world shape underlying presumptions about where and when a story is set…or “not set,” in the case of not-quite-our-world-but-just-barely worlds. Medievaloid Europeish taverns with potatoes and tomatoes in their stew. Cultures that spice heavily, or lightly, or eat a wide range of animals; even if crops and livestock are all named with new words they often trace back to our-Earth models. How can one thoughtfully use food in your worldbuilding in ways that support themes and characters, without falling into shallow sloppiness? What SFF authors do food description particularly well? What’s good about it?

I’m especially excited to talk about how food choices can reveal character and ways food can be more central to the plot than just a lush description of a feasting table. Turkish delight, anyone?

Of course, I’ll be out and about all over the place during the rest of WisCon 39, but I haven’t had the chance to pick which sessions I’ll attend just yet. I’ll update you all on those plans as I make the decisions! Meanwhile, I always love meeting new people, so if you’d like to join me for coffee or a cocktail or a meal, just drop me a line at becca at thegourmez dot com or through Twitter @thegourmez. I arrive Wednesday evening and leave Monday afternoon.

See you soon, Wisconsin! It’ll be lovely to make your acquaintance.

Winter Tales: The Readings

About a month ago, I took part in Winter Tales, a reading of holiday-themed works by local authors that was hosted by the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough. Poems, essays, stories, and songs were all shared that evening, and now we have video of each reading! I’m embedding them all here so you can enjoy the event as we did.

First, because this is my blog, I’m sharing my reading of a personal essay, “Treasures in Cardboard Boxes.” It’s a reflection on losing a mixtape of Christmas carols and on growing up a little different from your family.

Next is “Winter Sonnet,” a poem by James Maxey, the organizer of the event. It is a quick, sweet listen about celebrating winter with his wife.

Also from James is a personal essay, “Christmas Dismemberment,” about receiving presents you don’t really want as a child.

The evening began with a reading of a drabble, a 100-word short stories, by Mur Lafferty, the first of which was “Zuzu’s Bell” about Lucifer on his birthday.

Mur’s second reading was “750,000 of Your Friends Like This,” a futuristic, cynical, yet fun take on the Christmas Carol revisions in the future. Sorry it’s a bit lower quality than the rest of the excerpts.

Alex Granados gave less of a reading and more of a storytelling, sharing an adventure with in-laws called “Death By Big Screen TV.” It’s a great portrayal of his father-in-law and his can-do-anything attitude.

Last, but not least, are two songs from Gray Rinehart. The first was inspired by his time in Greenland and is titled “Winter Simplifies the World.”

The second song is light-hearted and FILK, meaning it’s a play on science fiction or fantasy works. This is “Tauntauns to Glory,” a fun tribute to the majestic tauntauns of Star Wars.

And thus concludes these Winter Tales. Hopefully, they brightened yours, wherever it may be.

Winter Tales Reading: Come listen to me read!

This coming Thursday, I will be one of five speculative fiction writers participating in a reading on the topic of winter tales at the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough (137 W. Margaret Lane) at 6 pm.

Personally, I’m most intrigued to see what a pack of sci-fi writers comes up with for holiday-themed readings! I am opting for a personal essay, and I know at least one of the other authors is writing a song or three. I’m honestly expecting this to be a lot of fun. Here are brief bios of the other participants. By brief, I mean this is how I am most familiar with them:

James Maxey-Author of the Dragon Age fantasy saga and his current Dragon Apocalypse series. He’s also a great conversationalist at dinner parties full of people you’ve never met before. Or at least that’s my experience.
Gray Rinehart-Author of several short stories, slushmaster general at Baen Books, and singer of songs.
Mur Lafferty-2012 Campbell Award nominee, author of Playing for Keeps and the Afterlife series, expert podcaster, and composer of snarky social media statuses.
Alex Granados-Author of Cemetery Plot, producer of the State of Things, and that guy that was supposed to edit a short story for me once.
and me, Rebecca Gomez Farrell-Author of Maya’s Vacation and several short stories, food blogger extraordinaire, and the person who wrote this post.

Please come on out on Thursday at 6 pm and join us for the merriment! It will continue all evening for me, because I have a date with the Hobbit at midnight that night!

Official invitation is here.

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