Tag Archive for rebecca gomez farrell

Wishing for More Now Available in Helios Quarterly!

I am thrilled that my romantic urban fantasy tale, “Wishing for More,” appears in Helios Quarterly Magazine 4.4, which came out in December 2019 (why yes, I am behind on promo).

helios quarterly, rebecca gomez farrell, wishing for more

In “Wishing for More,” a dastardly magical plant outwits stubborn Jewls, forcing her to accept rescue from her childhood friend Cesar. Both newly graduated from Jinn School, Jewls and Cesar set out for a night of adventure, foraging for more mystical plants Jewls can sell to pay the bills and avoid disappointing the Jinn Cadre. Will she use up all her wishing power before she realizes what she wishes for most?

The first lines:

Just a little bit more.

Jewls placed her hand on the guardrail meant to stop people from doing exactly what she was about to: hang over the edge of a desolate ocean cliff. An alep’s hound plant grew about five feet down the cliff’s rockface, its cornucopia of dagger-shaped leaves folded tightly in a nautilus spiral. Jewls had parked her car by the highway and made her way down an abandoned lighthouse’s access road, on a night blowing icy mist, to harvest it.

She shuffled on her stomach over the rim, reaching with her free hand, but the alep’s hound darted left and right, avoiding her straining fingers. A wave crashed against the jagged boulders, sending up a high plume of seawater that drenched her. Brrr. She tried not to ponder those depths, focused on the plant, leaning farther—

Helios Quarterly 4.4 is available directly from the publisher’s webstore in .mobi or .epub formats. You can also purchase from Amazon for $2.99 for the Kindle here. It contains four other short stories in addition to “Wishing for More.” Get your copy now!

And here’s a photo inspiration to set the story’s mood:

c-shell photo, santa cruz, west cliff, night, cliffs

Photo copyright C-Shell Photo

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!).

“What Scattered in the Wind” appears in Accolades!

I’m so thrilled that “What Scattered in the Wind” is reprinted in the Accolades anthology from Women Who Submit Lit. The anthology launches today at the AWP conference in San Antonio.

accolades, accolades anthology, women who submit, women who submit lit, publishing women, horror, what scattered in the wind, rebecca gomez farrell

“What Scattered in the Wind” first appeared in Little Letters on the Skin, a chapbook/anthology (more info here). It’s a flash fiction horror tale of an older woman who wakes to find unwanted, and long forgotten, visitors to her isolated desert mesa.

What makes this reprint so special is that Accolades is a celebration of the submissions, acceptances, and publications of members of the national Women Who Submit Lit organization, of which I run a local chapter.

women who submit, women who submit lit, submission, publishing

Every other month, I spend two hours submitting out my work for publication and encouraging other writers to do the same. Accolades is proof of how effective that support and time investment is, as all the works featured within it are reprints of writing WWSL members have had published elsewhere — all that perseverance pays off!

Accolades is available in print from Amazon for $15. Here are the leading lines into “What Scattered in the Wind”:

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!“

And a photo to set the mood:

what scattered in the wind, the gourmez, fiction, horror, trailers

“Treasure” Reprinted in Best Indie Speculative Fiction 2019!

Great news! “Treasure” has been reprinted in the Best Indie Speculative Fiction 2019 anthology from Bards & Sages! As Bards & Sages describes it, “This collection is our annual celebration of the small press and independent publishing community.”

Best Indie Speculative Fiction 2019 features twelve short stories of fantasy, science fiction, and horror that have been published over the past two years, and it came out in November 2019. Currently, it’s available from Amazon here.

“Treasure,” a fantasy fable, was originally published in the Dark Luminous Wings anthology from Pole to Pole Publishing. Here are the first few lines:

Wind thundered past the slats of the storage cabin. Hidden within a barrel of fish guts, the stowaway braced herself for lurching. But when the ship pitched sharply sternside, Enkid knew it was no ordinary squall. A storm this bad would force the captain out of his quarters despite his usual drunken stupor, creating an opportunity to filch the beveled, green-glass vial he wore around his neck. It held hemlock tincture, a rare poison that would come in handy for someone in Enkid’s line of work.

And here is a photo I took during a Paperhand Puppet Intervention show, which may, or may not have, influenced a certain element of this tale. Enjoy!

city of frogs paperhand puppet intervention

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.

Where I’ll be at Fogcon 2019

Fogcon 2019 starts tomorrow!

fogcon, 2019

As per usual, I don’t feel ready, but do I ever for conventions? This year, I’ll be at Fogcon all weekend. Here is my schedule, should you care to join me at any point:

Friday, 4:30 pm, Salon A/B: It’s Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This–Writer Support Networks in the Bay Area. Panelist.

Scene: The writer types alone, perhaps with a bottle of bourbon for companionship and a cat on the lap. The writing lifestyle is often portrayed as solitary, but as with all careers, writers need support to improve and to get their work seen by the wider world. Come learn what resources are available for speculative fiction writers in the Bay Area, from critique groups, to marketing, to writing classes, to kicking back and talking writer shop with others going through the creative struggle of the written word.

Saturday, 10:00 am, Salon F: Discovering Short Fiction. Panelist.

We live in golden age for short SFF, but there’s so much out there and relatively few reviews and recommendations compared to novels. How are people finding short fiction? What are some techniques the panelist can suggest for those looking to read more short stories? And what can the community do to help showcase the awesome short fiction happening now?

Saturday, noon, Lobby Bar: East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup Group Craft Klatsch. Host.

Join my East Bay critique group for SF/F writers during Saturday’s lunch hour in Fogcon’s lobby bar to unwind from the con so far and catch up on what’s been great and what folks are looking forward to next.

Saturday, 8:00 pm, Salon F: Small Houses, Big Futures–Publishing SF with Small Presses. Moderator. 

While many of us dream of a Big 5 deal, there are numerous Small Press publishers that are taking risks the larger publishers can’t, giving more writers access to the market. But that access comes with smaller (or no) advances and a larger proportion of labor on the author. What’s different about publishing with a Small Press vs. a big publishing house? How is the experience different, for the editor and for the writer?

Sunday, 1:30 pm, Santa Rosa room: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading. Host and Reader.

Broad Universe is one of the oldest organizations supporting female writers of speculative fiction. At conventions nationwide, Broad Universe hosts Rapid Fire Readings to highlight the amazing work of our members. Several members of the group take part by sharing short bursts of fiction that keep the reading lively and exciting.

fogcon, rapid fire reading, broad universe

And from there…home! Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to that last part already?

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!

Come Wine with Me on the Swirl Suite Podcast!

Catching up on appearances I’ve made over the past couple of years for food and fiction, and lo and behold! I never promoted my episode of the Swirl Suite podcast from last year! I love this group, or “squad” as they call themselves, of female wine and spirit professionals of color, based mainly in the DC area. Last year, they did a series, “Get to Know a Wine Blogger,” and I was thrilled to be asked to take part. Surprisingly, the only subject that’s out of date is that my fantasy novel, Wings Unseen, is no longer coming out but has been out for a year (pick it up on the right –>). Oh, and we’re a year past that Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Rosa as well. Details, details. Otherwise, it’s a pretty fun interview!

swirl suite, podcast, wine podcast

In this 42-minute episode, you’ll first listen to Sarita (Vine Me Up), Glynis (Vino Noire), Leslie (Vino 301), Tanisha (Girl Meets Glass), and Melissa (the Liquor Lady) talking about summertime humidity, Juneteenth, and Oz restaurant’s Happy Hour in Arlington, VA. About eight and a half minutes, the ladies start chatting up myself and Tivon of Von Vino.

Tivon and I talk about how we got into wine blogging, how drinking it got us into wanting to record it and learn more about it. Then we all talk about the wineries we visited most recently and I say “like” way too often, as per usual. I’m a California Valley Girl – I can’t help it. Great tips follow for advice to wine bloggers just starting out, our favorite happy hours (shoutout to the Libertine!), we play a word association game, and a surprising truth is revealed — very few of us keep cases of wine at the ready! I also share some of my fiction writing process, which I’m in the depths of on two different books right now.

That direct Soundcloud link is right here. Or check out the show below on Youtube, which I queued up to right before my and Tivon’s introductions. Thanks for tuning in! And thanks to the Swirl Suite Squad for having me.

It Takes a Village – Pursuit of Publishing Panel at Litquake!

This Sunday, 10/14, at 3:30 pm, I’ll be on the Pursuit of Publishing: It Takes a Village Panel at Litquake!

litquake 2018

This is my first ever Litquake appearance, and I’m excited to participate. Panel description: What does it take to create and sustain a writing community? CCA’s Leslie Roberts discusses strength in numbers with Mary Volmer (Hedgebrook), Scott James (Castro Writers Coop), Casey Bennett (Lit Events for the Lit-Minded), and . . . me! I’ll be sharing about my work co-helming the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup, a San Francisco chapter of Women Who Submit Lit, and two closed Facebook groups for female writers – one for speculative fiction writers across the globe and one for writers of all stripes in the Bay Area.

Some tickets will be available at the door, but a few tickets are still online for $25. That price includes three earlier panels on the same day, all designed to aid writers on their path to publication. All four Pursuit of Publishing panels will take place at the Timken Auditorium of the California College of the Arts at 1111 Eight Street in San Francisco.

Join us!

My Worldcon 76 Schedule!

Worldcon 76 starts on Thursday, and I am excited!

Screenshot_2018-08-08 Worldcon 76

And also slightly overwhelmed, so I’m glad I’m not appearing on much programming myself – it’s not often that you hear a writer admit that. =D But I will be appearing on a little of it, and I’ll definitely be around all weekend, so please do come say hi anytime! You can purchase Wings Unseen at Borderlands Books’ vendor booth, and I’m happy to sign copies. Here’s where I know I’ll be:

Tuesday, 8/14

Thursday, 8/16

  • 6 pm: The Borderlands Sponsor Party at Loft Bar and Bistro. This is a party only for sponsors of Borderlands Books in San Francisco. But I can take a plus 1…
  • 12 am to 1:30 am: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Hospitality Suite. I’ll be on Door Dragon duty, checking SFWA memberships and IDs for entrance.

Friday, 8/17

  • 1 pm to 1:25 pm: I’ll be signing books at the SFWA table in the Exhibit Hall.
  • 6:45 – 8:45 pm: Ghost Hunting Tour! You too can sign up for this downtown San Jose tour led by Bay Area Ghost Hunter Adrienne Foster. $15, I think.

Saturday, 8/18

  • 10 am: How Would Civilization Evolve if…: How Human and Nonhumans Would Evolve Based on Their Environment – This is a panel being led by professors from my alma mater, UC Santa Cruz (banana slugs, forever!), so I’m making sure I’ll be in attendance. 210 E at the Convention Center.
  • 2 pm: Craft Klatsch with the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup group – This is an offsite event for members of the Meetup group that I co-helm in the East Bay. You are welcome to join us and learn more! Here’s the Meetup event.
  • 5 pm: Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading! I’ll be one of 15 readers at this traditional Broad Universe event, where we toss tiny tidbits of fiction out into the wild at breakneck pace. Join us! Here’s our poster:

BU worldcon flyer correct

Sunday, 8/19

  • I don’t really know how the Hugos work…but I’m planning to attend or watch a simulcast or whatever the case may be. Help me?
  • Midnight – 1:30 am: I’ll again be Door Dragon for the SFWA Hospitality Suite.

Monday, 8/20

  • The last day of Worldcon, alas. I will likely catch some friends’ readings in the afternoon then head home to Oakland and the husband and kitties.

Whew! That schedule is only of events I *know* I’ll be attending, though a good many of my days are full with potential plans already. Always feel free to tweet at, Facebook message, or email me to try and find a time to get together. Or a drink at barcons, as it goes. Cheers to that!

shark drink