Month: February 2019

Monday Earworm: Dar Williams (and February Events)

On By angeliquejamailIn books, BrazCon, Dar Williams, literature, Monday earworm, music, poetry, Poetry FIX, writing2 Comments

Hey, look! It’s an earworm for your Monday! Woot!

I’ve made a few forays outside of the Hamilton soundtrack lately, but my kids keep pulling me back to it. (I’m not complaining.) And lately I’ve been dipping a toe back into the music I listened to in my twenties. Dar Williams was — and remains — one of my favorite thoughtful singer/songwriters. Enjoy this sweet, intimate, informal rendition of her “When I Was A Boy.”

So what else is happening this fine February in Authorland? I have a couple of big and excellent events coming up and would love to see you there if you’re in the area.

Tuesday, February 19th, FIX Coffee Bar in Houston — I’ll be reading, along with Fady Joudah, at the Poetry FIX series hosted by Mike Alexander. Should be a super fun night!

Saturday, February 23rd, BrazCon in Manvel (very near Houston) — Imagine a cross between Comicpalooza and Teen Book Con, and you get BrazCon! Last year this was one of the best, most well organized events I attended, and I’m thrilled to have been asked back this year. Well worth the half-hour drive to get there! I’ll be on a panel about writing and ideas and such, as well as signing books most of the day.

More events are coming up in March in Houston and Austin; look for those details here soon, but you can always find them on my regular website which hosts my event calendar.

Want me to come visit your book club or writing group or Creative Writing class or favorite poetry and wine bar? Drop me a line and let’s work out the details!

Three New Treasures For Your Reading Self

On By angeliquejamailIn books, Casey Fleming, essays, fiction, poetry, race, Richard Sanford, Russ Linton, sci-fi, writing5 Comments

I’m neck-deep in coordinating author events (maybe even a mini-tour!) and working on a new novel right now, and honestly, all I’m listening to these days is the Hamilton soundtrack, so the Monday Earworms are a little thin on the ground. Sorry about that — we’ll get back to them soon, I promise. In the meantime, what are you listening to? Tell us in the comments!

I want to take a moment to highlight three exceptionally worthy projects just made available. Give them some love, won’t you? I think they’re great.

(And stay tuned to the end of this post for a few more exciting newsy bits.)

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TWO BLOCKS FROM EMANCIPATION by Casey Fleming

This new blog project by essayist Casey Fleming bravely addresses emancipation in many forms, including on the subject of race. Casey is one of the most compelling essay writers I’ve ever read; she even did an outstanding guest post here years ago for the Fashion Friday series. Here is a brief excerpt from her site about the nature of this new project itself:

To live two blocks from something as wonderful as emancipation–as an ideal, a psychological space, a lived reality–is to live in the border between what’s possible and what’s yet to manifest, between what America aspires to be and what it is. Living on the border is always disquieting and dangerous. Some of us take up permanent residence there, and we must risk speaking from that painful proximity to liberation.

I encourage you to check out Casey’s essays and follow this new project.

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UNDER THE FLICKERING LIGHT by Russ Linton

Russ Linton hit the scene a number of years ago with his sci-fi debut Crimson Son, a book which defied typical conventions of the sci-fi/super-hero genre and gave us not just an endearing snarkster extraordinaire in its young adult protagonist Spencer, but also a series set in a compelling literary universe.  This new book stands alone but jumps far forward in time to the year 2300 in Spencer’s world, when AI overlords have made some…modifications to our human landscape. Russ has also written some really original fantasy as well. Check out his website for more about his books and his current entertaining and meaningful nomadic adventures in the real world.

I’m a big fan of Russ’ work and hope you’ll give it some attention, too.

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THE SOUL SNATCHERS by Richard Sanford

Richard Sanford is one of the fiction authors over at Odeon Press, which is how I know of him, and his new book sounds really exciting! Here’s the blurb about it:

The Soul Snatchers is a sci-fi thriller about social media addiction and cyber derangement. There’s also a love story, a secret code hidden in a mesmerizing mandala, and Svetla, the Bulgarian rideshare driver.

Tzaro Janssen, a seismologist in a next-gen lab in the San Juan Islands, sees his girlfriend Therica become … not herself. Stories like hers are lighting up media around the globe—psychotic breaks, social isolation, explosive violence. And no known cause. At the center is Therica’s obsession, the mega networking platform Wundrus.

From early reviews:

“The Soul Snatchers is an energetic and entertaining romp through Cascadia … a fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable science fiction thriller with Sixties throwback touches.”

“I thought that The Soul Snatchers by Richard Sanford was a fascinating and fast-paced read. There was no good reason to put the book down … I am usually pretty good at solving mysteries, but was blown away by this one.”

And here’s a statement about the book from Richard himself:

I wrote The Soul Snatchers to be entertaining, but it also has a point to make about something we’re seeing everywhere—isolation, among ourselves and our kids. Everybody’s hyperconnected, but nobody’s talking.

That sounds both topical and timely, doesn’t it?

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Now for the promised newsy bits:

I may be adding another reading to my slate for Houston in early March. Stay tuned for details.

I’ve just settled another event in Austin for next month. I’ll be reading at Malvern Books at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 16th. Come join us! Bring friends! Bring acquaintances and other people you want to impress! Or, you know, just bring yourself, and I’ll be thrilled with that.

I’m also looking at doing an event or two in the area of Blacksburg, Virginia. Drop me a line if you’re out that way and want to come do some booksy, writingsy things with me!

More exciting details about these events will be posted on my website as they become available.

The First Review

On By angeliquejamailIn book review, Femmeliterate, Misty Urban, poetry, THE SHARP EDGES OF WATERLeave a comment

I’ve just seen the first review — at least, the first review I’ve seen — of my new collection of poems, The Sharp Edges of Water. It was written by Misty Urban over at Femmeliterate, and I’m just completely undone with gratitude and happiness about it. Here’s a tidbit:

The poems trace a journey of memories built over time, a demonstration of how the mythic unconscious of our childhood maps onto the fragile desires of our bursting bodies. The poems prick open the hard shell of indifference, or endurance, that thick rind the above-world forms on us with all the wounds and cuts and losses of the sharp edges we stumble through and away from.

Click on over and read the whole review, and then browse around Femmeliterate for some other really wonderful posts about literature. And if you’d like to acquire my collection of poems for yourself, you can do so here.