BTS of Charmed Chats, Fighting Book Bans with Romantasy, and... 💖⚙️📚
The importance of community in all seasons 💖
Happy almost-Valentine’s Day! This past week has been full of a lot of personal ups and downs, so I’ll start with the good: I had so much fun last Thursday with S.D. Huston on her YouTube channel, Charmed Chats & Happily Ever After Sprints!
She had several excellent questions that I haven’t been asked before about my books and writing process, then we played a romantasy edition of “Would You Rather?” (guess how many times I answered pro-monster😂), and then there was a timed sprint from a writing prompt.
While I teased another book idea last week, I ended up playing with the prompt at the end of Charmed Chats instead just for fun (and to take my mind off revisions by working on something completely different.) I’ve still been keeping notes for the new book since then.
You can catch the replay below, then come back to check out a limited charity anthology and read about upcoming conventions (and why I’m convinced more now than ever about the importance of community.)
A Romantasy Collection to Fight Book Bans
I wanted to share FaRo Society’s charity anthology, Romantasy Rebels, this week because the cause is an important one to me. (If you’re new here, I’m a member of Authors Against Book Bans.) All proceeds will be donated to PEN America, which fights against book bans on multiple fronts. Romantasy Rebels’ limited release had a rough start, getting erroneously taken down TWICE before everything was fixed.
You can find Romantasy Rebels by clicking on the banner below:
The Importance of Community + 2026 Convention Schedule
The day after I was on Charmed Chats, my mother was hospitalized for the weekend. She’d been ill for most of the last two months, but this was…bad. Fortunately, a team of amazing nurses and doctors were able to help her get on the road to recovery (and run several tests that eliminated the worst possibilities.) Since Mom’s been home, she’s been getting better every day, and if all goes well, she’s excited to come back to DemiCon with me this May.
One thing that got me through this terrifying experience was all the kind messages from friends that I’ve met at conventions. Lots of readers who attend either DemiCon or Fables and Flames have met Mom while she covered my table whenever I had a panel. Aside from the many well-wishes for her, I really appreciated all the messages checking on me as well while everything was going on. We’re both really lucky to have so many wonderful people thinking of us. 💖
When I’ve talked about community in the past, I’ve mentioned the importance of doing something whimsical just because it sparks joy. I never would have thought about how the communities formed during these conventions can continue over long after everyone has gone home.
With that said, I finally finished updating Events page of my website! (Panel info and signing hours will be coming later.) If you have the opportunity and it is feasible (and safe) for you to travel, I’d love to see you at any and all of these conventions! Check out the links for more details and tickets:
DemiCon 37 May 1st-3rd
The Nebula Awards Conference June 3rd-7th (this one is more for writers of all types of speculative fiction)
Chicago Steampunk Expo June 12th-14th
Fables and Flames: Romantasy Gala November 6th-8th
TeslaCon November 12th-15th
If traveling isn’t feasible right now, I highly recommend finding virtual communities. One of my favorites is Temporal Textual Talks: A Book Club (steampunk book club!) This weekend, on February 15th at 6:30 pm Central time, we’re meeting via Zoom to discuss “Rust in the Root” by Justina Ireland. I’ve been loving this book so far. It’s alternate history blended with a unique magic system and has a main character that I absolutely adore!
You don’t have to finish the book to participate in book club, but do know that there is the potential for spoilers. I always love the discussions led by Madame Askew and Bill Bodden! If you’re feeling shy about joining the meeting, you can always watch the stream on YouTube.
Happy reading!
