#Ownvoices Author Spotlight: Meredith Katz

Author Interviews
Today I'd like to introduce author Meredith Katz. Her Pandemonium series of fantasy novellas is filled with a cast of remarkably varied queer characters. She's shared some of the process behind her most recent novella, Hair to the Throne, along with her views on representation in publishing--and how we can all work to improve it. I hope you'll enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed chatting with her! The Blurb The city of Flecton is ruled with an iron fist by Demon Prince Vehr, whose human citizens suffer under demonic enslavement and live in fear of her ever-watchful presence. The prince herself is never seen, living in her underground palace and sending demons to kidnap skilled humans to serve her. Ten years earlier, Merle’s best friend and closest confidante…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Spotlight: Diana Pinguicha

Author Interviews
Today I'm excited to continue my #Ownvoices spotlight series with an author who has a fantastic name (if I do say so myself), Diana Pinguicha. By day she works as a video game writer and developer, and by night she's a speculative fiction author; her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies, including the International Speculative Fiction Anthology of European Speculative Fiction (which can be downloaded completely FREE). Today she's here to discuss the challenges associated with different types of writing, representation in fiction, and more! Please give Diana a warm welcome. (more…)
Read More

Author Spotlight: Jay Michael Wright II

Author Interviews
This week I'm taking a (hopefully brief) break from the #ownvoices author spotlight series I've been doing for the past months to interview an author whose dark fantasy novels are some of the most exciting I've seen around. I've had a wonderful time chatting with him about his upcoming novel, Talon: The Spider's Web, and I'm excited to read it--but frankly, I'm more excited about one of the projects he's still working on. You'll have to read the interview to see what I'm talking about! The Blurb For centuries after surviving the destruction of The Lost Colony of Roanoke, Nicky happily embraced being the monster he had become: a vampire hell-bent on revenge after witnessing the murders of his mother and sister. After coming across a young girl who could…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Spotlight: Shira Glassman

Author Interviews
Today I am beyond thrilled to welcome author Shira Glassman, creator of the beautifully diverse Mangoverse and almost-winner of the Bisexual Book Award (she made the short list!). She has been kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to share some behind-the-scenes info about how she built The Olive Conspiracy, the fourth novel in the Mangoverse. About The Olive Conspiracy A love story between women, between queen and country, and between farmers and their crops. When Ezra tries to blackmail Chef Yael about her being trans, she throws him out of her restaurant and immediately reports him to the queen. But when police find Ezra stabbed to death, Queen Shulamit realizes he may have also tried to extort someone more dangerous than a feisty old lady.…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Interview: Shaila Patel of Soulmated

Author Interviews, Diversity in books
If you've been following my series of weekly #ownvoices author interviews (which will have a dedicated page soon, I promise; I've been redoing all kinds of things around here and my brain is exhausted) you may be starting to think diverse books only exist in science fiction. While it's true that science fiction has the highest number of diverse books, there are diverse books in other genres, and Shaila Patel is here to prove it! Her debut novel, Soulmated(all Amazon links are affiliate links), is a paranormal romance featuring all kinds of exciting concepts I'll let you discover for yourself. The Blurb Two souls. One Fate. Eighteen-year-old Liam Whelan, an Irish royal empath, has been searching for his elusive soulmate. The rare union will cement his family's standing in empath…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Interview: Ria Fritz

Author Interviews
Today I would like to introduce you all to Ria Fritz, author of the Quicksand series, a series of science fiction adventures featuring queer and mentally ill protagonists. As someone who struggles with mental illness on a daily basis, I am thrilled to have Ria here to tell you all about Quicksand and its heroes--but first, check out this blurb for the first novel, Rising from the Sand: Tioria, the most crime-ridden city on the planet Krygilis, has always been full of trouble for Wynette Brown to get into. Between late-night adventures at lesbian bars and her job as a Protectorate Escort Specialist, she knows the planet, its people and its sources of mischief too well. But her latest assignment gets her in way over her head, even with her…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Interview: Rose LaCroix

Author Interviews
[caption id="attachment_2925" align="alignleft" width="400"] Book cover by Adam Primaeros[/caption] Rose LaCroix is a trans MtF author who has published numerous short stories and two novels. Today she's here to chat about her most recent novel, The Vimana Incident, a book that mixes science fiction and historical fiction in a fascinating way. Please give Rose a warm welcome! The Vimana Incident Blurb The year is 1939. The nations of the world have given up on war, and now compete in a race to build the first permanent lunar colony. Edward "Red Ned" Arrowsmith, a British aerospace engineer, finds himself caught up in a cosmic level of intrigue when a secret lunar mission sends him on an unwilling journey six and a half centuries into a bizarre future. But what does this frightening future…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Spotlight: RoAnna Sylver of Chameleon Moon

Author Interviews
Today I am beyond thrilled to introduce RoAnna Sylver, author of Chameleon Moon, the first novel in a series that blends fantasy and science fiction. She's been generous enough to share how Chameleon Moon came to be, so please give her a warm welcome! Blurb for Chameleon Moon:  The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slips into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire. The entire population inside has been quarantined, cut off from the rest of the world, and left to die - directly over the open flame. Eye in the Sky, a deadly and merciless police force ensures no one escapes. Ever. All that's keeping Parole alive is faith in the midst of horrors and death, trust in the face of desperation... and their fantastic, terrifying, and beautiful superhuman abilities. Regan,…
Read More

#Ownvoices Author Spotlight: Lynn E. O’Connacht

Author Interviews, Diversity in books
Over the past year I've spent a lot of time thinking about inclusion -- I choose the term "inclusion" because I think it's more honest than "diversity". Specifically I've been thinking about the duty I have as a writer to be inclusive in my work. One thing I've come to believe very passionately is that while including diverse characters and relationships in my books is great, the best thing I can do is support diverse authors, most of whom are already writing diverse books. These authors have often been snubbed by traditional publishing and turned to self publishing or small presses, which makes it even more important to support their work. So this year my interviews are going to focus almost exclusively on #ownvoices authors, starting with today's guest, Lynn E.…
Read More

Meet Kelly Phillips, Indie Games Writer

Author Interviews
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of indie games(you should see my Kickstarter collection--I actually had to ban myself from the site) so it shouldn't be a surprise that I am thrilled to introduce today's guest, Kelly Phillips, who has written for a host of indie games and even run her own indie tabletop RPG studio with her husband. She's been kind enough to share some great insights into the world of games writing and writing in general. Please give Kelly Phillips a warm welcome. (more…)
Read More