Podcast of Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Readings at Boskone 2014

The Rapid-Fire Reading (RFR) is one of the oldest events that Broad Universe presents, usually at science fiction, fantasy, and horror conventions. It showcases published and in-progress work from members. 

If you missed the Rapid-fire Reading at Boskone 51, here's your chance to listen to Broad Universe members read five minutes of their works. Writer Elaine Isaak assumed the duties of emcee, introducing readers and keeping us to our time limits. Writer Justine Graykin recorded the readings and published them in the March edition of the BroadPod podcast.

Here are the bios of the readers who participated. You can download or listen to the podcast on the Broad Universe web site.

Moven Westfield (me) is a fiction writer, technical writer, and occasional podcaster who fuses her love of computing, vampire mythology and modern witchcraft in a series set in the suburbs west of Boston. She has also contributed non-fiction articles on supernatural lore to the Witches’ Almanac since 2006. Morven served as a member of the Motherboard of Broad Universe for two terms and is an active member of the New England Chapter. She is also a long-time member of New England Horror Writers. Like many writers, she keeps a messy office and drinks way too much coffee.

Sandra Barret grew up in New England. She moved to California for a time, but that proved to be too much sun and fun. She’s back in New England with her wife, children, and more pets than are probably legal to own (and sheep…let’s not forget the sheep).

Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. Thereafter, the second book in her AfterLife series will be available May 1, 2014.

Roberta Rogow is know for her Filk (Sciencefiction/fantasy folk songs); she also writes historical mysteries. Her latest book, Murders in Manatas, is a detective story set in an alternate universe, sort of Last of the Mohegans meets Arabian Nights, with a Spanish accent. The second in the series, Mayhem in Manatas will appear later this year.

Anna Erishkigal is an attorney who writes fantasy fiction under a pen-name so her colleagues don’t question whether her legal pleadings are fantasy fiction as well. Much of the law, it turns out, is fantasy fiction. Lawyers just prefer to call it ‘zealously representing your client.’  Seeing the dark underbelly of life makes for some interesting fictional characters. The kind you either want to incarcerate, or run home and write about. In fiction, you can fudge facts without worrying too much about the truth. In legal pleadings, if your client lies to you, you look stupid in front of the judge. At least in fiction, if a character becomes troublesome, you can always kill them off.

Boskone 2014 Recap - Part 1 (Friday)

Sometimes I come home from a convention tired. No, let me restate that: I usually come home from a convention tired. After all, I've stayed up late two or three nights in a row preparing, I've driven into a strange city or for many hours, I've lugged books and vending setups, and I've walked miles back and forth between my hotel room, event rooms, and my car. And then I don't always eat full meals, sleep less on a strange bed, and either eat the wrong foods or have one too many glasses of wine or cups of coffee.

Despite all of that, I returned home from Boskone today feeling great.

Just as I want to do an investigation when cons go wrong, I now find myself investigating why this one went so right.

Friday
Let's start on Friday. I managed to get the day off work. That's a big plus. I wasn't thinking of work-related projects, I wasn't rushing out of the house into rush-hour traffic. Instead I was sitting on a commuter train into the city, listening to Mur Lafferty's "I Should Be Writing" podcast while gazing out at the beautiful snow-covered winter tableau.

I checked in and put everything away before registration or vendor setup even started; no rushing in at 7, late to the game, apologizing that I couldn't help.I helped set up the Broad Universe table with Elaine Isaak and Justine Graykin and met a Broad new to Boskone, Jill Shultz, and her husband. Okay, so I wasn't feeling guilty and I got to meet new people. Score one on that.

I was able to attend a panel when panels began at 5:00 —— a first for me —— on The Fine Art of Murder with Dana Cameron, Leigh Perry, and Charlaine Harris, moderated by Vincent O'Neil. O'Neil did a great job of moderating, something I saw repeated throughout the convention and that I heard others praise over the weekend. Did Boskone send out guidelines for moderating? Did this crop of moderators just remember to do their homework? Was it just because they were blessed with a panel of professionals? I don't know, but the panel (and audience) were excellent.

And how does mystery/murder fit in with an SF convention? It made perfect sense to me, and maybe to others, too, because the next panel I attended was the Blurred Lines panel, which discussed how the lines between genres are becoming more blurred. Again moderated by Vincent O'Neil, this panel included Joshua Bilmes (JABberwocky Literary Agency), editor Stacey Friedberg, and writer Paul G. Tremblay. In the panel they discussed both how genre categorization helps (helps readers discover other writers who write the types of novels the reader likes) and how it's not really that important these days. (I kept thinking that with the internet, it's not the genre that matters, but the keywords, and you can have multiple keywords, whereas in bookstores, yes, it's true that you have to figure out which shelf to put things on.)

Had a tasty dinner and engaging conversation with Terri Bruce, author of  the novel Hereafter, an adventure into the afterlife when thirty-six year-old Irene Dunphy makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. Terri is also one of the co-ordinators of the robust New England Chapter of Broad Universe. For dessert, we hit the Boskone Meet the Guests & Art Shop Reception that started at 9. Those who know me know that I follow a low-carb diet these days, but it's hard to resist the cakes and sundries there. (I was restrained: only a tiny slice here and there.)

Justine Graykin joined us as we ate our desserts and the three of us did check out the party floor before returning to our rooms, but Boskone is a very restrained con. The parties were convention bids for future WorldCons. That is, you went in and sampled their arrays of cheeses or snack food and they told you about their bid for the next WorldCon. It was nice, no pressure, and informative. But the three of us didn't hang out long. Bed was beckoning.

[to be continued]

Reminder - An Evening with the Authors

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
5:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Portsmouth Public Library
175 Parrott Avenue, Portsmouth, NH (map)

In the Levenson Room

An Evening with the Authors - Valentine's Day Edition

The New England chapter of Broad Universe, an international association of men and women dedicated to encouraging, celebrating, and promoting women authors of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, is hosting an event in Portsmouth, NH this February.

From the meetup page:

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
5:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Portsmouth Public Library
175 Parrott Avenue, Portsmouth, NH (map)

In the Levenson Room

Join five New England authors for an evening exploring the treatment of love in all its forms--from the platonic to the erotic--in literature.

The authors--Trisha Wooldridge, Justine Graykin, Terri Bruce, Phoebe Wray, and Jennifer Carson--will read from their works and participate in a general Q&A, followed by mingling with the audience and book signings. Light refreshments will be served. This will be a chance to get up close and personal with the authors, so bring your questions and be ready to talk about your favorite books. This will be a fun and casual event and is free and open to the public.