MultiMind's Blog, page 13

“Dreamer” in-depth review by Bookish Brews!

I recently was notified by Bookish Brews for an in-depth review they made on my upcoming book, Dreamer. It was a really well done review, I strongly recommend reading it! Dreamer comes out March 18, 2022.

I recently was notified by Bookish Brews for an in-depth ...

I recently was notified by Bookish Brews for an in-depth review they made on my upcoming book, Dreamer. It was a really well done review, I strongly recommend reading it! Dreamer comes out March 18, 2022.

Updates! Release date for “Dreamer” (3.18.2022) & Audiobook for “In Search of Amika” is now available for purchase

Dreamer is due to be out on March 18, 2022.* Pre-orders for ebook and print are still open! Not only but Dreamer got it’s first review, on The Writer Mage for the Black Author spotlight. The review is short but sweet:

I started reading this one recently, and it’s descriptive and imaginative, and this cover is ethereally creepy. Vera and the characters around her are fleshed out well. I’ve stumbled on the first creepy moment in the story, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

I don’t plan to commonly showcase reviews (in part because I don’t prefer to read them) but since this was a first one, it bears mentioning.

As for In Search of Amika, the audiobook is finally available to purchase online. Already you can listen to a 15 minute preview on the Published Works page and from there, you can also purchase the audiobook everywhere audiobooks are available. Here is also a roundup of audiobook, ebook and print book links for In Search of Amika.

 

*Editor’s Note: I noticed I already posted the release date for Dreamer on the blog itself but I only just updated it on the Published Works page, so that is the update. I noticed that could be baffling so yay, clarification.

Music for “Dreamer” – The YinYue: Music Under the Moon playlist

I am actually quite happy to showcase this playlist as I have been thinking on it for a while. Dreamer is very music based – as in, one of the primary settings is in a music store named YinYue: Music Under the Moon, countless music acts and genres are mentioned throughout the book, etc etc – so I really wanted to make a music list. Especially since not everyone may know every genre or performer mentioned, such as dark wave or Polysics.

I’m a very musical person, as I have mentioned throughout this blog several times. I even have a background of being around the music industry and, thus, working with performers (don’t worry, the playlist isn’t Nepotism Central, I include many folks who I do not personally know or have hung out with). This means I obviously would like to share such music.

At YinYue, they have a music set up for the day: “Soft Time”, which is classical music in the morning, then the regular mix of harder genres (punk, metal, etc) and then, to let everyone know it’s time to close, a melodic jazz cabaret as a swan song goodbye. They also have special hours throughout the week, one dedicated to international music and another dedicated to independent music. I was super stoked to make a playlist loaded with independent and international artists such as Spoek Mathambo (South Africa, indie), Capsule (Japan), Dummy Toys (China, indie), Meet Me @ The Altar (USA, indie), The Prodigy (UK) and Hitchhiker (South Korea). The playlist closes with Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz”. There is even polka, due to a humorous reference in Dreamer.

I was really happy to throw in all these various artists, as well as more, such as: Straight Line Stitch, Nonpoint, The Gorillaz, Le Chevalier de Saint Georges, Blindside, DJ Sisen and Butcher Babies. I’ve been listening to them for years so, yay, I get to share them with others. I even have featured Chester Bennington’s first band before Linkin Park, Grey Daze. Their song is “Kill the Flies”, a demo I have had in my personal collection for years.

Some songs I had to add because they were so apt: “Nightmare” – Avenged Sevenfold, “Sleepwalking” – Blindiside, “Fiction” – Avenged Sevenfold (I tried to keep everyone to one song per band/musician but this song is so good and so is “Nightmare” ;_;), “Brighter Days (Are Before Us)” – Meet Me @ The Altar, “Psycho Therapy” – Polysics, “Black Veil” – Straight Line Stitch, “Came Back Haunted” – Nine Inch Nails and “Neverland” – Bad Rabbits. Some songs have cursing so that means the playlist is explicit.

This music playlist is about 12 hours long, so roughly a day at YinYue, if not a little longer, and is filled with music that spans genres and actual diversity (it should be beyond obvious a Black person put this playlist together lol. Other music playlists with these genres I have found pale in comparison, in way more ways than one. Deathly pale) so please definitely give it a listen and don’t forget to read the Dreamer preview and pre-order! Dreamer is out March 18, 2022.

Thank you for listening to the YinYue: Under the Moon playlist

I couldn’t help myself, I like making logos. What can I say?

Site Updates (Audiobook Samples & Book Previews)

Alright, I have been working on the site so that it can look even better as Dreamer (still available for preorder) comes out on March 18, 2022.

I always want to make sure this site is very easy to use, especially the “Published Works” page. On that page, you can not only see the works I have made but also preview and purchase (one work is available for free, though: “Null(Void)”).

What I have added:

Book previews

When I buy or borrow a book, I flip through it. I want to make sure that the work is something worth blowing my time (and perhaps dollars on). Or if there is something I super don’t want to read that I discover in the book, at least I didn’t take it with me. I wouldn’t be surprised if others felt the same, try before you buy/borrow. So updated on my site is a book preview for novelette In Search of Amika. I got the idea from Xiran Jay Zhao’s site for her book Iron Maiden. I happened upon her works because her work, Iron Maiden, is being sold next to mine, Dreamer, I remember her from when I did Pitch Wars (we both did the same years, I believe) and it’s Twitter counterparts, and apparently her tumblr has floated to mine thanks to friends of mine reblogging her stuff. Thus I took a look at her site and saw it was a really good idea. That way, people can see a .pdf preview of the work and decide if they really want to have it or not.

Dreamer will also have a book preview soon, but I’m doing a billion things all at once so it’s taking its time. I also always have that weird, agonizing worry that I missed yet another typo. Yes, my editor, Ja’el Knotts, is great but that doesn’t stop me from adding in new stupid after she’s given my work back to me. I’ll note her edits, do those edits … and somehow pour in more derp. Either way, it will be up there so that people can preview Dreamer.

Audio previews

I also have included snippets of audiobooks of my works, “Null(Void)” and In Search of Amika. Yes, I finally found a narrator for In Search of Amika, which was actually quite hard to do. Either I could find someone who could nail the Southern accent, but sucked at playing genderless/agender characters (yay, unconscious queerphobic bias!) or could nail playing a genderless/agender character but had a not-great Southern accent. Through my troubles, I was hipped to the African-American Voice Artist Database (AAVADB), which I use exclusively to find narrators. It’s a one-stop shop for me now, even as I look for a narrator for Dreamer, which is, thanks to the database, way easier to do this time around.

The narrator for In Search of Amika is Marion Toro, and the audiobook will be out for purchase soon (it is going through Findaway Books’ distribution system now, it takes about 2-4 weeks from the “Your audiobook has passed Quality Check!” email to the “Your audiobook is now available to purchase!” email. Even longer for other places, like Audible, Hoopla and Storytel. The audiobook preview is 16 minutes. (The entire book is about 1 hour and 12 minutes)

“Null(Void)” Is available for free, as it was published by Nightlight Podcast but I have a 3 minute preview (the entire story is about an hour) on the Published Works page. From there, you can go to Nightlight to listen to the rest.

 

Woo, updates. By the way, I added another book that will be following Dreamer in publication on my GoodReads: Kinetics. The work is done and already put into print book/ebook form, the cover simply needs to be final and Dreamer has to come out, obvs. It is another fantasy horror novella (like I said in “Inb4“, it’s what is coming down the pipe next). It’s sitting up on GoodReads because I didn’t feel like not having it up on GoodReads. Since so many of my books are done (as in, they’re now sitting in print/e-book form, there’s at least a cover mock up, etc), I don’t mind at least putting up the info of the next book. Probably won’t be like this forever, I have to make room for running out of steam and my disorders, but this is what I’m doing for the meantime because I like it. I don’t want to have a dredge of faceless books on my GoodReads because that frankly doesn’t look right to me. So just one faceless book to let everyone know, “O hai, new book after this new book :3” I’ve already mentioned the titles here throughout this blog so I don’t mind putting them up there.

The Logo

Dreamer was just featured on one of my favorite Tumblrs (yes, I still use that site but as my other blog, Black Witch) Superheroes in Color. The Tumblr shows countless books that feature people of color, I have found so many good books via that Tumblr, I’m very stoked that Dreamer is on there as well and amassing notes!

I was asked to present an author pic, something that isn’t even on this author blog, and this is what I presented below:

It me.

I regularly show my logo more than my face (way more than my face, I believe this is the first time on this site I’ve shown my face) and the reason why is I simply prefer my logo more. Even on Black Witch, there’s only one actual picture of me but all avatars for Black Witch are represented by the bolt logo

This logo

It’s what I’m used to, what can I say?

I have been asked about the MultiMind logo and why it looks the way it does so now is as good as time as any to explain it, especially since it’s really not common for authors to be identified by a logo. Actually, I can’t think of any author that does this. I’m sure one has to exist besides me, statistically.

The logo is the halves of the two M’s in MultiMind. They’re broken up because it’s a reference to one of the disorders I have, dissociative identity disorder (DID). The pen name is MultiMind because I really am multi-faceted in my skills but I also have DID (which used to be called “multiple personality disorder” up until 1994. Now, it’s a very outdated term). The DID reference is also why there is a block in the middle. DID has an amnesia component – a wall, if you will – between various alter states. Thus the block in the logo.

That’s basically a short explanation of the logo and why it’s far more present than my actual face. Woo.

Pre-Order “Dreamer” starting today! And I’m on GoodReads!

Today is the day you can pre-order Dreamer! You can pre-order the book in ebook and print. It apparently was available beforehand for pre-order but now today is the official day.

The audiobook (should all go well) will be out when the book is out, March 18, 2022. 

Pre-Order a copy of Dreamer

If anyone wants an ARC version for review, please let me know via Contact Me! 

Also, I am on GoodReads as an author. I hardly use it but I do keep it updated with (some) of the books I have read (I have a huuuuuuge library) and definitely updated with the books I have written. So, In Search of Amika is there and so is Dreamer. Woo.

Inb4

I’ve been reviewing my books/works that will be coming out and it basically reads like this:

Horror Sci-Fi (“Null(Void)”)
Fantasy (In Search of Amika)
Horror Fantasy (Dreamer)
Horror Fantasy
Horror-ish (not really too much) fantasy
Sci-Fi
Fantasy

And that’s the short list. The whiplash between regular contemporary fantasy/sci-fi and horror would prolly jag some readers who are here for the horror or are here for the fantasy/sci-fi.

Now, mind y’all, some of these works have been in the making for literal years (the oldest work listed is Dreamer (15 years), the youngest is prolly “Null(Void)” at less than a year prior publication) so there isn’t a set rhyme or reason to how or what is coming out. If I feel like putting out a horror work, it’s happenin’. If I feel like Sci-fi, it’s happenin’. If it’s Fantasy, thar ya go.

Das’sit.

Hugos & Nebulas

Been reading up on Hugos and Nebulas, simply because. Dreamer is coming out next year so I technically have a nomination-eligible work. In Search of Amika is also a nomination-eligible work. “Null(Void)” was a nomination-eligible work.

I strongly doubt any works I have and will make will ever make a single ballot, let alone net an award I have only heard of from time to time, and usually when those awards are in trouble. (I think I first heard of the Hugo Award, for example, because of the Sad Puppies thing – wait, no. More on that below). It’s not because I think my works aren’t good. I wouldn’t put them out if I thought they were total trash and should never see the light of day ever. It takes a lot of work to make a book, have the book edited, format the book into reading form and then format again into an electronic form and then format the book again for audio form – and I skipped over a lot of other fairly necessary stuff. That’s a lot to do for something that is “trash” so, no, I don’t think my works are trash and thus wouldn’t net anything Hugo or Nebula. 

It’s because the Hugos and Nebulas are kind of trash to me. 

Mind you, I am really, really new to the publishing industry. I spent a lot of my years hanging around the music industry, where things are a little different. For one: have you ever heard of something called a Grammy? Everyone knows what that award is, including people who are not in the music industry or care about the music industry. Whether people think it is a worthy award or a whole lot of gaming and politics or simply “it’s an award that looks like a small brass record player”, they know what a Grammy is. I have friends who have Grammys, have been nominated for Grammys, and have voted on the Grammys. And if you are a random person reading this, please note I probably don’t have to explain what a Grammy is, what it looks like or what it means. You probably are going “What is a Hugo? What is a Nebula?” (unless you care about sci-fi/fantasy literature awards). So, there’s that one big difference for me. I’m going from one arena where the awards are very well known and established to a different arena where the awards just sound more like “which nerd is most popular in that random group of nerds over there” to me. I can show off a Grammy and not have to explain what a Grammy is (I just would have to explain how I got one since I don’t put out music – fun fact, you can win Grammys for other things to do with music besides personally playing it. I am not interested in procuring one, though) but I feel like I would have to explain a Hugo or a Nebula. Or have any possible ego I could have attached to those awards be quickly deflated by someone saying “J.K. Rowlings has never needed or gotten one of those, why is it important?”. There’s also the Billboard awards, Mtv awards, etc etc etc. 

Those awards I definitely have a soap box for but that’s for when I am at the back of tour buses, to my friends who probably are not interested in music award politics, or to my cat, who sleeps halfway through my yammering. But as for Hugos and Nebulas, I didn’t really know they existed and I only knew they existed because of super bad behavior so they kind of leave a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, before Sad Puppies, I knew of Hugos through L. Ron Hubbard (the guy who invented the scam religion/cult known as Scientology) buying a bunch of memberships and voting for himself that way. So I didn’t exactly already see Hugos the same way I or any other person would see a Grammy. I kinda thought the Hugos weren’t real because of that. Or at least, real legitimate.  As for Nebulas (and Hugos), good old racism is generally what demotes the awards in my mind. 

Basically, because so many White writers win, I don’t see the awards as super legitimate because it isn’t like anyone who writes great sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic can win, you have to be White first and if not, you better have Whiteness centered in your works and a lot. And even then, they’re only letting you get an award because Tokenism, which waters down the grandness of such an achievement. If you aren’t White, you’re not really competing with the other writers, you’re competing with the Othered writers because remember, there can only be One (two or three if someone is feeling spicy) winner – so that the communities that dole out these awards can say “Hey, we’re not racist. We gave at least one (1) award to at least one (1) non-White at least once in the entire history of our existence. Like Octavia Butler! And also Not Dead Octavia Butler – we mean N.K. Jemisin! See? We are burbling with diversity! Overflowing! Just named two people there!” 

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, no. I’m new here but this sounds like total bullsh*t. Bad enough I have to hear pointless yammering from old people who still think Lovecraft & Asimov doesn’t suck. Probably because I’m younger and don’t have a deep love for Sci-Fi/Fantasy that could resemble a Klan meeting in fantastical elements but these pretty obvious issues really diminish the awards in my mind. 

Plus it seems like WorldCon (Hugos) and SFWA (Nebulas) have major problems cleaning house or keeping out the bigots. Like, major incompetency levels. It sometimes feels like telling a teenager to clean their room, they heard you loud and clear and they can understand exactly what you said – but they’re still not going to do it. And when you remind them “hey, you have to clean your room”, they hem and haw, even wonder what is the importance of having a clean room, they’re the only one sleeping in it. Press on them with “your room is a sty. Fix it.” and out come the super reluctant and moody blustering as they might do something but really it’s just moving some stuff around and a lot more incessant complaining. They’ll whine more than they do something. That’s WorldCon & SFWA to me when it comes to these very simple things of rooting out built-in prejudice in their own systems and especially their own awards. I get it looks complex to them, just like keeping a clean room is to a teenager who has 0% desire to have a clean room. It’s only complex if they make it out to be. 

Speaking as a Black writer who pens sci-fi/fantasy, you kind of learn to devalue these awards because you know for fact it’s not designed for “the best writer in spec fic”, it’s for “the best White writer in spec fic – and maybe for others who also like writing stuff White people like”. I already have said I don’t write race pain stories, I’m not into Suffera Stories like that. But White people like to see PoC, especially Black people, in pain and torture. I guess it reminds them of their ancestors’ glory days or something but yeah, it’s pretty telling when Get Out, a horror film, is considered a comedy by White film goers. There’s a lot to be said about racism-induced sociopathy right there. And if they get non-White characters, it’s best preferred to be penned by White people because the characters are still basically in their image of “what is a Black/Asian/Latin/etc person”, no need to worry about being introduced to characters that could viciously break out of the stereotype box and possibly even seem like their own individuals – y’know be seen as much akin to how White characters are treated and depicted: like actual people.

These folks are very happy and comfy with keeping things White so it is hard to really care about the awards when they’re pretty redundant in a way. Well, they sort of make themselves redundant because what’s the point of trying to get an award that already disregards you almost right at the start? Where it basically doesn’t matter how well you write or create, you don’t satisfy Whiteness enough so who cares what you make? Where “hey, everybody! We gave an award to someone not White! Look at us! Look at us! Are you pissed off yet? We just did a thing!” is what makes headlines. That’s pretty trash. 

If the awards were actually about outstanding works in speculative fiction, regardless who they are about or who writes them, then I would see something to get sort of hyped for. A goal to strive for because, frankly, that would sound cool. But not if there is an implied “you must be this White or White-adjacent” to even remotely be considered. Then the awards just sounds dumb. 

At least they’re not The Grammys. That way, I’ll never have to worry about anyone ever asking me “when do you think you’ll win one?” because the average person doesn’t even know that Hugos or Nebulas exists. 

 

New Book Coming Out in 2022: Dreamer (Pre-Orders Available in November!)

Smoothed out all the to-do’s with In Search of Amika, so time to reveal the next book: Dreamer.

Everyone, behold – the cover:

Isn’t the cover just lovely? Created by Edge, who also did the cover for In Search of Amika, the cover is stunning.

Dreamer is a Young Adult Horror Fantasy novella that will be coming out in 2022. Quite possibly mid-2022.

The premise of the book:

Vera has unusual dreams, anything she dreams comes alive. Dream Traveling, her family calls it. Doing it all her life, it doesn’t affect Vera as much as it used to. She has her rules and her methods, as long as she follows them, all is fine.

Until she saw something she discovered she couldn’t handle. Now, her dreams are plagued by The Hunter, a deadly character that wants nothing more than to haunt her mind and leave behind a bloody spree. Vera must find a way to get The Hunter out of her head before he makes sure she never wakes up again.

So much for “sweet dreams”.

The book will be available for pre-order in print and ebook format, audiobook will come out when the book does. Pre-ordering will be live soon, in November 2021.

Please note! This book will not only be longer than In Search of Amika (which was a novelette) but also will be the first book I put out that will have a caution page. I already wrote up about having warning pages/caution pages but yup, Dreamer will have one. And I’m excited, because I can be as vivacious and vicious as I like. And I shall.