Stephani Maari Booker's Blog, page 12

Experienced sensitivity reader for hire

I've just finished my first job as a sensitivity reader. I was hired by a longtime established White author to read a manuscript that's under contract with a publisher for issues of race/ism and other "isms." I fulfilled our contract today to give back the manuscript with marks on it and a written commentary/critique by 30 days after receipt. I got it done with two reads of an about 65,000-word manuscript in 26 days.

The author was receptive and delighted by my work, saying they learned a lot and want to hire me for their next book, as well as recommend me to other writers.

So if anybody needs a highly recommended, experienced, prompt and professional sensitivity reader, hit me up!

Come see me on my YouTube channel!

I've had a YouTube account for a little bit, but now my YouTube channel has a grand total of two videos of me reading from my sci-fi novel manuscript "Secret Insurrection."

One video was from the MinnSpec WordBrew reading I did last year; that video is from the MinnSpec YouTube channel and is posted on my channel's public playlist.

The other is a video a friend made of a reading I did this past March, which he graciously gave me a copy of so I could upload it on my YouTube page.

Come check me out here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChnO...

More of my poetry published!

Off the Coast, billed as "Maine's international poetry journal," has published my poem "Glacier" in its Fall 2016 issue. Off the Coast is a hard-copy journal that is available for purchase here: http://off-the-coast.3dcartstores.com . The journal's website is http://www.off-the-coast.com .

That makes a total of 11 poems I've had published. Plus, three more have been accepted for publication in the coming year. It's so great to already have publications coming up in 2017.

Meanwhile, I'm putting together a simple booklet of my poetry that's been published so far that I can sell at any readings I might do in the future. I already created a booklet of my two sci-fi novel excerpts that were published and put it on sale at the last reading I did, the Wordbrew event held by MinnSpec and Conrad Zero this past November. I always billed myself on my business cards as "Athena Persephoni: Writing, Editing, Publishing." It's great to finally make the last part of my work come true, even on a micro level.

Indigenous and POC Authors of Speculative Fiction list

My friend Debra Williams has tirelessly worked to put together a list of Indigenous and People of Color Authors of Speculative Fiction. She's the monitor of the Indigenous and POC Authors of Speculative Fiction group on Facebook. She's also a Native American lesbian who is blind, so her list focuses on non-visually oriented material such as books and podcasts rather than graphic novels and movies.

I helped her to edit it and post it on her website, so here it is, and here's to Deb!

https://indigenousandpocspeculativefi...

Sci-fi novel excerpt number two published!

A second excerpt from my sci-fi novel draft Secret Insurrection, subtitled "Blood bonds, Memory binds," is in an ebook anthology from Afrofutures_UK. The Future of Us: An Anthology consists of fiction, poetry, essays and art of and about African-Diaspora speculative fiction and futures.

It's a free PDF download or read online at issuu: https://issuu.com/afrofutures_uk/docs...
It's also available at iBooks.

Afrofutures_UK is a pretty cool collective of folks; for more information about them, check them out on their blog or on Twitter: https://afrofuturesuk.wordpress.com or https://twitter.com/AfroFutures_UK
They're also on Facebook; search for them by their name.

MSR article: Twin Cities Pride after Orlando

When the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder asked me to cover this year's Twin Cities Pride Parade and Festival, I felt obligated to do so after the horror of the Orlando, Florida shootings. From my point-of-view as a lesbian of color, Pride had some pleasing elements and surprises, yet real issues of inclusiveness for people of color in the long term remain. I especially wonder about this as the parade was dominated by corporate sponsors, mainstream businesses and politicians bucking for reelection.

The Pride Parade had the most people of color I've ever seen at the event, yet I wonder if after the furor over Orlando fades if there will be the same representation next year. Also, the Pride Festival's Power to the People stage, an oasis of POC cultures, music and entertainment founded by queer POC activists, had its 15th anniversary. However, the stage will be under new management next year, leaving open whether it will continue its mission of being a place by and for people of color in the midst of White Pride.

Here's my article about this year's Twin Cities Pride:
http://spokesman-recorder.com/2016/06...

My tribute to Prince in the MSR

When I was a kid in Michigan coming of age with Prince and the Minneapolis Sound, I never imagined I would one day be living in Prince's hometown. I also never imagined that I would ever be standing in front of his home, Paisley Park, mourning his death.

I am honored that the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, probably the first print medium to write about Prince, asked me to contribute to their memorial front page to our modern-day Mozart and Byron -- he truly was mad, bad and dangerous to know!

http://spokesman-recorder.com/2016/04...

I've finished my sci-fi novel draft!

Today, on my late grandmother's birthday (known to the rest of the world as Groundhog Day), I finished the first draft of my first novel!

I didn't get much work done on it last year, especially compared to how I powered through it the year before, but over just the past week I got a brain wave that led me to writing the climax and the ending in a few big bursts.

What a relief! So now I just contacted another published SFF writer who offered to critique and edit my manuscript for a fee. Hopefully, she'll get back to me tomorrow so I can get this next stage started. I also emailed PDFs to two beta readers, and I may have two more. On to critique and revision!

For those who missed it the first time I posted it, here's an excerpt from my novel that was published last year:

http://jalada.org/2015/01/15/secret-i...

MSR Online article & photos on my sojourn into Black Omaha

On a weekend trip to Omaha, Nebraska in late June, my wife and I took a brief tour of the Black neighborhood of North Omaha, home of the African American newspaper The Omaha Star. As a freelance writer and editor for the Black newsweekly the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR), I was interested in The Omaha Star's history and its home base in the Black community. The MSR published my photos and a short article about North Omaha.

http://spokesman-recorder.com/2015/07...

MSR article on Black presence at MSP ComicCon

I had fun attending MSP ComicCon May 16-17 and finding Black comic book artists and writers there, as well as dealers and cosplayers. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder published my account of my time there, along with pictures taken by my talented photographer and wife Misha Oneby:

http://spokesman-recorder.com/black-c...