Raven Oak's Blog, page 5

Eligibility Post

I posted this before but forgot a story. Oops! Also, since nominations just opened up for the Hugo Awards, it’s a great time to make this post again.

My eligible short stories include “The Curse” and “The Bell Ringer,” which are from my collection The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales, and “Eye of the Beholder,” which I co-wrote with Jennifer Brozek and was published in the anthology Interdimensions. 

My collection The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales qualifies for any award for best collection...

The Half-Time Show

I’m feeling the need to talk a bit about Kendrick Lamar’s Super bowl Half-Time Show, mostly because I feel that people seriously didn’t grok (understand) the powerful message behind it. Whether that’s because America’s average intelligence level and IQ is in the toilet these days or because too much of America is drowning in racism…honestly, probably both.

A bit of fact: Football players are predominately black. Football is a brutal, gladiator-like sport where the players often end up permanentl...

2024 Year in Review

2024… What can I say to you? What can I say about you? You looked at 2023 and said hold my beer. For my household, 2024 was challenging on all fronts. So what happened?

My 2024 Year in ReviewThe following publications of mine came out:the trade paperback and eBook of The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales came out in February, which included two new stories of mine, “The Curse” and “The Bell Ringer,” plus a ton of new art by meMy short story, “Not Today,” was published in the anthology  99 Fl...

Fresh Pick!

Just got an email that The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales , my short story & art collection, is a “Fresh Pick” over at Fresh Fiction , a sizable book box subscription group. It’s also in the running for their 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.  From them: “The Fresh Pick is chosen by our reviewers and readers… We’ve chosen your book because it appeals to us and we like to share our diverse tastes in reading and hope otherreaders will give The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales a try.” ...

Nikki

Because I got sick this week, I missed that four days ago, the great poet Nikki Giovanni died. She is probably my favorite poet of all time and I’ve certainly shared her poetry on this site before because of that. Her words held such power and will continue on long after her, but I am still sad that she’s gone from this world. So I leave you with one of my favs, which is about so much more than spiders…

Allowables
By Nikki Giovanni

I killed a spider
Not a murderous brown recluse
Nor even a black...

Holiday Extravaganza!

Strong Women, Strange Worlds is having a holiday extravaganza on Dec. 14th from 10 AM – 4 PM EST. The event will have many authors and fun events like Mad Libs, improv storytelling, Speed Date a Book, Round Robin stories, digital freebies, and more!

I’ll be there from 1 – 2 PM EST as part of the Speed Date a Book, so come check it out. Pre-register for the all day Zoom party now at: https://strongwomenstrangeworlds.weebly.com/

The post Holiday Extravaganza! appeared first on RAVEN OAK.

Tea Time!

Back on November 18th, I was a guest on Miss Liz’s Tea Time where we talked about Technology, Education, and the Arts. More specifically, we talked about diversity, growing up different, disability, and life in general. You can watch the show on YouTube (see below) or listen to it on any number of podcasting sites.

Other places to watch/listen:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AFdmCUZipUUa0GNr42DYK

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/misslizsteatimes

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Amaskan’s Honor Pre-Order

I’ve got something special for you all!

From now until 11/30/24, you can PRE-ORDER your autographed paperback of Amaskan’s Honor direct from me and it will ship to you ONE MONTH before the publication date this spring (2025). You’ll be able to read it before anyone else!

So how do you pre-order it?

All you have to do is click this button! You’ll go to a special page in my store where you will enter your information & pay for the book. The price includes shipping. Come spring, your book will be m...

Threadless

I sell prints and originals of my art over at www.theartofravenoak.com but more recently, I’ve created a Threadless shop for selling my art on a variety of things like t-shirts, pillows, shower curtains, etc. You name it, it’s probably there.

You can check out my store and support me at:

https://ravenoak.threadless.com/

I personally like Threadless for the variety of goods they have and the variety of shirt styles they have as well. Still working on adding my art somewhere with better plus-size ...

GeekGirlCon Wrap-Up

Elise and I almost didn’t attend GeekGirlCon this year. Not because of COVID concerns because GGC is a masked convention, but because of the election. Worries about safety and the future are real. I’m glad we went because it was so needed.

Me and Elise at our booth just after set up on Friday. We are so very tired in this photo!

I needed to be amongst my people–not just geeky folks but the queer community. Being around people who understood our concerns and worry about the future, people who wou...