Raven Oak's Blog, page 6

Punctuation Matters

For National Punctuation Day… an oldie but a goodie.

The post Punctuation Matters appeared first on RAVEN OAK.

Family is a Complicated Word

Today in the United States, it is National Family Day. Families are definitely a theme in my works, everything from found and chosen families to blood relatives and all the pros and cons that come with each type of relationship.

Because of my background as a teacher (and teaching a wide variety of families) as well as my childhood experiences, family is a complicated word. It carries a lot of weight and as such, I find myself constantly pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a family. Var...

Flights of Foundry Con

Flights of Foundry is a free, online creative convention hosted this year from Friday, September 27 through Sunday, September 29, completely online and COVID-free!

If you want to come, you can register for FREE at https://flights-of-foundry.org/registration/

My Flights of Foundry Schedule:

FRIDAY 9/27
3 PM PT – Problematic Faves Panel w/ Cat Rambo, R. K. Duncan, Jennifer Spirko, & Raven Oak (in Swooperton)
4 PM PT – Cozy Game Squeefest w/ Shade Oyemakinwa, V. M. Ayala, & Raven Oak (in Bartholome...

Strong Women Strange Worlds

I will be a guest over on the Strong Women – Strange Worlds show on Thursday, 9/19 @ 7 PM EDT along with fellow authors J. L. Delavega, Marisa Wolf, Catherine LaCroix, K. A. Hough, & Marcie Rendon. Come join us for some quick reads & fun.

Because this is on Zoom, preregistration is required to attend. The event is FREE and you can register over at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/first-friday-third-thursday-quick-read-tickets-958075358187?aff=oddtdtcreator

Note: While I am nonbinary, Strong Women S...

Hate is a Choice

Truth is… I have ZERO tolerance for using slurs in nonfiction in order to demonstrate something occurred in the past.  As someone who has written a memoir, I’m aware that some words and actions that may have been acceptable back when aren’t now, and as a writer, how I approach that is a CHOICE. In Voices Carry , I do write about a white friend I had as a child whose mother married a man of color. She was not biracial, but her siblings were. Being the early 80’s in Northern Florida, t...

Interdimensions

I’m not sure how but in all the chaos that was the release of Voices Carry, I managed to miss posting on here about a short story publication!

My short story, “Eye of the Beholder,” which I co-wrote with author Jennifer Brozek, was picked up for publication in the 2024 Gen Con Writers’ Symposium anthology called Interdimensions.

They released a special edition of it at Gen Con this month, but you can get the trade paperback (or eBook) via your bookstore of choice. (Retail links can be found here...

The Mythos of the Tooth Fairy

Today’s National Tooth Fairy Day.The mythos of the tooth fairy dates back to the 1920’s. A group of healthcare folks wanted to encourage kids to better oral hygiene and used various advertisements and health classes to do so. Part of the ads were created by Esther Watkins Arnold through a playlet called The Tooth Fairy.  There are also rumors that during the same year Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published photographs of two girls surrounded by faeries as “evidence” that faeries like the too...

Potatoes!

Today is National Potato Day, a day I know my friend and fellow author Jesikah Sundin enjoys. Oddly enough, potatoes are featured frequently in SF/F tales. They outlast apocalypses and feed hungry hobbits.As a child, I developed an allergy to tomatoes, which are part of the nightshade group. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve built up allergies and intolerances to bell peppers and other peppers. If I eat too many potatoes, my intolerance kicks in so I suspect that some day, I won’t be able to enjoy po...

Story Hour!

Along with Michael Conley, I was a guest on Story Hour last night, where I read a short story from my Dragon Springs & Other Things short story collection. I read the story with the same name as the collection, which features a young tinkerer who makes a dragon and chaos ensues. It’s a fun steampunk fantasy story.

You can view/listen to that at the link below. You do not have to have a Facebook account to view it.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2456652891201838

The p...

Rosemary GF Cookies!

If you missed my Voices Carry Book Launch Party, which you can watch here, I mentioned a yummy Rosemary GF cookie recipe. Now I know what you’re thinking… rosemary? Gluten free? In the same sentence as yummy? But yes!!

This recipe was passed on to us from a great friend and fellow author, Jennifer Brozek, so thanks to her for this as well.

Shortbread amazing rosemary cookiesIngredients:

1 stick butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tabl...