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It is my pleasure to be contributing to Alicia’s wonderful blog on the subject of multicultural speculative fiction. Or, as I sometimes call it, fantastic fiction.

Last November, I participated in Nanowrimo during the month of November. It was an amazing experience. I was able to complete the first draft of my Soul Eater novel.  What I figured out, though, was that this was more than one short novel.  After much thought, gnashing, and trepidation, I came to the conclusion that what I was really writing ended up being a 3-part serial or episodic novel.

Why did you decide to use the theme of intergenerational poverty?

As an attorney representing low-income tenants living in public housing, intergenerational poverty is something that I witness daily in both my work and my community, and something I have had personal experiences with. It felt both natural and necessary to weave those topics into my stories, which are speculative re-tellings of real life experiences.  Outside of the context of politics and policy, where they are spun and distorted, these complicated tales of intergenerational poverty are rarely heard and rarely analyzed. .

SOBSF 2014 Come out and meet authors Alan Jones, Alicia McCalla, Balogun Ojetade, James Mason, LM Davis and Milton Davis as they discuss Black Speculative Fiction and read from their works. Come purchase books and have them signed by the writers. As an added bonus, James Mason will provide caricatures for any purchases totaling $20.00 or more. Date: Saturday, February 22, 2014 […]

Come out and meet authors Alan Jones, Alicia McCalla, Balogun Ojetade, James Mason, LM Davis and Milton Davis as they discuss Black Speculative Fiction and read from their works. Come purchase books and have them signed by the writers. As an added bonus, James Mason will provide caricatures for any purchases totaling $20.00 or more. Date: Saturday, February 22, 2014 Time: 12pm-5pm […]

It’s no secret that I love Urban Fantasy. It’s one of my favorite genres along with SciFi, Dystopian, and dark Paranormals. I adore Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series and Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series. But when it comes down to it, I get all excited when I see kick-a$$ black women heroines like in Kenya Wright’s Habitat series or Seressia Glass’ Shadow Chasers series. So, there I was in the middle of writing the Soul Eater when Noelle Pierce unveils this awesome dragon fairy with two guns drawn.  Why did she agree to redesign my website? Why did she provide me with this distraction? The dragon fairy princess would not stop assaulting my sleep until I wrote her introduction. I guess, it’s fitting, she is now the main focal point of my awesome website re-do so why shouldn’t I write her tale? Happy 2014! Let me know what you think of my new 2014 web design and meet Aisha, the Dragon Fairy Princess and descendant of darkness: 

Everything has a cost, the universe is resolved in this.  And so it is too with our very own lives; for each action a price; for each decision, a consequence; for each path, a toll.  Even for the very air we breathe, a star had to die to produce the elements and complex molecules needed carry on the chain of life.

When I started writing science fiction, I thought it was the best that had happened to me. I was only a child, almost at the cusp of teenage-hood.  Science fiction – in the form of Japanese cartoons (or properly termed “anime”- had opened my eyes to many worlds inhabited by different people. Likewise, I had also started reading voraciously and my worlds were dragons, spaceships and androids. 

DragonCon news: The State of Black Science Fiction presentation will be Friday, August 30th at 8:30 p.m. in Embassy A-B at the Hyatt. Join Balogun Ojetade, L.M. Davis, Alan Jones, Alicia McCalla and Milton Davis for a lively discussion on where we've been and where we're headed.   The Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Urban Fantasy Protagonists Panel will […]

I’m too excited about my interview with author Kenya Wright.  She’s agreed to give away a free e-copy of her book.  I’ll also give away one e-copy of her book. So I’ll announce two winners on Friday after 5pm from the commenters on my blog about her interview.  So, get your questions and comments ready. Here’s her interview.