Tag: RavenCon

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IWSG

#IWSG May. 2023- Inspiration is here!

IWSG

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Optional Monthly Question: When you are working on a story, what inspires you?

Life inspires me, but sometimes I have to focus and seek inspiration. I will listen to music that evokes particular moods or that helps set a scene. I will people-watch to observe natural reactions and responses. I will look at or attempt to create art that helps me flesh out a character or situation. While I might like to sit back and let the inspiration come to me, sometimes I get tired of waiting and just try something- usually a writing prompt.

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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS

#iwsgbookclub

Member Spotlight

Razor Valentine – Goodreads, Amazon

Craft Book

How to Rock Self-Publishing – Goodreads, Amazon, Bookshop

This a voluntary monthly challenge, just for fun.

Now, on to the personal updates.

I had such a good time at RavenCon16. Check out the video below.

I’ve been writing more than I’m used- not a lot- but enough to make me feel proud. I even submitted a story to an anthology. Even if the story isn’t selected, I’m just proud I was able to submit something.

I haven’t written my April book reviews yet, but my reading was 50% positive and 50% not-so-positive. I’ll be talking more about that next week when I post my reviews, but the Book Club Library challenge turned out to be quite a ride.

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What inspires you when writing?
What do you think of this month’s theme challenge?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.
My response time has gotten slower but I’m still making my rounds.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Joylene Nowell Butler,
Ronel Janse van Vuuren,
Meka James,
Victoria Marie Lees, and
M Louise Barbour!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #28).

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

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Virtual Book Tours

CORVID-19 is here! @RavenCon & @kickstarter #anthology

I’m so excited to share the cover of the fundraising anthology, CORVID-19, with you as the Kickstarter campaign to support RavenCon launches today.

I’m so happy to have contributed to this collection of stories and hope you will consider giving to the campaign. Click the image below to visit Kickstarter and learn more.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter

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#blacklivesmatter About Toi Virtual Book Tours

CORVID-19 is coming! @RavenCon & @kickstarter #anthology

The first time I attended RavenCon I was blown away. It was such a good experience all around and I knew it would become part of my regular Con experience whether I vended or not. So, when I was given a chance to speak at my next RavenCon I thought I’d truly made it into this geeky tribe where I would be safe and accepted… until I wasn’t.

I won’t go into a lot of details, but at my second RavenCon, someone who worked for the establishment where the event was held made me and my niece feel less than accepted. This wasn’t RavenCon’s fault in any way, but when news of my experience reached them, they investigated to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen again at their event, which I thought was great. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, it was their word against mine. At that point, everyone tried to convince me that I was being sensitive, but after a lifetime of being the only black person in a place and being ignored or being last to be acknowledged, they were right. I was being sensitive- sensitive to the familiar feeling of being overlooked and dismissed. Not having someone understand that hurt.

Despite the hurt I felt, when I saw RavenCon stand up to proclaim that Black Lives Matter, I decided to put the past behind me and move forward. 2020 and COVID-19 have been hard/difficult/down-right terrible on so many. When I saw that RavenCon wanted to raise money to help compensate vendors and refund tickets I wanted to help. I’ve been a convention ticket holder and vendor and I know first hand what it’s meant to not attend Cons this year.

I gave to an initial fundraiser they held a while back and submitted a story for their charitable anthology, knowing I would make no money from it if my story was chosen. I was surprised when my story was chosen and was happy to work with the editor, Michael Pederson, to perfect the story for print.

I’m very excited for people to have a chance to read my story in the CORVID-19 anthology, and even more excited to do my part to help raise money for RavenCon. The Kickstarter campaign launches in one week on Wednesday, December 16. I do hope you will check it out and #BackTheRaven.

*Sorry I didn’t share the cover of CORVID-19, I wasn’t given clearance for that 😉 Don’t worry, I’ll post again on launch day. Hope to see you then.*

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter