Tag Archives: Jeffrey J Mariotte

Appearances, Family, Novels

TFOB WRAP-UP, BIRTHDAY WEEK, PODCAST INTERVIEW

Writing

I have such catchy titles, don’t I? Heh.

Quick Tuscon Festival of Books recap:

Sold many books (sold out of a few), saw many friends, met many new people, and the weather was perfect. Here’s a picture:

Booth at Tucson Festival of Books 2022 (photo credit: Jeff Mariotte)

Yes, I know that’s a half-assed recap at best, but I am so out of spoons, I don’t even have a silverware drawer. Had a family emergency while at the festival that I had to try to handle over the phone and my youngest had surgery bright and early the day after we got back. Plus revisions on the novel for [NDA redacted]. I haven’t had a moment to breathe, let alone blog.

I do want to let you know that I’m recording a podcast interview with the lovely Vickie Lan over at Speculative Sandbox on Friday. We will be talking about Dark Triad and Light Triad personalities – aka, psychopaths! You all know that’s a favorite topic of mine, LOL. I will let you know when it is up and you can give it a listen on whatever platform you enjoy your podcasts on.

I’m also doing a some “cultural consulting” for a friend who oversees properties at an indie comics house. I’m by no means an expert on the width and breadth of Native experience, but if I can help correct misrepresentations of Native people in literature in even a small way, I am happy to do it (well, to get paid to do it – I’m not giving away emotional labor for free, and neither should you).

Also, I turned in the revisions for the above-mentioned [NDA redacted] novel. I’m really pleased with it and I can’t wait to tell you more about it – you’re going to be so excited! I know I am!

Speaking of novels, you should really check out what Jeff has been up to lately. He has SO much good stuff coming out, you won’t know what to buy first!

Everything Else

Let’s see…book festival, family emergency, son’s surgery…something else happened this week, but I can’t seem to remember what it was…

Just kidding! You all know Aries Season opens with my birthday.

This year, it also means we now have two teenaged and three adult children. My nest echoes more with every passing day. Fly and make yourselves proud, my little chicks! You don’t have to worry about making me proud of you. I always am.

Appearances, Awards, Poetry, Short Fiction

TUCSON FESTIVAL OF BOOKS & OTHER NEWS

Writing

Happy Pre-Aries Season! LOL.

First, a second poem of mine, “Erasing Myself from the Narrative,” published over at Lorelei Signal, was also nominated for the Rhysling Award in the Long form category! Yaay!

Second, I sold another poem! The contract is signed, so I believe it’s safe to announce that my poem, “EMDR,” about trauma therapy, will be appearing in an upcoming issue of Unnerving Magazine. My first time being published in this cool horror venue!

Third, today is the last day to get in your nominations for the Nebula Award, so if you’re still reading, I have eligible work!

Also, Jeff and I will be at Tucson Festival of Books on March 12-13 with the Artisans of Words and Wonders in Tent #116 (formerly the Desert Dreams Conference tent). It’s pretty much the same tent in the same place, just with a new name.

Members of the Artisans of Words and Wonders who will be in attendance at the 2022 Tucson Festival of Books

Anyway, I will have a TON of new stuff available for purchase and signing, including:

Straight Outta Deadwood, which includes my Indigenous weird western horror story, “Dreamcatcher,” which Publishers Weekly said “incorporates Native American mythology” in a “fresh fashion.” (Note that dreamcatchers themselves aren’t mythology in the sense of an ancient belief – we make them and use them for the same purpose today as when we were originally gifted with them. But, whatever. Still nice to get some love from PW.)(Jeff also has a story in this.)

The One That Got Away: Women of Horror Anthology Volume 3, which includes my Stephen King homage, “The Recliner.” (Note that this story is a reprint, so if you have Bridges, you’ve already read it. But you should still pick this up for all the other great stories.)

Turning the Tied, which includes the story I wrote for my trans daughter (who was not yet out at the time), “A Prisoner Freed in Oz.” (Jeff also has a story in this.)

Voices of Varuna: A Renegade Legion Universe Anthology, which includes my Indigenous story about colonization and assimilation in space, “Stepping Stones.”

Wanderers: Poems from Those Who Cross Borders, a chapbook which includes my Métis poem, “The Things We Pass Down.”

The 2020 Rhysling Anthology, which includes my nominated poem, “Stormbound,” plus a ton of the best speculative poetry being put out today. (Also, I don’t know why, but I wound up with a metric ton of these, so please come buy some!)

And I may have this one:

Bodies Full of Burning: An Anthology of Menopause-Themed Horror, which includes my Lady Bathory story, “It Will Have Blood, They Say.” (I somehow did not order author copies of this, so am, trying to rectify that now.)”

And a bunch of the old stuff, too, though you probably have all of that by now, heh.

Anyway, come see us! It’s an outdoor event, but we’ll be wearing masks and making liberal use of hand sanitizer to do our best to keep you (and us) safe. We are also vaxxed and boosted – hopefully you are, too.

Everything Else

#StandWithUkraine

Appearances, Poetry

WHAT’S IN THE BOX? PAIN.

Writing

First, I’m sorry to say that due to a severe pain flare (the legacy left from when I got rear-ended in 2019), I am just not able to travel at the moment, and so will not be able to attend TusCon48 after all. Apologies to all who were hoping to see me there. sadface

Jeff and I are still hoping to attend the Local Author Book Fair at the Red Mountain Library in Mesa. That will be on Saturday, December 4th from 12-4 PM. Come see us and grab some new books!

I also sold a couple of poems since my last update. My poem about being Métis, “The Things We Pass Down,” will appear in the Wanderers chapbook being put out by Off Topic Publishing. Not sure when that one will be released, but of course I will let you know. The other poem, about Iris, goddess of the rainbow (which was actually the inspiration for my short story, “Play It Again, Sem”), will be in an anthology to be published in Spring 2022. More details on that after the contract is signed.

And Jeff has a spiffy new website. Go check it out.

Everything Else

SPOILER ALERT!

They took one of my favorite exchanges out of the new Dune movie.

Paul: Are you suggesting the Duke’s son is an animal?

Reverend Mother: Let us say, I suggest you may be human.

Those two lines have stuck in my mind for 35-odd years, ever since I read Dune for the first time. I was super disappointed when they weren’t in the new movie. Haven’t finished watching it yet, so can’t render an opinion on it as a whole, but cutting that exchange out is definitely a mark in the negative column for me.

Appearances, Poetry

MY MMIWG2ST POEM IS UP! AND I’LL BE AT TUSCON 48! COME SEE ME!

Writing

First off, excited to say that my #MMIWG2ST poem, “Reservation Fairy Tales 101 – Final Exam” is now available in Augur 4.1! I am SO proud of this poem – it is unlike anything I’ve ever written before, and it highlights this horrible epidemic Indigenous people are suffering from that gets so little attention (though that seems to be slowly changing). If you can pick up a copy of the issue, you really should. There is a ton of amazing work in it (not just mine, heh).

I have also signed the contract to work on an exciting new RPG property that is right up my alley. Excited to share that when I can. Signed another contract, too, but mum’s the word on that for now, sorry. And got an invite to an awesome new project that I can’t wait to tell you about.

So my writing dance card is pretty full ATM, which is both good and bad, I guess. Good, because no day job. Bad, because writing = pain. But it makes my little creative heart happy to have such a bounty of work, and I am definitely thankful to Creator and my patron saint of writing, St. Catherine of Alexandria, for their efforts on my behalf, heh.

Also, Jeff’s historical fiction epic about the bandit Joaquin Murrieta (written in conjunction with his descendant, Peter Murrieta), Blood and Gold, released on October 27th. It’s a genre that is not usually my jam, tbh, but I found it engrossing and entertaining, and some parts were heartbreaking. You should definitely go pick it up if you are at all interested in Gold Rush or California/Mexico history.

Finally, Jeff and I (both fully vaxxed AND boostered) will be at TusCon 48 IN PERSON (gasp!), and since that’s coming up on Nov 12-14, I figured I should post my schedule. Not super busy this year, but that’s okay with me, because I have a lot of stuff to keep me occupied during my downtime (see above).

Sat, Nov 13
Autograph Signing
Autograph Area, 2PM – 3PM
Jeff Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, S.A. Bradley, Gloria McMillan

Sat, Nov 13
The Dark Side of Fantasy
Panel Room 1, 3PM – 4PM
Janni Lee Simner, Heshe Leontess, Marsheila Rockwell, Curt Booth

Sun, Nov 14
Could Telepaths Be Anything But Sociopaths
Ballroom, 12PM – 1PM
SJ Schauer, William Herr, Jim Doty, Marsheila Rockwell, Curt Booth

Whew, long post! I’ll end it soon, don’t worry.

Everything Else

We got to see Stacey Abrams a few weeks ago. Even if you don’t agree with her politics, she is smart and funny, and I’m going to leave you with this nugget she dropped at the event:

Interviewer: What are some of your guilty pleasures?

Stacey: I don’t feel guilty about my pleasures.

Neither should we. Especially in 2020 the Sequel. Find joy where you can, and hold on to it. It’s a precious commodity these days.

Poetry

TWISTY POEMS, HISTORICAL EPICS, AND A SHIFT IN THINKING

(Because I am masochistic, I’m going to try manually cross-posting my blog entries from Dreamwidth to here, as there is no way to do it automatically at present. If it becomes too much of a bother, I will just stick to directing the “BLOG” page over to Dreamwidth.)

Writing

First off, my poem “Erasing Myself from the Narrative” is up over at The Lorelei Signal. It’s a twisted Rapunzel retelling, and you should definitely go check it out. Go on, I’ll wait.

I have other news about a couple of projects that I am not currently at liberty to share, but I’m SUPER excited about them. I’ll let you know what’s up just as soon as I can. I think you’ll be excited, too!

Also, Jeff has a metric TON of stuff going on, including the release of the historical epic, Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murietta. It’s all very exciting, but I’ll let him tell you about it.

Everything Else

Facebook and Instagram were down all day yesterday. It cost Mark Zuckerberg $7 billion dollars and I’m not sure he even noticed. Meanwhile, my Twitter feed is full of folks needing GoFundMes to pay for their medical bills. There is something deeply flawed in our society when one man (or a handful of men) could pay off every single medical bill, mortgage, and college tuition in this country and still have millions left over, and yet we still have people losing their homes because some of their genes decided to mutate in a the way that kills you instead of giving you super powers.

Maybe it’s because I’m Native, but I have always understood that when you have, you give. When I was growing up, we had to live off of welfare, intermittent paydays from my step-dad’s carpenter gigs (virtually non-existent during Montana winters), food from the Mission, and grocery store dumpster diving. And my mother would still give money or food to people who had less than us.

Because when you have, you give. That’s why you have. I realize that’s a foreign concept to a lot of people these days, but it’s how we began. Maybe it’s time we remembered why.

Man is not the pinnacle of the hierarchy. There IS no hierarchy. We are all connected, all equal. That simple shift in worldview would make this planet a very different place. A better one, I’d wager.