Glasgow 2024 Worldcon

Emerging from my well to shame mankind tell you about my schedule for Glasgow 2024 Worldcon! Unfortunately, due to health and financial reasons, I won’t be able to attend in-person this year, but I will be on panels for their virtual track.

On Thursday, August 8th at 9:30 AM PDT/ 17:30 BST, I’ll be speaking on Creating a Language for Your World.

Saturday, August 10th at 11:00 AM PDT/19:00 BST, you can catch me on Blood is Thicker than Water: Found Family in SFF (Online Version).

As usual, you can find my upcoming events on the page with the same name.

Furthermore, now that I (finally) have access to Bluesky, I’m in the process of setting up a presence there that I hope to have ready by the time of the conference, what with all of my other social media presences having been dead for, uh, like well over a year now. I’ll post the link for that here once I getting it looking less like a bot account. UPDATE: Here it is: @jasminegower.bsky.social.

[UPDATED AGAIN] Upcoming Event: The Nebula Conference

On May 13th at 10:30 am, you can find me on the panel “How to Reach an Audience with a Niche Genre” at the 2023 SFWA Nebula Conference. I’ll be attending in-person, and this will be an on-site panel, but there will be plenty of virtual programming items for the event as well, as this is a hybrid conference.

UPDATE: Oh, haha, I forgot to mention that I also have a book signing immediately after my panel, from 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM at Signing Table A. I will at the very least be bringing Moonshine bookmarks to sign, and I’ll update here if I am able to scrounge together some other goodies to bring along.

UPDATE 2: I’m now also a panelist on Some Like It Hot: Sex Scenes and Character Development, which will also be May 13th at the in-person conference, this time at 4:30 PM. Also, in addition to bookmarks, I’ll be bringing to my signing bookplates and a limited number of Moonshine paperback copies to give away (first come, first served).An infographic reading: "2023 Nebula Conference, Join My Panel! Some Like It Hot: Sex Scenes and Character Development, May 13, 4:30 pm Pacific, Registration: events.sfwa.org". In the infographic background is an illustration of a Black woman with stars in her hair.

All of the details for my events can be found at the usual Upcoming Events page here on my site, and more information about the Nebula Conference can be found at SFWA’s Events page.

A round-up of where to find me on the World Wide Web

Photo by Spencer Goad: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spgoad/12998899453

I’m going to list the links first and then get to the sort of post-amble below. You can currently (as of 11/15/22) find me at the following social media addresses. As a point of order, I am not very active on any of them yet, but I can confirm that these accounts are, indeed, me:

As always, I can also be found at my editorial sub-site, as well as on Reedsy.

There are a few more places where you can check out stuff that I’m working on, though each of these is currently on a hiatus:

Now, on to the amble:

Like many authors and other creatives, I’ve been working the past week or so to make contingency plans in the (increasingly likely) scenario that Twitter becomes literally unusable in the near future. I do so with mixed feelings. On one hand, Twitter is the most active online gathering place for people in my field–it’s where I’ve connected with many friends, collaborators, readers, and just generally cool people. Twitter is also the site where #DVPit was run, the event in which my pitch for Moonshine was noticed by Angry Robot, leading to their request for a submission and eventually acquisition and publication of my book. So, that’s nice.

On the other hand, Twitter sucks.

I’ve always hated it–just the general premise and layout and culture of the whole damn thing. I’ve long held that Tumblr has always been the superior site to Twitter, but the infamous “porn” ban there chased away so many active users that my feed all but dried up, leaving me nowhere to go that was used by members of my online communities except Twitter. The most micro of blogging that everyone tries to use for long-form posting anyway, with constantly changing settings, infinite scrolling, and brands trying to be Quirky and Hip. I’m not glad to see the decimation of the communities that have built up on that platform over time, but I’m not sorry to have the excuse to jump ship myself. It just has never really been for me.

But that leaves me back to my post-Tumblr problem: where is everyone going? I’m not going to speculate on which platform has the best odds of becoming the “next Twitter”–I don’t have any special insight on the matter and, frankly, that’s not a question that interests me anyway. But from what I can see from the communities I’m interested in keeping in touch with, things are a bit scattershot at the moment. Mastodon seems to be the most popular Tw-alternative, but I’m interested in seeing what Cohost can do with the mission statement they’ve provided. And LinkedIn is…there. With people returning to Tumblr, I may resurrect my presence there, but I so far haven’t had time to commit to that yet, and I could possibly get more involved on TikTok again as well. Overall, I’m taking this opportunity to really reflect on what I’m getting out of social media (either personally or professionally), what I want to get out of it, and which platforms offer the best options for reaching those goals.

For now, the links I’ve provided above are where I’m going to focus my energy for the moment, and I’ll update here if/inevitably when that changes. The great news is, while it doesn’t do much in the way of interactivity, you can always trust that I’ll provide relevant Jasmine Updates on this site.

[UPDATED] WorldCon (Chicon 8) Schedule

UPDATE: I’ve been added to the panel Disability in Creativity: Making Art Within Specific Needs. Check out my updated schedule below or on my Upcoming Event page for all the details.

I’m happy to announce that my schedule for Chicon 8 has been finalized! While I will only be attending the convention virtually, you will be able to find me around Airmeet and on the following panels:

[NEW!]
Panel: Disability in Creativity: Making Art Within Specific Needs
Airmeet 3
Thursday, September 1, 2022
1:00 PM CDT/11:00 AM PDT

Neurodiversity in SFF
Airmeet 3
Sunday, September 4, 2022
4:00 PM CDT/2:00 PM PDT

45 Panels in 60 Minutes
Airmeet 2
Monday, September 5, 2022
1:00 PM CDT/11:00 AM PDT

I’m stoked to be on all of these panels and excited to see everyone at the (virtual) con! You can find out more about the convention over on their website, and, as always, you can find information about all of my upcoming events over on the aptly-named Upcoming Events page.

Nebula Conference Schedule

Greetings! It’s been a quiet front here so far in 2022, but I’m popping in to provide my Nebula Conference schedule for this upcoming weekend.

The Nebula Conference will be virtual again this year, and if you’re in attendance, you can catch me at the panel “Combating Misogyny in Romance Writing” on May 20th at 1:30 PM PDT. I’ll also be in and out of the con’s virtual social spaces, so catch me around! Nebula Conference attendees will also be able to view the panel after it streams if you aren’t able to make that time.

As of this posting, the Nebula Conference’s full program is not listed yet, but you can find all the relevant info about my panel on my Upcoming Events page in the meantime. And you can stay up to date with the Nebula Conference on their official site.

2021 Summary & 2022 Goals

I am no good at keeping resolutions, no matter what time of year they occur. However, I am one to abide by arbitrary markers of time (I have a compulsion to get out of bed only at 15-minute intervals on the hour), so the New Year is a good opportunity for me to take stock of the previous 365 days and set myself some goals to at least aim for in the next set of 365.

Reflecting on the previous year, I don’t really want to talk about pandemic stuff, because it’s not like it passed by anyone’s notice that it happened (and is still happening). I didn’t get COVID that I know of and I’m all up-to-date on my shots, and that’s as much as I really want to say in terms of the pandemic contextualizing what I did and did not accomplish over the course of 2021.

What I did in 2021

Ramped up my freelance editing work. I was invited to join Reedsy toward the beginning of the pandemic, but at the time I was more focused on my own writing. I didn’t get around to actually signing on with Reedsy until this summer, after hearing another professional editor speak highly of it as a platform and as federal income support began to run dry. The editing market is still not ideal, but it’s enough to keep my bills paid. (For anyone looking to find out more about my editing services, you can check my editorial site or my profile on Reedsy.)

Continued with Grumble Pak. My friend Eli and I started our podcast Grumble Pak last year, and while our production has slowed down compared to then (running out of video games to talk about), we’ve still been putting out new episodes every couple of weeks thanks to Eli’s audio editing skills. We’re on hiatus for the holidays now, but hopefully we’ll be returning with a new episode soon. In the meantime, our backlog is readily available. We can also be found on Twitter.

More game design. So much so that I think I might…actually be good at programming now? Over at Mortis Games (also a joint effort with my friend Eli, as well as my friend Stacie), we’ve been working on our big project deadland, the game that I keep pitching as “goth Stardew Valley”. I’ve been writing monthly(-ish) developer logs over on our itch.io page, for anyone who wants to take a more detailed peek at the progress we’ve been making on that front. Right now, we’re still designing the core game mechanics with the goal of getting a playable demo put together. You can follow our updates at our itch page or Twitter.

Collecting and cataloging video games. I’ve decided to 1) get more organized with my video game collection, and 2) expand it! I’m documenting my efforts over on TikTok (mostly to make sure I keep up with it), but I’ve made an inventory of all of my physical video game copies, and I’m currently at the stage of testing my older game consoles. It has so far been a fun experience (if slightly frustrating trying to figure out how to get those old consoles to play nice with modern technology), but today I woke up early to bid on an eBay listing for an obscure game console from the 90s, so I’m not super feeling the joy of this project at this very moment.

In terms of events, I attended some conventions—a mix of virtual and in-person, as well as a fan and as a panelist. I was even able to get back into cosplay for one of them (see the pics below!). It was a relief to be able to participate in con spaces after missing it entirely in 2020, and I didn’t even find it to be any more exhausting than I normally do.

Jasmine in cosplay as Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI Jasmine in cosplay as Kaie Ono from NEO: The World Ends With You Jasmine in cosplay as a casual streetwear version of Anders from Dragon Age II

Finally, I did some writing. Not as much as I wanted to (which, isn’t that always the case?), but some. At this point, I’m mostly wavering between two projects in need of revision before I send more polished versions to my agents. One is close to ready to go, however, which leads me into my goals for 2022.

Goals for 2022

Refocus on writing. I plan to keep doing freelance editing (again, my bills), but also set aside more time specifically for writing. 2021 was a pretty bleh year in terms of writing creativity, so I’m hoping to start off 2022 with lighting a fire under my own ass to push myself to get back in the zone with that. In addition to wrapping up those two projects that I’m currently revising, I want to start drafting a few new projects.

Read more. As an extension of the above, I would really like to keep my brain in Book Mode by reading more. 2021, in addition to being a sort of writing slump for me, was also a MAJOR reading slump. I’ve decided to set myself a reading goal up on The StoryGraph—a softball goal of 12 books in the year, which I will hopefully be able to increase sometime around spring or summer. If 2021 was a big video game year for me, I want 2022 to be a big book year…while still playing as many video games. Maybe less Twitter…

Otherwise, I plan on continuing onward with all my 2021 goings-on that I mentioned above, although my current convention plans for the year are up in the air so far. Honestly, I don’t have any big goals for 2022, aside to keep making progress on what I was working on in 2021. With any luck, at some point this year some of those projects will be completed enough to share more with everyone, but until then, I’m ready to just keep plugging away at it.

DisCon III Schedule

 Greetings once again! I’m here with another convention schedule, this time for DisCon III. Reminder: I will be attending online only, so all of my panels are virtual. Keep in mind as well that all of the times listed below are in EASTERN Standard Time, rather than my usual Pacific. Here’s the full list:

Panel: An Avatar of Your Own—Bodies in Video Games
December 16th, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm EST

Panel: Creating a More Accessible Convention
December 17th, 10:00 am – 11:00 am EST

Panel: The Best Video Games of the Last Ten Years
December 17th, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm EST

As always, you can refer to my Upcoming Events page for the same info, and you can also check out the full DisCon schedule here!

 

image credit: “Natures Winter Bouquet” by Chris Breeze is licensed under CC BY 2.0

 

New Article: “The best books with fantastical civic design” on Shepherd

For those looking for some new book recommendations this cozy season, I’ve written a list of my top five fantasy books that best incorporate civic & urban design into their world-building, now up on Shepherd, a new site for connecting readers to books. You can check out that article to see my recommendations, which include some of my all-time favorite books in general, to be honest.

And be sure to explore Shepherd for other book recommendation lists like mine covering all kinds of topics. Shepherd is still in beta, but there is still plenty there for readers to discover.

OryCon Schedule [UPDATED]

Hello everyone! I’m here with an update on my OryCon schedule. If you’re in the Portland, OR area on November 12th, you can catch me on the following panels:

Gender, Sex, Sexuality, and Expression: Breaking it Down for the Layperson
Fri Nov 12 2:00pm-2:50pm

Gender and Sexuality: The Divide
Fri Nov 12 6:00pm-6:50pm

I’ll also be around the convention for the rest of the weekend enjoying other panels and events, and I’ll be bringing along some new bookmarks to hand out 🙂

OryCon runs November 12-14 at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion Hotel. More details at OryCon’s website. Please take note of their COVID-19 policy listed on the front page of their website.

UPDATE: Turns out I have another panel! On Saturday, November 13th, I will also be doing a panel on writing! Details:

Panel: What Are You Writing: A Standalone or a Series?
November 13th, 5:00pm – 5:50pm

Also, you can now view the full OryCon schedule here! And you can check out the details of all of my upcoming events over here (I’ll be updating it soon with details on DisCon III).

A Small Autumn Update

It’s not the most concrete of updates, but since it’s been quiet here lately, I thought I would pop in to do a brief explanation of things that have been going on and things that are coming up.

Matters with the pandemic have certainly slowed down a lot in my writing life, including my own creativity of late. While I’ve been staying safe and physically healthy, my typical summer lethargy was exacerbated by being in Year 2 of a global pandemic. I’ve been very disengaged from the book world (both on- and offline) and very unmotivated to work on my own books. Since July, I’ve mostly been working at my editing job and sleeping, it feels like. Now that autumn–the best, most powerful season–is rolling in, I’m starting to feel a little energized and imaginative again, but I’m still working on breaking the habits I built up during this year’s Summer Depression. All that said, I don’t have anything to say right now about projects I’m working on.

However, con season is coming up for me, though the pandemic is also slowing things down on that front, meaning that I don’t have any schedules set in stone yet. What I can say is that I there are a two SFF cons I plan on attending in some capacity or another and that I have so far been invited to panel on:

First is Orycon on November 12-14. Currently, I am planning on attending in-person (I am fully vaccinated and happy to mask up and social distance!), but considering the trajectory of COVID-19 cases and limited ICU beds in my area, this may change depending on how circumstances are looking or if there are any changes with Orycon/venue policy, local pandemic mandates, or CDC guidelines that may impact my ability to attend. As always, I will update here with more info if there are any changes to my plans.

I will also be attending DisCon III (this year’s WorldCon in Washington, D.C.) virtually. I don’t know exactly what this will look like for me yet, but thanks to the remote option, I don’t foresee any situation where I will have to alter my plan to attend.

(I am also planning on attending Kumoricon in-person this year, but I will not be on any panels. Just cosplaying!)

I will update my Coming Soon page with all the details once I have them. Until then, I hope you are all continuing to stay safe and hygienic as we deal with more of all of this.