Here’s all I have going on this month (and my blog links where to find more information about them):

APEX MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

EDITORIAL
Our Audacity by Maurice Broaddus, guest editor
Words from the Editor-in-Chief by Jason Sizemore

FICTION
Dune Song by Suyi Davies Okungbawa
Fugue State by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due
N-Coin by Tobias S. Buckell
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good by LaShawn M. Wanak
When We Dream We Are Our Own God by Wole Talabi
Pimp My Airship (novel excerpt) by Maurice Broaddus

NONFICTION
Let’s Talk About Afrofuturism by Troy L. Wiggins

INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author Steven Barnes by Andrea Johnson
Interview with Cover Artist Godwin Akpan by Russell Dickerson

*The Quick Sips review of the issue

THE USUAL SUSPECTS 

When a gun is found near their school, seventh-grade pranksters Thelonius Mitchell and his best friend, Nehemiah Caldwell, must work together to solve the mystery before being blamed for something they didn’t do.

*Kirkus review

*Kirkus profile on me

*John Scalzi’s The Big Idea

*Barnes & Noble’s Edge-of-Your-Seat Thrillers for Young Crimesolvers

PIMP MY AIRSHIP

All the poet called Sleepy wants to do is spit his verses, smoke chiba, and stay off the COP’s radar—all of which becomes impossible once he encounters a professional protestor known as (120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah. They soon find themselves on the wrong side of local authorities and have to elude the powers that be.

When young heiress Sophine Jefferson’s father is murdered, the careful life she’d been constructing for herself tumbles around her. She’s quickly drawn into a web of intrigue, politics and airships, joining with Sleepy and Knowledge Allah in a fight for their freedom. Chased from one end of a retro-fitted Indianapolis to the other, they encounter outlaws, the occasional circus, possibly a medium, and more outlaws. They find themselves in a battle much larger than they imagined: a battle for control of the country and the soul of their people.

*Barnes & Noble This Week’s New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

*Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit

*My guest post on the worldbuilding behind Pimp My Airship

ALTERNIS

Tandy Kahananui is at her best when she’s fighting monsters and exploring dungeons — in Alternis, the video game that she’s making. Then she discovers that somehow, someone’s stolen her game. But it’s not pirates trying to make a buck. Alternis is the seed for an ambitious top-secret project to keep the world from plunging into war. And Team USA wants her on board. It’s not just a game anymore. The fate of the world is in her hands. Can she help Team USA hold its own? Can she even survive?

*Summer Glau talks about narrating the first season of Serial Box’s science fiction story Alternis

Do Not Go Quietly

This anthology of stories of resistance has the story “What the Mountain Wants” co-written by me and Nayad Monroe.

MO*CON 2019 (a re-cap in pictures)

In a world where America lost the Revolutionary War, the world of “Pimp My Airship” was born. Though the short story came first, subsequent stories have fleshed out the world. You don’t need to have read the stories before reading Pimp My Airship: The Novel, but there are Easter eggs in it for those of you who have. For you completists, here are the stories in their chronological (not publication) order (including a few which aren’t out, but were in my head so you can see where I was going):

“The Problem of Trystan” – Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance (DAW, 2011)
Reprinted in Mammoth Book of Gaslit Romance (2014)
-A tale of an early adventure of Sophine Jefferson/Deaconess Blues’ parents

“Steppin’ Razor” – Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (February 2014)
Reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine (Issue 87 – August 2017)
– Espionage agent, Desmond Coke, gets caught up in the Jamaican government’s intrigue and conspiracy over the fate of a young boy named Lij Tafari.

Buffalo Soldier – Tor.com (2017)
– Having stumbled onto a plot within his homeland of Jamaica, former espionage agent, Desmond Coke, finds himself caught between warring religious and political factions, all vying for control of a mysterious boy named Lij Tafari. Assassins, intrigue, and steammen stand between Desmond and Lij as they search for a place to call home in a North America that could have been.

(sequel to Buffalo Soldier – unwritten)
-The world of Steppin’ Razor collides with Buffalo Soldier as Lij Tafari comes into his own as the figure known as the Star Child.

(Babylon Systems – unpublished novelette)
-Now imprisoned, the Star Child faces down the government’s system of oppression and population control from the inside.

All Gods Chillun Got Wings – Steampunk Universe (Alliteration Ink, 2016)
-A tale of an early adventure of Sophine Jefferson (Deaconess Blues) and Carlton Drayton ((120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah)

“I Used to Love H.E.R.” – HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! & Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects (John Joseph Adams, 2014)
-The Oxford incident that gets Sophine Jefferson expelled from Oxford University.

“(120 Degrees of) Know the Ledge” – Not of Our Kind (Alliteration Ink, 2014)
-In trying to figure out who he is, Carlton Drayton returns to his home only to find that the organization he belonged to is corrupt. In leaving it behind, he must grow into something else.

(Axioms of Creamy Spies – unpublished short story)
-The head butler, Ishmael Washington, oversees Lord Leighton Melbourne’s household and has a secret. Luckily, no one ever notices the help.

“Pimp My Airship” – Apex Magazine (2009)
Reprinted in I Can Transform You (Apex Books)

Pimp My Airship – A Naptown by Airship Novel – Apex Books (2019)

[My Patreon is basically designed to give me flexibility in doing work in the community. I had people who learned what all I was doing in the city and wanted to be able to support me and I wanted to stay off budget for the organizations I work with. So, my patrons support my work and being able to give back to the community. For that, I thank you all so much.]

I am still in recovery mode from a very successful Mo*Con and am settling in for a summer and fall of travel and writing (since I have two books due this year). There will hopefully be more exciting news before too long.

At the Awesome Pics level:

-How to annoy Ferb in Four Simple Steps (spoiler: it’s one step)

At the Awesome Blog Post level:

-On Setting Writing Goals

At the Awesome Pimpin’ level: Wrath, chapter 9, an unseen project by me and Wrath James White. And Serpent, chapter 6, an unseen project by me and Jason Sizemore. [Yes, I will eventually be running some sneak preview chapters from my upcoming space opera trilogy]

At the Awesome Community level:

Updates on my work with:

-Afrofuture Friday

-The Build

– Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship Exhibition

-my visit to a class at the University of Indianapolis

-Mo*Con – including the behind the scenes details on what your Patreon support was able to accomplish

At the Awesome Books level:

Signed copies of both Pimp My Airship and The Usual Suspects have been mailed out.

And more! Look at what y’all got me out here doing!

As always, thank you for your support!

Become a Patron!

Pics by Wildstyle, Stacia Moon, LaShawn Wanak, Clarence Young, Sally Broaddus

Now that I’ve had a chance to rest and recover, allow me to say this: this year’s Mo*Con was magic. So, this is my big thank you post:

Make no mistake, it’s the people that made Mo*Con so magical. It’s been my privilege to watch it grow (at the speed of relationships) and this was our largest (and smoothest running!) Mo*Con. Thank you all for coming, being a part of things, and making it so special.

One of the things I’ve learned working with The Learning Tree and the KheprwInstitute is to appreciate and celebrate the gifts and talents in our community. Be they artists like Sylvia Ess McKee or Mechi Shakur, poets like Januarie York (who Held. It. Down. Friday night), photographers like Wildstyle Paschall(no one, and I mean NO ONE—accept no imitators—covers the scene like him), or pastors like Mike Mather who do so much in the community.

First time I guest edit Apex Magazine:
Jason Sizemore: You get 10K of content to edit.
Me: Great! *turns in 20K*

Second time:
@apexjason: You get 20K of content.
Me: Great! *turns in 40K*

Me: I have an idea for a third issue
@apexjason: Great! *ends Apex run*

The last issue of Apex Magazine is out now. I can’t tell you how proud and impressed I’ve been with Jason Sizemore’s epic run. I’ve been part of the Apex Magazine family almost from the beginning. It was ten years ago when he bought “Pimp My Airship” for the magazine and have come full circle with the novelization also coming out this month. I’ve been their reprint and non-fiction editor for the last couple years.

This is my second time guest-editing an issue of Apex Magazine. Issue 120 features fiction by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Wole Talabi, Tobias Buckell, LaShawn M. Wanak, and an essay by Troy L Wiggins.

If the magazine is going to go out (for now) this is a good note to go out on … if I do say so myself.