“Imagine playing Fortnite from the inside…and for the fate of the world.” – Marco Palmieri

Serial Box presents … Alternis (Created by Andrea Phillips)

A LitRPG serial perfect for fans of Ready Player One and Tron. She created the game that will decide the fate of the world . . . and she’s stuck inside it.A video game designer finds out that the game she created is the seed for an ambitious top-secret project to keep the world from plunging into war—and Team USA wants her on board.

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?

AUTHORS

Maurice Broaddus

Andrea Phillips

Jacqueline Koyanagi

E.C. Myers

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.

Readers will love watching these two uniquely gifted black boys explore the complicated tensions between impulses and choices, independence and support, turnin’ up and getting through.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Just Keep Writing – Episode 3 – The Maurice Effect

This week, Marshall and Nick discuss the February challenge and usher in a new topic for the month of March: Dialogue. Maurice Broaddus joins Marshall and Nick this week to talk about to best use of time while working a day job and how effective dialogue can do for the reader. Maurice also talks about the in-depth research he did for his series “Knights of Breton Court.”

Topic of the Month: Dialogue

This Month’s Challenge: Take a scene from your current Work In Progress (WIP) and rewrite a scene with dialogue. When you rewrite this dialogue, do with it without dialogue tags. Look to make your characters distinguished from one another but there mannerisms and unique traits. Add dialogue tags later as necessary.

Episode 3 – The Maurice Effect

Maurice Broaddus – The Horror Show with Brian Keene – Ep 120 [NOW ON YOUTUBE]

In what may be our greatest episode yet, Maurice Broaddus sits down with Brian Keene, Dave Thomas, Mary SanGiovanni, and Phoebe to discuss ghost-writing for celebrities, reconciling religion and faith with genre writing, being a trailblazer for writers of color, his friendships with Wrath James White and Chesya Burke, and much more. Then, his co-editor Jerry Gordon joins the discussion to talk about the art of crafting the perfect anthology, and Maurice’s son reveals an embarrassing story about his father.

My Patreon is basically designed to allow me to do 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 me being able to give back to the community. For that, I thank you all so much.

At the Awesome Pics level: the rare shot of the kids (Ferb and Bellie Bob) acting relatively nice to each other.

At the Awesome Blog Post level: a sneak peek of my introductory essay for the upcoming issue of Apex Magazine called “Our Audacity” (the issue may or may not be Afrofuturism themed).

At the Awesome Pimpin’ level: Wrath, chapter 6, an unseen project by me and Wrath James White. And Serpent, chapter 3, an unseen project by me and Jason Sizemore.

At the Awesome Community level:
-My mentoring project, which includes my
Adventures with my (apparently never “former”) intern Bella:
“Mr. Broaddus, where you get your ideas?”
“Well, my friend Joshua A. Thompson is playing down at the ArtsGarden. Let’s go get inspired.”

Joshua was part of Art & Soul’s : “Black Migrations, Urban Realities.” He took us on a piano tour of the history of black people (I had no idea his performance would feature surprise vocal guest, Manon Voice) The pieces included:

Out of the Silence- William Grant Still
Africa, Land of Romance- William Grant Still
Adagio in F minor- Chevalier de St Georges
A Deserted Plantation- William Grant Still
In the Bottoms Piano Suite- R. Nathaniel Dett
Summerland- William Grant Still
Single Petal of A Rose- Duke Ellington
Deep River- Samuel Coleridge Taylor
Troubled Water- Margaret Bonds
Melancholia- Duke Ellington

–Café Creative. Which gives me the excuse to “network” with my fellow creatives. Which includes me hosting Tatjana Rebelle’s “This is America” book launch (the pic at the top). Here’s part of my intro of her: “During our time working together, I came to appreciate Tatjana’s fierceness as a warrior and her incredible talent as an artist and teacher. I’ve seen her passion for justice, watched her fight for her people, and witnessed her love for her family. It’s been my honor to know her and call her friend. I give you Tatjana Rebelle.”

-And more! As always, I appreciate your support.

Become a Patron!

Over on my Patreon, I just made my list of writing goals for 2019. It looks like this:

Novel Draft

            -Freedom of Thought (Diop autobiography)

            -Sweep of Stars (science fiction novel)

            -Cypher (horror novel)

Second Draft

            -The Usual Suspects: Blackhats (middle grade novel)

Novelette

            -untitled sword & soul for Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Short Stories

            -Autumn anthology

            -Uncanny Magazine

            -untitled collaboration project

Except for Cypher, all of these are due by July. And this doesn’t take into account if something I’ve turned in gets thrown back to me for the next round of revision (looking at you, Serial Box project and Pimp My Airship). Speaking of plans, here’s what we have going on for this month’s round up of the Patreon levels:

At the Awesome Pics level, well there’s Ferb. And more Ferb. A tale of triumph in four pics, if by “triumph” I mean “the strange places she gets to in order to get what she wants.”

At the Awesome Blog Post level, I answer a few process questions. I’ve received a lot of questions lately about how to schedule and rotate among multiple projects. Since you’ve just read about my writing goals/projects, I go into detail about how the sausage is made.

At the Awesome Pimpin’ level, I give a sneak peek at the cover art of the soon to be released book, Pimp My Airshp (spoiler: IT’S AWESOME!). I’m also continuing a couple of works in progress: Wrath of God (co-written with Wrath James White) and Serpent (co-written with Jason Sizemore).

At the Awesome Community level, I lay out my tentative plans for the year. This means what’s coming up for: Afrofuture Fridays, Mentoring, The Build (artist collaboration), the Superhero Workshop (using story to work through trauma). In other words, the main work that you support.

Speaking of, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

The point of my Patreon is to help keep me off budget for the work that I do in the community so that those resources can remain in the community, I can continue to get my writing done, and I can, you know, keep making my bills. Thanks to your support, here’s what I’ve been able to do.

The bulk of my work in the community has been through the Kheprw Institute, a grassroots think tank and community organization that works to create a more just, equitable, human-centered world by nurturing youth and young adults to be leaders, critical thinkers and doers. They see the people in any community as the most valuable assets and are committed to working with marginalized communities to bring about change that leads to empowered self-sustainable communities. Under their umbrella I participated in:

Community Innovation Lab: A partnership between the Kheprw Institute, Spirit & Place, Groundworks Indy, and EMC Arts, I was the artist facilitator for this community project. The purpose was to explore the challenges in Indianapolis to economic empowerment and human agency faced by two particular groups of our fellow citizens – women “returning citizens” (formerly incarcerated) and youth aging out of foster care. Through interactive and artistic activities, we unpacked some of the complexity around these issues and why the Lab’s “adaptive response” approach is particularly well-suited to uncover new efforts aimed at systemic change. One of the things that came out of the lab was the…

Superhero Workshop: The hunch we were exploring was the possibility of using story to work through trauma issues of Returning Citizens. As we didn’t want to “experiment” with RCs, we opted to work with a group of community leaders who had worked through their traumas and felt comfortable exploring them in new ways. The new way: designing a workshop where we’d use story to explore and work through a person’s trauma. The conceit would be that after we’d worked through their stories, we’d pivot and, as many superhero origin stories are rooted in trauma, use their stories as the basis for origin stories of them as a superhero. It’a about reframing their narrative and lives. It’s been well received and we’re looking at expanding it in 2019.

Because we partnered with the SPIRIT & PLACE FESTIVAL, I ended up a part of two events:

1) The Intersection of Equity, Land, and Power – I was part of an Afrofuturist re-imagining of land use. I was been paired with an architect to bring different visions of designed community possibilities to life. And letting folks design the worlds they wanted to see.

Dear Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes

2) Afrofuturism in Action – This is a special edition of Afrofuturism Friday. October was a jump on point in our discussion, with Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes answering the question “What is Afrofuturism?” Now we apply it to community work with Tobias Buckell. But let me back up…

Afrofuturism in Action: A Conversation with Tobias Buckell (Updated with video)

Afrofuture Fridays: On the second Friday evenings of the month, I’ve been leading a community discussion on Afrofuturism and adapting the mentality of the artists/practitioners to community work.

The Build is a movement of art & culture led by Indianapolis artists coming together to share ideas and resources to sustain and grow their creative work. We share our experience and thoughts on the current and future state of the Indy music/art community. Coinciding with Chreece, the largest hip hop music festival in the city, we did a panel discussion focusing on refining and redefining success; the power of relationships; and skill mastery.

I did some work outside of Kheprw, too. While out and about, your support helped allow me to do:

Mo*Con: This is a mini-convention that I host built around food, community, and conversations (typically around the topics of spirituality, art, and social justice). Basically imagine a barcon that’s the focus of an entire weekend. I partnered with the Kheprw Institute, Spirit & Place, Empowering Cuisine, and Sip N Share Wine, all grassroots organizations doing a lot of work in the community.

Creative Writing Club: I ran an after school Creative Writing Club with some of my middle grade students. We covered plotting, brainstorming, voice, dialogue, beginnings, middles, ending, scenes, and revision, culminating with our celebration event. We did readings of work produced during this time (me included).

Asante Children’s Theater: Partnering with the Indiana Writers Center, I did a world-building workshop with them. We used an Afrofuturist lens to create new worlds rife with vibrant ideas (basically, I provided the prompts and then got out of the way). Three generations of writers in that room and listening to what they created made my heart full.

Open Bite Night: Runways and Reels: Open Bite Night launched by my sister and her husband to encourage local businesses and artisans. Held outside, block party-style at and around the Flanner House and Watkins Park, it showcases the gifts and talents of neighborhood poets, artists, and local entrepreneurs. The proceeds go toward GRoE, my sister’s non-profit which provides after school meals to children in the neighborhood. This was the fifth Open Bite (and I am now the Director of the Open Bite Board).

Mentoring: Among others, Bella, one of my (former) 8^th graders who went through my creative writing club. I also mentor through the Kheprw Institute and SFWA.

As for this month’s round up of the levels:

At the Awesome Pics level, well there’s Ferb. And more Ferb. I might post a couple behind the scenes photos from this year’s Broaddus family tradition (we make home movies for our themed Christmas party. We start filming the day after Thanksgiving).

At the Awesome Blog Post level, looking back, the most demanded blog was Grants for Writers. This month, I talk about the Value of Rejection (or, What Failure Teaches Us). Plus sprinkled through the month will be answers to questions from my mentees. Speaking of mentees, I adjusted a level on Patreon for folks looking for some quasi face-to-face mentoring time.

At the Awesome Pimpin’ level, from this level up, supporters (should have, if the mail system hasn’t failed me) received a surprise gift in the mail. I’m also continuing a couple of works in progress: Wrath of God (co-written with Wrath James White) and Serpent (co-written with Jason Sizemore).

At the Awesome Community level, there is a mini-profile on local hip hop artist Diop Adisa who also happens to be the son of the founder of the Kheprw Institute. We’re working on a project that’s a mix of being his autobiography, the story of an artist (his music currently featured in the Spike Lee show She’s Gotta Have It) and the philosophy/framework of how KI does its work. Which is handy as Kheprw begins to look to next year with its theme of “Creating the Future.” And I’ll discuss the writing residency I am in the middle of constructing.

As ever, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

It’s that time of the year when writerly types post their works that came out that year to remind voters for the different SF/F awards which categories their works are eligible for (especially for the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards). And, frankly, what folks may have missed of mine this year:

Novelette
El is a Spaceship Melody – Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Short Stories
“All God’s Chillun Got Wings” is available in Steampunk Universe.

“The Rebel” (written with Sarah Hans)
Mechanical Animals

“Wolf at the Door” (written with Anthony Cardno)
Chiral Mad 4

I’m keeping this short because I have to get back to work. 2019 is already shaping up to be a beast. I can’t wait to share what’s in store from me!

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, but I finally have clearance to share this: the cover of my middle grade detective novel, The Usual Suspects.

Coming in May 2019!

(From Katerine Tegan Books, an imprint of HarperCollins)

Art by Richie Pope!

[From the Spirit & Place event page]

When and Where:
Friday, November 9, 2018 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
at Kheprw Institute/Renaissance Center
3549 Boulevard Pl., Indianapolis, IN 46208

Special Venue Instructions: Parking lot and street parking available. 

Presenter(s):
Tobias Buckell

Cost:
Free

Event Description:

AWESOMENESS NOMINEE!

At the intersection of race, social justice, and the future, join best-selling science fiction author Tobias Buckell in this provocative conversation.

Black Panther. Parliament-Funkadelic. Octavia E. Butler. Janelle Monae. Afrofuturism is the reimagining of a future filled with arts, science, and technology seen through a black cultural lens. It’s an all-encompassing arts movement, including literary, film, music, visual arts, and fashion that allows us to discuss matters of race, gender, and social justice. It critiques the present as well as model possibilities for the future. Hear from Caribbean-born, US-based writer Tobias Buckell, author of Crystal Rain, Arctic Rising, and Halo: The Cole Protocol, and join in a community conversation where we use art, science, and faith to imagine a future together.

Parking lot and street parking available.

Walk-ins welcome. RSVPs encouraged by Nov. 8.

Presented by Maurice Broaddus and Kheprw Institute.

IndyGo: 38

Award of Awesomeness
Afrofuturism in Action is one of five events nominated for an Award of Awesomeness! These events use the arts, humanities, and/or religion in unique ways to explore the INTERSECTION theme and have the potential to be true standouts. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize that will be announced at the conclusion of the Public Conversation on Sunday, November 11 at the Indiana State Museum.