Black Author Spotlight: MultiMind

 

Welcome to the Black Author Spotlight!

The goal of this segment is to highlight black authors who are often marginalized and ignored in the publishing industry. Black writers usually turn to self-publishing--an already densely populated industry--to have their stories seen, and it is said that we have to work twice as hard to get half of what our white counterparts have. Hopefully, shining a little light on these authors will help to signal boost the work they are putting out there.

This month, I am highlighting MultiMind!

From her website: MultiMind resides in her hometown, Baltimore City, Maryland. She tries to find time for her countless hobbies, from 3D printing to bookbinding to virtual reality. And her vociferous cat. She writes books that are fairly Black, quite queer, and very much embedded in the world of Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror. She also pens the blog Black Witch, about being Black and Pagan.

Her book Dreamer debuts on March 18th and is available for pre-order now!

Vera has unusual dreams - anything she dreams comes alive. Dream Traveling, her family calls it. Doing it all her life, Dream Traveling doesn't affect Vera as much as it used to. She has her rules and her methods - as long as she follows them, all is fine.

Until she sees something she discovered she couldn't handle. Now, her dreams are plagued by The Hunter, a deadly character that wants nothing more than to haunt her mind and leave behind a bloody spree. Vera must find a way to get The Hunter out of her head before he makes sure she never wakes up again.

So much for "sweet dreams".

I started reading this one recently, and it's descriptive and imaginative, and this cover is ethereally creepy. Vera and the characters around her are fleshed out well. I've stumbled on the first creepy moment in the story, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Pre-order Dreamer on multiple platforms, and buy MultiMind's other works through her website.

You can also visit and follow MultiMind on Twitter and Goodreads.

UPDATE: You can now follow MultiMind on Instagram!

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If you are a Black author who would like to be in the spotlight, email me the following information at debreneebyrd@gmail.com

Name or Pen Name

Genre

Website/Blog

Social Media handles

Book (if any) and where to buy

Permission to use photos

Wednesday Words: Stephen King's The Shining

 

I'm actually back, I think! Happy 2nd Wednesday of the month! On this day, I share with you all what I am reading, and this month is a fun one. If by fun, you like being scared out of your wits.

A few weeks ago, my younger sister said she had never seen all of The Shining, so I said we should watch it. As we were watching it, I realized I'd never seen the whole thing! Before then, I had only seen from the point where Wendy was speaking to a therapist, but also, I'd only ever seen it on cable, so there were several scenes that were cut. I'm not a fan of Stanley Kubrick's movies. I think he butchers and over-sexualizes books when he adapts them, and that's going off of the two I've seen. So, the only important scene that was really essential that I'd never seen but had heard my older sister always talk about was the old woman in the bathtub. She was featured heavily in Doctor Sleep, which was a GREAT movie. Maybe we'll read the book next, as there is an excerpt at the end of this one.

But anyway, I say all this to say that after we watched it and told our older sister, we decided to read the book together, so that's where we are. I haven't read a Stephen King novel since Full Dark No Stars, which wasn't really scary, just super dark. I know how The Shining ends, and it doesn't end with Jack frozen in the maze, eyes rolled back for no reason. But if you haven't read it, I won't give it away.

Here is a bit of dialogue about the creepy old woman, cutting out the rude misogyny in this. It's excessive here:

"...a chambermaid, Delores Vickery...she gives out with a helluva shriek while she's makin up the room where those two stayed, and she faints dead away. When she comes to she says she seen the dead woman in the bathroom, layin naked in the tub. 'Her face was all purple an puffy,' she says, 'an she was grinnin at me.' So Ullman gave her two weeks' worth of walking papers and told her to get lost. I figure there's maybe forty-five people died in this hotel since my grandfather opened it for business in 1910."

All the big hotels have secrets and superstitions. I'll stick to Days Inn then. haha

What are you reading this month?