Hey Afronauts! Today we're chatting with award-winning author Alechia Dow, about writing across age categories and genres. What makes each age category unique? How does she channel each age's voice? Has she ever considered a pen name?
We also celebrate the release of Jill's middle grade debut, Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement.
Alechia is awesome! To buy her books (including her adorable new middle grade Their Just Desserts) visit her website: https://www.alechiadow.com/books
And check out this link to buy Jill's middle grade debut, Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/764010/kaya-morgans-crowning-achievement-by-jill-tew/
You can find Alechia online at:
@alechiadow on Instagram and Threads
@alechiadow.bluesky.social on Bluesky
Pre-order AN OCEAN APART by Jill Tew
Pre-order I'LL MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOU by Beatrice Winifred Iker
In this Messy Middles episode, we discuss the covers for AN OCEAN APART and I'LL MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOU, different types of messy middles, and balancing the 'promise of the premise' with...everything else.
I'LL MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOUCover design: Lisa Marie PompilioArt by: Mike HeathAN OCEAN APART
Design: Liz Dresner
Art by: Jorge Luis Miraldo
If this world were mine...
We're some REAL romantics over here at the Afronauts Podcast (what y'all know 'bout that Luther?). On this episode we discuss the differences between a Romance novel and a novel that contains "romantic elements". Plus why they're both so good and worth reading and writing.
Thank you Zakiya N Jamal and H. D. Hunter for joining our conversation! You can find them online and support their books here:
H D Hunter website: https://hughhdhunter.com/
Patreon/IG: @hdhunterbooks
Zakiya N Jamal website: https://zakiyanjamal.com/
IG/TikTok/Twitter: ZakiyaNJamal
From acquisitions all the way to publication and beyond, Ashley Imanë Fields walks us through the process at Freedom Fire, a new imprint at Disney Hyperion dedicated to stories about Black Joy, Black Resilience, and Black Storytelling.
Topics discussed include:
Thanks Ash for joining us!
This episode is all about intellectual property (IP) companies and our experiences working with them. We're joined by Nia "N.E." Davenport and Bethany Baptiste.
Nia "N.E." Davenport is an award-winning Science Fiction/Fantasy author who writes stories that blend magic, mayhem, and deadly heroines. She attended the University of Southern California and studied Biological Sciences and Theatre Arts. She also has an M.A. in Secondary Education.
She teaches English and Biology to amazing students. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys vacationing with her family, skiing, and being a huge foodie. She’s an advocate for diverse perspectives and protagonists in literature. Nia’s latest book is OUT OF BODY, a propulsive young adult thriller set in Atlanta with a body-swap twist.
Bethany Baptiste is an Indie bestselling author and a slightly responsible grown-up living Jacksonville, Florida in a little brick house with two chaotic evil dogs and too many books. She holds two degrees in Early Childhood Education and taught for seven years as a public school educator. Now as an inclusion specialist, she advocates for preschoolers with special needs. When not prying a shoe from a Schnauzer’s jaws, she writes about Black kids with big hearts and little morals. Bethany’s latest book is THE POISONS WE DRINK, a young adult fantasy set in D.C.
Nia Website: nedavenport.com
Bethany Website: bethanybaptiste.com
Nia Instagram: nia.davenport
Bethany Instagram: bethany_baptiste
Nia Twitter: nia_davenport
Bethany Twitter: StorySorcery
Nia TikTok: nia.davenport
Bethany TikTok: bethany.baptiste
Today, we're discussing the Southern Gothic genre through some of Beatrice's favorite TV shows. This was adapted from a Voodoonauts class Beatrice taught.
The TV shows discussed are The Vampire Diaries (Bonnie Bennett), True Blood (Tara Thornton), and Interview with the Vampire (Louis de Pointe du Lac).
Here is the link to the aforementioned chart: https://tinyurl.com/yh37vd6s
Beatrice has a new book deal!
Join us as we discuss their debut adult horror novel, I'LL MAKE A SPECTACLE OUT OF YOU, coming fall 2025. Full of Black Appalachian history, Southern Gothic horror, religious horror, and much much more.
To keep up with their latest updates, check out their website at www.beatriceiker.com. And follow them @beatricewinifrediker on Instagram/Threads and TikTok, and @beatriceiker on Twitter.
Join us as we talk with experienced agents Jen Azantian (Azantian Literary Agency) and Chelsea Hensley (kt literary) about current market dynamics, their agenting highs and lows, and more!
Learn more about Azantian Literary agency at www.azantianlitagency.com
Learn more about kt literary at www.ktliterary.com
Hey Afronauts! Our guest today is Indie-bestselling author Kamilah Cole. We had such a fun conversation, discussing everything from an alarmingly strict writing routine as a child, to the metadata she researches for her day job and writing, to plantains.
Thee Afronauts Black Writers Social is January 31, 2024. Kamilah Cole is the inaugral guest of honor, and will be do a reading of SO LET THEM BURN. Also, we'll be giving away a signed copy! If you're a Black writer, DM us (@theeafronauts) on social for an invite link. Our discord community is up and running! DM us for that link as well.
Kamilah Cole is an Indie-bestselling, Jamaican-born, American-raised author. By day she works in publishing and by night she frantically types words she hopes people want to read. In the past, she’s also worked as a journalist and at a hotel, two jobs that give you amazing stories to tell at parties. You know, if she went to parties.
A graduate of New York University, Kamilah is currently based in the Tri-State Area, where she’s usually playing Kingdom Hearts for the hundredth time, quoting early Spongebob Squarepants episodes, or crying her way through Zuko’s redemption arc in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In today's pre-chat, Thee Afronauts have some big announcements! We're opening a discord community for Black writers, starting a newsletter, and having our first-ever social! More info below if you're interested.
The meat of today's episode is about self-advocacy. We gave some examples of when we had to advocate for ourselves, discussed turning down opportunities (not easy!), and discussed the importance of community support.
This is the last Afronauts Podcast episode til this fall, but we're focusing on other exciting projects:
This is a fun one! Join us for a round table conversation with four 2024 debut authors: Sami Ellis, Ashton Lattimore, Avione Lee, and Rae Giana Rashad. We get into some honest discussion of the highs and lows of debut year, marketing plans, and protecting the integrity of your story through edits.
Support their books here:
DEAD GIRLS WALKING by Sami Ellis: https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/dead-girls-walking
ALL WE WERE PROMISED by Ashton Lattimore: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722988/all-we-were-promised-by-ashton-lattimore/
MIN AND THE PERILOUS PIPE by Avione Lee: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76536323-min-and-the-perilous-pipe
THE BLUEPRINT by Rae Giana Rashad: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-blueprint-rae-giana-rashad?variant=41059561472034
Catch up with us in our pre chat, then listen as we talk to Kwame Mbalia about writing, publishing, and Freedom Fire Books, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion that will feature stories of black joy and resilience written by black creators.
Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, a former pharmaceutical metrologist, and a publisher with Freedom Fire Books, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion.
His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels TRISTAN STRONG DESTROYS THE WORLD and TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING—is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion.
He is the co-author of LAST GATE OF THE EMPEROR with Prince Joel Makonnen, from Scholastic Books, and the editor of the #1 New York Times bestselling anthology BLACK BOY JOY, published by Delacorte Press. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheez-Its.
Learn more about Kwame at https://www.kwamembalia.com/.
Follow him on social media @KSekouM on X (formally Twitter) and @mbalia1 on Instagram.
We had a wonderful chat with Root Literary's Samantha Fabien about her personal agent taste, how she sets her client's submissions up for success, and her personal agent career goals.
Learn more about Samantha at https://www.rootliterary.com/agents
Our esteemed guest, Sheree Renée Thomas, was kind enough to visit us and drop some knowledge. More info on her below!
Sheree is a New York Times bestselling, two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author and editor. A 2023 Octavia E. Butler Award honoree and a 2022 Hugo Award Finalist, she is the author of Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future, a Locus, Ignyte, and World Fantasy Finalist, Marvel’s Black Panther: Panther’s Rage novel, and she collaborated with Janelle Monáe on “Timebox Altar(ed)” in The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer. Sheree co-edited Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction and is an NAACP Image Award Nominee and Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Sheree lives in her hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, near a mighty river and a pyramid.
Support F&SF:
https://fandsf.com/
Find Sheree ONLINE:
https://www.instagram.com/shereereneethomas/
https://www.shereereneethomas.com/
https://twitter.com/blackpotmojo
Leslye Penelope's podcast 'My Imaginary Friends':
https://lpenelope.com/podcast/
Join us as we chat with our guests, Jamaican-American fiction author Shari Pennant and queer horror writer Sami Ellis, all about Anthologies!
Shari's work can be found in the multi-genre YA anthology COOL. AWKWARD. BLACK. You can find Shari on her website at https://www.sharipennant.com/, on Instagram @sharibpennant, or Twitter @ShariWrites.
Sami will be included in the upcoming Black horror anthology ALL THESE SUNKEN SOULS, out this fall. Find Sami at https://www.authorsamiellis.com/, on Instagram @authorsamiellis, or on Twitter @themoosef.
Join us for a real talk chat with two of next year's debut authors!
Avery Cunningham is the author of THE MAYOR OF MAXWELL STREET, a riveting historical drama in which a rich Black debutante enlists the help of a low-level speakeasy manager to identify the head of an underground crime syndicate. Preorder here: https://books.disney.com/book/the-mayor-of-maxwell-street/
Etta Easton is the author of THE KISS COUNTDOWN, a fake dating rom-com featuring a down-on-her-luck event planner and a charming astronaut. Preorder here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735486/the-kiss-countdown-by-etta-easton/
In our pre-chat, we let you know which books we're reading (bring on the scary vibes!), and catch you up on what else we've been up to.
After that, we chat with our guest: debut horror author, Jamison Shea.
Jamison was once a flautist, violist, anthropologist, linguist, choreographer, dancer, professional fire alarm puller, digital producer, and account executive–but they’ve always been a writer. When Jamison isn’t writing horror, they’re drinking milk tea and searching for long-forgotten gods in eerie places. Their YA debut, I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME, is out now! Join us as we discuss Jamison's journey to publication, what it's been like promoting their debut, and how real life horrors inspired some elements of I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME.
Jamison can be found on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Tumblr @wickedjamison or on their website at https://jamisonshea.com/.
In our pre-chat (we're still getting the hang of this), we discuss what we've been up to this summer and what we're excited about for the upcoming week. Spoiler: BEYONCÉ.
Our guest was NYT bestselling author J. Elle, a longtime friend of the pod. We discussed her upcoming dark academia romantasy HOUSE OF MARIONNE, along with many other bookery things.
More info on J. Elle:
J. Elle is the New York Times, Indie bestselling and award-winning author of multiple books, including Against The Tide, an original prequel novel tie-in to The Little Mermaid. Her debut, Wings of Ebony, dubbed “an incredible debut” by NPR and best fantasy book by POPSUGAR, was a 2022 NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth and Teens, an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, a Barnes and Noble YA Book Club Pick, a First Novelist American Library Association Honor Book and the recipient of a Kirkus starred review. Her forthcoming blockbuster fantasy romance trilogy, House of Marionne is being translated into ten languages across 5 continents. The former educator credits her nomadic lifestyle and humble inner-city beginnings as inspiration for her novels. When she’s not writing, Elle can be found on the hunt for desserts without chocolate, looking for any excuse to get dressed up, and road-tripping her way across the country with her two dogs in tow.
J. Elle is @authorjelle on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.
In our first-ever seasonal pick: BLOOD DEBTS by Terry J. Benton-Walker is our spring pick! In this episode, we have a deep-dive conversation about this magical book with the author, with both non-spoiler and spoiler sections (there is a spoiler warning!). We talked about:
BLOOD DEBTS, a magical YA contemporary fantasy is out now!
Terry's next book, an apocalyptic middle-grade contemporary fantasy, Alex Wise vs the End of the World, comes out in Fall 2023.
Want more Terry? Here's how to find him:
Join us as we celebrate Jill's book deal for her YA Dystopian Romance, THE DIVIDING SKY, out with Joy Revolution next Summer!
Add THE DIVIDING SKY on Goodreads!
Stay tuned for more info on the Afronauts Podcast's first hosted panel with WriteHive this summer!
Find The Afronauts Podcast online: