Does a spiritual practice play a part in your creative process? Do you have any rituals to help you create? Aleen and I share our thoughts, feelings, history with spirituality, & current spiritual practices (or, in Aleen’s case, attempt at creating ritual) and how they relate to their creativity.
Author: Tempest
I'm Tempest! This is my blog.
I Heart This Thursday September 2022
Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.
I have fallen down the rabbit hole of increasingly more difficult Wordle clones. First it was Quordle, then Octordle, then Sedecordle, and finally Duotrigordle. There is one where you can do 64 Wordles at once, but I draw the line at 32! I am having fun even though some days I end up very frustrated.
Now it’s your turn: Please talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.
And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.
One Month Until My Debut Novel Publishes | August 2022 Tea Time With Tempest
I’m not allowed to type in all caps or use excess exclamation points since this is also going to the email subscribers, so just imagine me shouting from a rooftop:
One Month Until Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion Debuts
And I have some surprises for you, so dig in.
🧡 Tempest
I have a bit of news to share with you below, but down in the comments I want to hear your news. Tell me about the stuff going on in your life that you’d like to share. Can be great things, or not so great things, or a funny story, or an epic story. Share pictures, share laughter, share what’s troubling you, share wisdom.
Continue reading “One Month Until My Debut Novel Publishes | August 2022 Tea Time With Tempest”
ORIGINality Podcast Episode 36: Make Believe About Dragons
I’ve been dying to talk to Whitney “Strix” Beltrán about her twisty-turn-y journey to becoming a narrative designer in the video games industry since XOXO back in 2019. Turned out to be just as fascinating a conversation as I hoped.
Aleen, Whitney, and I talk about how sometimes we take the road we’ve always intended to go down and sometimes we’re led on a path we never could have imagined.
»»» Click here to listen to episode 36 «««
I Heart This Thursday August 2022
Welcome to I❤TT, a discussion thread for sharing stuff you love because we need more of that in life.
It’s an amazing time to be a Star Trek fan. I’m loving Strange New Worlds (Pike’s hair is my patronus) and still love Discovery and I’m going to watch Lower Decks and Prodigy very soon (I’m working through a backlog of Disney+ shows).
Speaking of the animated Treks, I also really loved Star Trek: The Animated Series. So I was very tickled when I saw these videos of TNG and Voyager done in the style of the old show.
They got everything right from the jenky action to the ridiculous closeups! I hope they make more.
Now it’s your turn: Please talk about or post a link, or two links, or even 5 links to things that bring you joy. Can be something cute your kid or pet did, a piece of art, a song, a book, a short story, an article, a video, posts from social media, anything.
And if these discussions are a source of joy for you, please do share this link with others who might need a space for talking about what we love.
New Suns 2 has a cover and Ruby Finley has an audiobook | July 2022 Tea Time With Tempest
This month I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about the future and what I want from it. There are several things on the horizon that could mean great things for my writing career and my bank account (woot), which means I can start thinking about where I want to put down roots. Yes, this nomad wishes to be in one place for a long time. Or at least have a good home base so I can launch myself wherever else I want to go.
Like many Americans, I’m very worried about certain national trends. More and more I’m leaning into the notion that survival means ensuring I have community and that the people in it are as dedicated to mutual aid, support, and caring for each other as I am. Wherever I land, that’s the top priority.
All the examples of this kind of community I’ve seen are based on location: neighborhoods, towns, regions. However, I have friends and loved ones all over the country and around the world. I want to know more about ways we can provide mutual aid across distances, and best ways to organize such. I’d love to hear from anyone with ideas or experience in that area.
In the end, we all have to take care of each other. That’s how we’re going to make it.
🧡 Tempest
I have a bit of news to share with you below, but down in the comments I want to hear your news. Tell me about the stuff going on in your life that you’d like to share. Can be great things, or not so great things, or a funny story, or an epic story. Share pictures, share laughter, share what’s troubling you, share wisdom.
Ruby Finley is a JLG Gold Standard Selection!
This news made my day explode with glitter! Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. *confetti!*
For those who don’t know, the JLG sends curated book boxes to librarians who then use those selections to inform which books they’ll buy for their libraries. So this is a big win!
The guild also claims that they have “A Sixth Sense for Choosing Award-Worthy Books.” *fans self*
Many thanks to the folks at JLG for picking my book and I hope all the librarians who get it love it as well.
Happy Pride + Ruby @ ALA + BIPOC Book Fair | June 2022 Tea Time With Tempest
Happy Pride, everyone 🌈
This month has been hard–especially here at the end–for a lot of us in America. One minute we’re celebrating Juneteenth, the next we’re mourning the loss of rights. I often get frustrated and angry about how little power I have to change things and how feeble the suggestions are for fixing what’s wrong with our country (voting is only the most basic thing you can do and not the most effective, but that’s a rant for another time).
However, a wise elder recently told me that I can’t hold on to frustration at what I can’t change. I need to focus on what I can and should be doing. I was put on this Earth to make art and build community. That’s how I’m going to contribute to making things better. Imma keep writing. Imma keep holding space for the marginalized. Imma keep fighting.
I hope you keep fighting and doing what you were put on this Earth to do, too.
🧡 Tempest
I have a bit of news to share with you below, but down in the comments I want to hear your news. Tell me about the stuff going on in your life that you’d like to share. Can be great things, or not so great things, or a funny story, or an epic story. Share pictures, share laughter, share what’s troubling you, share wisdom.
Continue reading “Happy Pride + Ruby @ ALA + BIPOC Book Fair | June 2022 Tea Time With Tempest”
ORIGINality Podcast Episode 35: Lean Into Your Creative Genius
In this episode Aleen and I talk about how easy it is to get bogged down in the notion that you’ve waited too long to start being creative. We’re here to tell you that it is never too late to try something new or start your creative life.
» Click here to listen to episode 35 «
Writing With Pride – LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion
Since it’s Pride Month and Juneteenth season and three months until Ruby Finley comes out, I thought I’d post about an aspect of the book that’s not obvious from the jacket copy but is very important to me, a Black Queer person.
When I first decided to write this book I had specific goals about representation and inclusion. I wanted my protagonist to be Black, to live in a Black community that is functional, safe, and caring, and for that community to have LGBTQ+ people in it as a matter of course. I did this by including parents who are gay and lesbian, and at no point is this ever brought up as a problem or abnormal.