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I’m wrapping up my book tour with Sam J. Miller for Apprehension / Red Star Hustle, and it’s been wonderful. Before I recap, though, I want to spend a moment telling you about an organization near and dear to my heart.
Every year, the Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) is held in Surrey, British Columbia. It’s an opportunity for writers, poets, editors, agents, publishers, journalists, memoirists, filmmakers, podcasters, and other creatives come from all over the world to teach, learn, share, connect, inspire and be inspired.
In August, they unfortunately had to cancel their 2025 conference due to an unresolved labour dispute at their conference hotel. A cancellation at such a late stage of planning meant that a change of venue was simply not possible and a significant amount of the money invested could not be recovered.
SiWC is running a GoFundMe to try and recuperate some of these lost operating costs. It would mean the world to me if you could support them with either a donation or by sharing the campaign.
If you make a donation of at least $45 USD and email the receipt to siwc@maryrobinettekowal.com, you’ll receive a pre-recorded class I had planned to teach at Surrey, Scene Writing for the Scene Avoidant, in return.
The masterclass I was planning to teach at Surrey, Auditioning Characters, was $90 USD. If you donate $90 USD and email the receipt to siwc@maryrobinettekowal.com, you’ll receive an invitation to a live virtual version of this class on January 31st at 8pm Eastern.
MRK’s Mundane Moments
Here’s a quick snapshot of what I’m…
- Crafting:Â Abellona shawl (I kept having to frog it.)
- Reading:Â Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
- Writing: The trouble with being a tiny cat is that all the controls in Elsie’s cabin had been optimized for humans. Height. Vision. Thumbs.
- Watching:Â Foundation
- Enjoying:Â reMarkable pro Move
Behind the Scenes of Apprehension
| I’m wrapping up the  Apprehension/Red Star Hustle book tour with Sam J. Miller. The entire launch has been a whirlwind, and we’re thrilled to have hit the USA Today Bestseller List! If you’ve had a chance to read Apprehension / Red Star Hustle, Sam and I would love it if you could share your thoughts. Reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads will help future readers know if these stories are a good fit for them. |
Apprehension Book Tour
| It’s been a delight to see so many people excited for these two sci-fi crime thrillers! I’m taking a brief break from travel, but keep an eye on my website for new dates and cities after the New Year. |
Elsie’s Corner
Elsie has been able to join me on several of my stops this tour. Each time, I’ve told Elsie what we would be doing and given her a chance to opt in or opt out.
And because her button board consists of puzzle pieces, I can break the board apart and set it up pretty fast. I give myself a half hour to load it and can reset it in about 5 minutes.
This means Elsie can choose join me on adventures without losing access to communication.
She doesn’t always choose to travel with me, but it’s incredibly gratifying to be able to give her the option.
Want to start your own communication journey with your animal?
Click this link and use the code “elsiewant” for 12% off FluentPet buttons.