News and Notes: Rough Summer

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I have had a difficult summer: After breaking both my hands (covered previously in this space), I had to have a series of emergency dental procedures (still not done!), and, as if that wasn’t enough, my whole family got Covid, including yours truly. Still, it hasn’t been all bad. I did manage to get some micro fiction and poetry published, and I represented Comic Book School at Eternal Con in Long Island, hosting multiple panels in early July.

First off, my work was included in the From One Line, Vol 3 anthology. From One Line is one of my favorite writing prompts on Twitter, and they periodically publish anthologies based on their prompts. I am proud number of micro-fictions and poems in the anthology, and feel that the From One Line prompts, which provide a first line which authors must use to start their pieces, bring out some of my best work. You can purchase the From One Line anthology here.

From One Line, vol 3

My work also appears in this year’s Serious Flash Fiction winners anthology, which collects the winners of its annual micro fiction contest. This is the fifth year in a row that I’ve had work in the anthology, and it’s a special publication for me, as when I was first published in it 5 years ago, it broke a long publishing drought for me. You can get the anthology here.

Serious Flash Fiction

As mentioned above, I represented Comic Book School at Eternal Con in Long Island at the beginning of July. I tabled at the con, and hosted a number of panels, both planned and as a full-in for Buddy Scalera who had to miss the show unexpectedly.

Among the panels which I hosted, were the ever-popular Origin Story Interactive Character Creation panel (co-hosted with the always amazing Cathy Kirch of My Writing Hero and Columbia University), and a brand new panel on dialogue based on two blog posts I wrote here.

If you weren’t at the show, you can read those posts here:

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2019/11/21/everything-i-needed-to-know-about-writing-character-i-learned-from-sesame-street/

Cookie Monster blog

and here:

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2019/12/12/everything-you-think-you-know-about-yoda-is-wrong-voice-and-syntax-part-ii/

Yoda Blog

Hopefully, the skies will clear for me soon, and the second half of the summer will be better. Thank you for sticking with me during this difficult time.

News and Notes: “Genesis, Jiggered” to be published in Ahoy! Comics (November 24th); Appearance on Flying Ketchup Radio

My short story, “Genesis Jiggered,” a satyrical retelling of the biblical creation story, which posits the creator was drunk, will be published by Ahoy! comics in Black’s Myth, issue 5 on November 24th.

Get it at your local comics shop, or wherever comics are sold.

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Comic Book School mentioned my story in a recent episode of it’s Tuesday night YouTube show.

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And speaking of the CBS YouTube show and Ahoy!, I also interviewed Stuart Moore and Mark Russell about the process of creating their stories in the latest issue of Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Death.

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I also recently appeared on Flying Ketchup Press’ Ketchup•Pedia radio. I read two pieces on the program, a sonnet which I wrote upon finding my first grey hair, and a flash fiction story which was published in the Comic Book School Panel 1 anthology.

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My poem “snow ghosts” will be published in The Bard’s Annual 2021 from Local Gems Press on Dec 5th.

I will be reading at Bard’s Day the annual release event on Long Island. Tickets to the reading and links to buy the book can be found here.

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News & Notes: Publishing, NYCC, Media Appearances

It’s been a while since I’ve complied a news and notes column, and I have a whole bunch of news to report. Here are some updates about my recent publications, my plans for NYCC, and some shows on which I’ve appeared recently.

Publishing News:

My gothic poem, “The Widow’s Walk” is included in the Love Letters To Poe anthology: A Toast To Edgar Allan Poe, which is currently available on Amazon. The anthology includes the first 12 issues of the Love Letters to Poe magazine, in which the poem was originally published. Get your here.

The Remnants post-apocalyptic shared-world anthology in which my story “The Forgotten” was published, is being reissued by Fedowar Press. The new edition includes not only the stories included in the original anthology, but three new stories as well, one of which is my brand new, “The Kings of New York.” the new story is one of my favorite things I’ve written recently, and I’d be honored if you’d check it out. The anthology is scheduled for publication on October 17th, but you can preorder your copy at a discount here.

Comic Book School’s Creator Connections, Panel 2, a comics and flash fiction anthology is being released as a free digital download at New York Comic Con next week. For the second straight year, I was an editor of the anthology, which includes both comics and illuminated flash fiction. For those of you eagerly anticipating the next Mr. Stupendous story, it is included in the book, and it is illustrated by a dream-team of artists, including D. Alley, Evan Scale, Sebastian Bonet, Michael Grassia, and Arielle Lupkin, who illustrated the original Stupendous story. I also have a flash fiction piece in the anthology (illustrated by Joel Jacob Barker). You will be able to download the anthology for free from the Comic Book School website when NYCC begins on October 7th.

I have to haiku in the Tea-Ku anthology from Local Gems press. Get your here.

NYCC

I will be attending New York Comic Con as part of the Comic Book School team this year. We will be located at table I-8 in Artists Alley. Stop by, say hi, and pick up a copy of the Creator Connections, Panel 1 anthology, which will be available in print for the first time at the show.

Media Appearances

I have appeared on a number of Podcasts and Shows recently in support of the aforementioned Panel 2 anthology, including:

“G” is for Geek

G is for Geek episode with A. A. Rubin

Get In Toon

Get In Toon episode with A. A. Rubin

I also have appearances scheduled on Keiko’s Diary and Nerds of the Round in the coming week leading up to NYCC.

In addition, I’ve participated in a number of poetry readings, including:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/bardspoetryrevolution/2021/09/13/tea-ku-anthology-book-launch-poetry-reading-and-tea-discussion

and

I’d be honored to hear what you think about my stories and prose, and if you’re going to NYCC, stop by Artist’s Alley, I-8 and say hi.

My Panels at Inbeon Con, August 28-29

This weekend, I will be on multiple panels at Inbeon Con, an online comic-con which focuses on creatives.

I will be paneling with Comic Book School on the How to Make an Anthology panel on Sunday, at 10AM to kick off the second day of the show. In this panel, the editorial team responsible for the award-winning Creator Connections, Panel 1 anthology will be sharing our process, and teaching you what you need to create your own comics anthology. Comic Book School will also be paneling on Saturday, when Buddy Scalera and Dan Chichester discuss marketing for creatives.

I will also be a part of Inbeon’s panel on Creating a Character later in the day on Sunday. I recently hosted a panel at Eternal Con on the same subject, and it is a subject which I love to discuss.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FInbeonCon%2Fposts%2F2950060775274222&show_text=true&width=500

The show is completely online–and free! I hope to see you there.