Never enough doesn’t really describe last year’s live events, because I’m really pleased with how many times I got invited to speak or read in public. I wish I’d been able to work things out with the Cliterary Salon, but I’m not sure I could have managed anything more. Maybe this year?

Readings:

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading
Sunday, March 10, 2019
FogCon in Hayward, California
Emceed by Rebecca Gomez Farrell, with L.S. Johnson and Tina LeCount Myers. I read from Lost Angels and “The Arms Dealer’s Daughter.”

Contributors to Tales for the Camp Fire:  Clifford Brooks, Eric Esser, Ken Hueler, LS Johnson, me, EM Markoff, and Nancy Etchemendy

SF in SF
Sunday, June 9, 2019
American Book Binders Museum, San Francisco, California
Moderated by Terry Bisson, Nancy Etchemendy, EM Markoff and I read from and discussed Tales for the Camp Fire. The SF in SF podcast went live on August 7: https://soundcloud.com/sfinsfpodcast/june-2019-loren-rhoads-nancy-etchemendy-and-e-m-markoff-tales-for-the-camp-fire

Third Annual Tales of Horror
Wednesday, October, 2 2019
The Oak Room, Main Branch of the San Mateo Public Library
Emceed by Emerian Rich, Jonathan Fortin, Trinity Adler, Laurel Anne Hill, R.L. Merrill, Mercy Hollow, and me, along with Tales for the Camp Fire contributors E.M. Markoff, Ben Monroe, and Sumiko Saulson.
I read a piece of “Here There Be Monsters” from The Haunted Mansion Project: Year Two.

The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the HWA at the Litcrawl
October 19, 2019
Dalva, San Francisco, California
Members of the SF Bay Area Chapter of the Horror Writers Association read from Tales for the Camp Fire. I emceed, joined by Clifford Brooks, L. S. Johnson, E. M. Markoff, and Ben Monroe. I read one of the sexy bits from “Still Life with Shattered Glass.”

Literary Speakeasy’s Martini Bar of Horrors
October 24, 2019
Martuni’s, San Francisco, California
Emceed by the inimitable James J. Siegel, I joined Laura Blackwell, Chaz Brenchley, Meg Elison, Vernon Keeve III, Ginger Murray, and Jean Znidarsic to bring the spooky back to Martuni’s.  I read the scene in the haunted swimming pool from “Here There Be Monsters” out of The Haunted Mansion Project: Year Two.

Lectures:

I did a little presentation to my local HWA group about how to prepare for a reading and introduced them to all the reading series in the Bay Area, April 14 at the Borderlands Cafe in San Francisco.

I only did one brand-new one last year, but I am really proud of it. I debuted my “Future of Death” speech at the Nebula Conference on May 16.

Miscellaneous Live Events:

Camp Fire contributors: Chad Schimke, EM Markoff, Ben Monroe, LS Johnson, Sumiko Saulson, and me.

Bay Area Book Festival
May 4 & 5, 2019
Berkeley, California
I spend the entire weekend hanging out with the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Horror Writers Association at the Book Festival this year. As always, the company was really fun. We debuted Tales for the Camp Fire, which was a rousing success.

Camp Fire contributors: Roh Morgon, me, Ben Monroe, Anthony De Rouen, EM Markoff, Eric Esser, and Gene O’Neill

Tales for the Camp Fire‘s first signing
May 11, 2019
Books on B, Hayward, California
I was joined by Anthony De Rouen, Eric Esser, E. M. Markoff, Ben Monroe, Roh Morgon, and Gene O’Neill for the first bookstore event for Tales for the Camp Fire.

Tales for the Camp Fire at Borderlands Books after hours
Borderlands Books, San Francisco, California
June 22, 2019
E. M. Markoff and I presented Tales for the Camp Fire at the Borderlands Sponsors Party.

Tales for the Camp Fire second signing
Dark Carnival, Berkeley, California
July 29, 2019
I was joined by Anthony De Rouen, G. O. Clark, L. S. Johnson, E. M. Markoff, Ben Monroe, and Gene O’Neill for another book signing event for Tales for the Camp Fire.

Silicon Valley Comic Con
August 16-18, 2019
I joined L. S. Johnson and E. M. Markoff in San Jose, California to sell books at my first comic con. It was a major learning experience.

Convention Panels:

FogCon:

Debut Author Lessons 
Friday, March 8, 2019
I joined Vylar Kaftan, Tina LeCount Myers, and Tyler Hayes to talk what we learned — or wish we’d known — as beginning writers.

How do you sign books? What’s the etiquette when talking to bookstores? Join our panel of authors, some brand new, others with several books behind them, as they discuss the things every debut author needs to know, from signing contracts to signing books.

Down to Earth: The Future of Green Burial
Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 9
Moderated by M. Kennedy, with E.M. Markoff, Terry Weyna, and me.

“We’re not detached from Earth. We turn *into* earth.” Inspired by Becky Chambers’ Record of a Spaceborn Few, this panel is a discussion of death customs in science fiction and an introduction to existing environmentally conscious burial methods. How can human decay be a catalyst for helping forests flourish, or repopulate coral reefs, or nurture a family garden? What resources exist for people like Kip, who want to care for the bodies of loved ones without prior formal education? Readers inspired by the work of Caretakers like Chambers’ Eyas may be interested to learn that several organizations in the Bay Area not only specialize in providing green burials, home funerals, and death midwifery, they actively seek to train volunteers to provide this care for their own communities.

Wizard World – Bay Area

Flaming Piles of Garbage: How to Write a First Draft
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Oakland Convention Center, Oakland, California
Moderated by Kerstin Marie, I joined Billy San Juan and comix author George Michail at my first Wizard World convention to talk about how to get the words down.

The Psychology of Horror
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Oakland Convention Center, Oakland, California
Moderated by Billy San Juan, I joined George Michail, artist Ben Russel, and Lara TK to talk about why being scared is so fun.