NOLA Book Club!

NOLA Book Club!

by | Dec 6, 2020 | NOLA Book Club

NOLA Book Club is off and running.

nola book club

NOLA Book Club!

I’ve been wanting to do this for some time. With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays approaching, now is the time to kick off NOLA Book Club.

The Concept

This is quite the selfish concept on my part. I’m always looking for challenges to my literary tastes. I grew up on a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. So much of that genre, particularly “hard” SF stories, were written by white male authors. Fantasy, less so, but the authors are almost all white. Same for the non-SFF fiction I read. So, I want to expand.

Now, if you’re like me, you need to be pushed outside your comfort zone. I procrastinate a lot. The best way for me to get things done is with deadlines. That’s why teaching works so well for me. I have to show up to start class.

The Club

While I have a good routine when it comes to reading, NOLA Book Club offers an expansion of that routine. Additionally, this concept gives me the chance to meet and engage people. I’ve kicked this idea around with Mandy Pumilla of Royal Brewery for a while now. Mandy hosted a book event for me at the brewery a couple of years back. It’s a great place to sit around and talk.

Since sitting around and talking in person won’t happen for a while yet, NOLA Book Club will start virtual, most likely on Zoom.

First Book – January 2021

For the club’s first book and discussion, we’ll read We Cast A Shadow, by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. Maurice’s book is a great start because:

  • It’s good
  • Folks interested in the club may have already read it
  • A re-read to get started means we can start the February book read early
  • Did I mention it’s a good book?

Maurice is the kind of author that I might not have read, if I didn’t know him personally

So, We Cast A Shadow is a great start. It’s easily acquired, both as an ebook and real paper.

First Meeting

We’ll target Thursday, January 21, 2021, 6pm, for our first gathering (via ZOOM)

NOTE: This date and time are a target. Once we have a core group, this is subject to change.

Administrivia

NOLA Book Club will run here (ebranley.com). I’ve got my personal site set up as a WordPress “network” site, so it will be easy to move it to its own website as the project grows.

Twitter: @booknola

ZuckerBook: NOLA Book Club

We’ll use hashtag #NOLAbookclub on social media.

Joining NOLA Book Club

How to join the club:

  1. Read the book!
  2. Join us on 21-January to discuss our first book.
  3. Suggest books and participate in club discussions on social media

And here we go!

Talents Snippet 20201204

Talents Snippet 20201204

by | Dec 4, 2020 | Talents Universe, Writing

Below is a sneak peek of this content!

I'm making progress on the third novel in the Bayou Talents series. If you follow me on the Book of Zucker, you know I write little snippets involving characters from the Talents stories. You'll find them in the group, "Mystic New Orleans," and here. While the bulk of my Patreon content will be posts from NOLA History Guy, these snippets will also be included. Readers of "Trusted Talents" may remember Tara Anne Rodrigue. She's a Creole woman, married to Fabian Rodrigue, an attorney and the Man in Black of Celtic Bayou Coven. Tara is a skilled mage and Third Degree priestess. Celtic Bayou Coven is fairly eclectic. Its members with Talents tend to overlap between the Ceremonial Magick practiced by...
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