An Update on the Dread Con Situation, and Something Slightly More Positive

The Things That Keep Me Up At Night Newsletter

Friends, it has been the kind of month that has felt like a year. This week, it was an illness that knocked me on my ass and out of work for most of the week. When I did return to work, after the biggest snowstorm of the year (until today’s), my car began to act up, and it was not cheap to fix it. The week prior, I found five new white hairs in my beard. And I think that was at least partially due to how stressed I was about sharing my previous post: Discrimination at Dread Con, and the Prejudiced Practices of Eerie River Publishing. I was worried about the backlash I might receive because of it. But I am relieved and pleased to say that I was not met with a single word of negativity. And many awesome people reached out to me to extend their support. Some of those people also reached out to Michelle River to bring her attention to what I had to say about her convention and company. Michelle responded by sharing the following post to Dread Con’s Instagram page.

As her post (which I do have my issues with) indicates, Michelle did contact me. She did so via two emails within a twenty-four-hour period shortly following the release of my exposé. The first email included an apology. The second email, the following morning, included an outright denial of any discrimination on the part of Eerie River Publishing. This was yet more evidence that I have been dealing with an inconsistent human being. Both emails were insistent that Michelle and I have a conversation regarding my complaints, and how to better diversify her future events and publications. I did not acknowledge the apology. Not because I’m angry or upset, but because I never wanted an apology, nor do I need one. I’ve learned that the only apology worth making or taking is one that comes with changed behaviour.

That being said, I did agree to have a conversation with Michelle about the issues I raised. That conversation was meant to happen earlier this week, but Michelle asked for it to be postponed. I was fine with that and gave her several options for a new time to talk. Essentially, I told her I was free whenever she was. That was on Monday, February 10th. Six days ago. Michelle has yet to reply and reschedule. I have seen her posts popping up on Instagram throughout this week. She doesn’t seem too busy for that. But she is too busy to make diversity and the concerns of her readers and convention goers a priority. So, I will be moving on with my life. I have been disrespected enough. And I have wasted too much of my time on this nonsense.

Thank you to everyone who reached out, shared my post, expressed your concerns, and have spoken of helping to make change. I appreciate you. And I wish there had been a more positive outcome. But this is why I don’t bother with apologies unless I see the necessary changed behaviour that ought to come with them. Because, like the inclusivity statements on both the Eerie River and Dread Con websites, and the statement Michelle put out following my post, apologies without action are just meaningless, manipulative words. There will be other dark fiction conventions to pop up around the Greater Toronto Area in the future. I’m sure of that. I only hope they are organized by people who value diversity and inclusion over bigotry and discrimination.

And Now, Some Positive Subject Matter

For those of you who are interested in reading more Black authored fiction but don’t know where to start, and don’t want to spend a lot of money on authors who are unfamiliar to you, I have a solution:

The Black Stars Collection, featuring: The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2043…A Merman I Shall Be by Nisi Shawl, Clap Back by Nalo Hopkinson, The Black Pages by Nnedi Okorafor, These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi, and We Travel the Spaceways by Victor Lavalle

Black Stars is a collection of unrelated sci-fi and speculative fiction short stories that is free for those with Amazon Prime in both ebook and audiobook formats. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting. From what I’ve read and heard, these Amazon Prime collections are a mixed bag in terms of quality, and this one is no different. Many of these stories are good, one features a major issue I have with certain North American Black authored fiction, and another quickly became an all-time favourite short story of mine. Check out my reviews to find out which is which, and I hope you share your opinion on these as well.

The first two reviews are already up over on Patreon. And I will be reviewing the remaining four, two at a time, over the last two Wednesdays of the month. You won’t have to pay a cent to read them. I am hoping to start a book club on Patreon, where we’ll be discussing a diverse variety of books (not only Black authored books and not excluding White authored books). I figured the Black Stars collection would be a good place to start, being that it is Black History Month.

Click the image to read my reviews of The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, and The Black Pages by Nnedi Okorafor

Thanks For Reading!

If you have any Black authored book recommendations, please feel free to leave them in the comments. And happy reading, regardless of what books you decide to get into for the rest of this month.