Afronauts Podcast

Hey Afronauts! Our guest today is Indie-bestselling author Kamilah Cole. We had such a fun conversation, discussing everything from an alarmingly strict writing routine as a child, to the metadata she researches for her day job and writing, to plantains.

Thee Afronauts Black Writers Social is January 31, 2024. Kamilah Cole is the inaugral guest of honor, and will be do a reading of SO LET THEM BURN. Also, we'll be giving away a signed copy! If you're a Black writer, DM us (@theeafronauts) on social for an invite link. Our discord community is up and running! DM us for that link as well.

Kamilah Cole is an Indie-bestselling, Jamaican-born, American-raised author. By day she works in publishing and by night she frantically types words she hopes people want to read. In the past, she’s also worked as a journalist and at a hotel, two jobs that give you amazing stories to tell at parties. You know, if she went to parties.

A graduate of New York University, Kamilah is currently based in the Tri-State Area, where she’s usually playing Kingdom Hearts for the hundredth time, quoting early Spongebob Squarepants episodes, or crying her way through Zuko’s redemption arc in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In today's pre-chat, Thee Afronauts have some big announcements! We're opening a discord community for Black writers, starting a newsletter, and having our first-ever social! More info below if you're interested.

The meat of today's episode is about self-advocacy. We gave some examples of when we had to advocate for ourselves, discussed turning down opportunities (not easy!), and discussed the importance of community support.

This is the last Afronauts Podcast episode til this fall, but we're focusing on other exciting projects:

• Thee Afronauts Black Writers Social is an 18+ virtual event for Black writers. Attendees must email us at [email protected] for an invite link.

• Follow Thee Afronauts on substack! Our first newsletter will be published later this month.

• Join our Discord community! This is a space for and by Black writers, period. Email us at [email protected] for a link.

This is a fun one! Join us for a round table conversation with four 2024 debut authors: Sami Ellis, Ashton Lattimore, Avione Lee, and Rae Giana Rashad. We get into some honest discussion of the highs and lows of debut year, marketing plans, and protecting the integrity of your story through edits.

Support their books here:

DEAD GIRLS WALKING by Sami Ellis: https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/dead-girls-walking

ALL WE WERE PROMISED by Ashton Lattimore: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722988/all-we-were-promised-by-ashton-lattimore/

MIN AND THE PERILOUS PIPE by Avione Lee: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76536323-min-and-the-perilous-pipe

THE BLUEPRINT by Rae Giana Rashad: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-blueprint-rae-giana-rashad?variant=41059561472034

Catch up with us in our pre chat, then listen as we talk to Kwame Mbalia about writing, publishing, and Freedom Fire Books, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion that will feature stories of black joy and resilience written by black creators.

Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, a former pharmaceutical metrologist, and a publisher with Freedom Fire Books, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion.

His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels TRISTAN STRONG DESTROYS THE WORLD and TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING—is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion.

He is the co-author of LAST GATE OF THE EMPEROR with Prince Joel Makonnen, from Scholastic Books, and the editor of the #1 New York Times bestselling anthology BLACK BOY JOY, published by Delacorte Press. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheez-Its.

Learn more about Kwame at https://www.kwamembalia.com/.

Follow him on social media @KSekouM on X (formally Twitter) and @mbalia1 on Instagram.

We had a wonderful chat with Root Literary's Samantha Fabien about her personal agent taste, how she sets her client's submissions up for success, and her personal agent career goals.

Learn more about Samantha at https://www.rootliterary.com/agents

Our esteemed guest, Sheree Renée Thomas, was kind enough to visit us and drop some knowledge. More info on her below!

Sheree is a New York Times bestselling, two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author and editor. A 2023 Octavia E. Butler Award honoree and a 2022 Hugo Award Finalist, she is the author of Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future, a Locus, Ignyte, and World Fantasy Finalist, Marvel’s Black Panther: Panther’s Rage novel, and she collaborated with Janelle Monáe on “Timebox Altar(ed)” in The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer. Sheree co-edited Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction and is an NAACP Image Award Nominee and Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Sheree lives in her hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, near a mighty river and a pyramid.

Support F&SF:

https://fandsf.com/

Find Sheree ONLINE:

https://www.instagram.com/shereereneethomas/

https://www.shereereneethomas.com/

https://twitter.com/blackpotmojo

Leslye Penelope's podcast 'My Imaginary Friends':

https://lpenelope.com/podcast/

Join us as we chat with our guests, Jamaican-American fiction author Shari Pennant and queer horror writer Sami Ellis, all about Anthologies!

Shari's work can be found in the multi-genre YA anthology COOL. AWKWARD. BLACK. You can find Shari on her website at https://www.sharipennant.com/, on Instagram @sharibpennant, or Twitter @ShariWrites.

Sami will be included in the upcoming Black horror anthology ALL THESE SUNKEN SOULS, out this fall.Find Sami at https://www.authorsamiellis.com/, on Instagram @authorsamiellis, or on Twitter @themoosef.

Join us for a real talk chat with two of next year's debut authors!

Avery Cunningham is the author of THE MAYOR OF MAXWELL STREET, a riveting historical drama in which a rich Black debutante enlists the help of a low-level speakeasy manager to identify the head of an underground crime syndicate. Preorder here: https://books.disney.com/book/the-mayor-of-maxwell-street/

Etta Easton is the author of THE KISS COUNTDOWN, a fake dating rom-com featuring a down-on-her-luck event planner and a charming astronaut. Preorder here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735486/the-kiss-countdown-by-etta-easton/

Is it spooky season yet? Because the Afronauts been ready!

In our pre-chat, we let you know which books we're reading (bring on the scary vibes!), and catch you up on what else we've been up to.

After that, we chat with our guest: debut horror author, Jamison Shea.

Jamison was once a flautist, violist, anthropologist, linguist, choreographer, dancer, professional fire alarm puller, digital producer, and account executive–but they’ve always been a writer. When Jamison isn’t writing horror, they’re drinking milk tea and searching for long-forgotten gods in eerie places. Their YA debut, I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME, is out now! Join us as we discuss Jamison's journey to publication, what it's been like promoting their debut, and how real life horrors inspired some elements of I FEED HER TO THE BEAST AND THE BEAST IS ME.

Jamison can be found on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Tumblr @wickedjamison or on their website at https://jamisonshea.com/.

In our pre-chat (we're still getting the hang of this), we discuss what we've been up to this summer and what we're excited about for the upcoming week. Spoiler: BEYONCÉ.

Our guest was NYT bestselling author J. Elle, a longtime friend of the pod. We discussed her upcoming dark academia romantasy HOUSE OF MARIONNE, along with many other bookery things.

More info on J. Elle:

J. Elle is the New York Times, Indie bestselling and award-winning author of multiple books, including Against The Tide, an original prequel novel tie-in to The Little Mermaid.Her debut, Wings of Ebony, dubbed “an incredible debut” by NPR and best fantasy book by POPSUGAR, was a 2022 NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth and Teens, an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, a Barnes and Noble YA Book Club Pick, a First Novelist American Library Association Honor Book and the recipient of a Kirkus starred review. Her forthcoming blockbuster fantasy romance trilogy, House of Marionne is being translated into ten languages across 5 continents.The former educator credits her nomadic lifestyle and humble inner-city beginnings as inspiration for her novels. When she’s not writing, Elle can be found on the hunt for desserts without chocolate, looking for any excuse to get dressed up, and road-tripping her way across the country with her two dogs in tow.

J. Elle is @authorjelle on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.