Where on the internet is Rivqa Rafael?

Like so many of the rats jumping ship, I’m currently in the process of winding down my Twitter account. While I have a linktree, I’ve put this post together to provide a little more detail about where I actually spend my social media time, in case anyone wants to find me while Twitter takes its last gasping breaths. In no particular order:

  • Despite its evils, I am most active on and most enjoy Instagram. I’m still working out how I want to use this newer, more public Insta, but it’ll probably be mostly writing news and dog pictures as posts and stories (I am not a video person).
  • These days I track my reading (such as it is) on StoryGraph.
  • I have a Tumblr; while I don’t use it very much, I should pick up private messages there at least.
  • If we’ve met or spoken online, I don’t mind you adding me on Facebook. I don’t use it much, but I do get private messages there. If we have no previous connection, feel free to follow me; I make most writing news public.
  • The contact form on this website usually works.
  • I use various other platforms (Telegram, Signal, Whatsapp, Discord, whatever Google is calling its chat function these days, and email, of course). If we know each other (IRL or online), send me a private message to ask for these details if you don’t have them.
  • I may set up Mastodon or something else in the future, but I already have a bunch of things I barely look at, and I wasn’t on Twitter much even before it got Muskified, so I’m not rushing this one.

Please stay in touch if you’d like to!

Brief internet appearances

Rivqa is smiling and holding a copy of Strange Fire

This year will probably be a quiet one in terms of my fiction, since I’m doing honours in psychology this year (reputedly the hardest part of the whole process). Still, I have a couple of things coming up soon.

In the meantime, I have managed to share opinions about Jewish Australian speculative fiction on a panel with Gillian Polack, Jack Dann, and Jason Franks. This was run by Bettina Burger and Lucas Mattila, who are lovely Australian spec fic academics and enthusiasts at Heinrich Heine University, and was a lot of fun. Watch here. One of their students has reviewed several of my short stories for their blog, so my fiction has now been officially studied! That’s got to be a square on my non-existent bingo sheet.

I also visited Elizabeth Fitzgerald’s blog, Earl Grey Editing, to share too many feelings about online spec fic conventions, burnout, and more. Check it out if you like feelings.

Last but not least, now that the USPS is shipping to Australia again, my contributor copy of Strange Fire has finally made it across the pond. I’m so excited to read this one.

The art of strange fire

Cover of "Strange Fire: Jewish Voices from the Pandemic", edited by TS Mendola, featuring an abstract artwork

I’m pleased to announce that “Love Thy Neighbour”, my cheeky Eve + Adam + Lilith Torah fanfic short story is forthcoming in Ben Yehuda Press’ Strange Fire: Jewish Voices from the Pandemic anthology, edited by TS Mendola and out later this month. The paperback is available for preorder now, and the ebook should be available soon. Warning: my story is in the SEX section (yes, there’s a sex section).

Also forthcoming is “She Is Not in Heaven”, in FableCroft’s The Art of Being Human (edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai). I’m sharing a TOC with the likes of Kaaron Warren, Juliet Marillier, and Joanne Anderton, so I’m really excited for this. My story in this one is a genre I’m calling shtetlpunk, and it has a golem, so stay tuned for a release date for this one.

CoNZealand schedule and Ditmar nomination

[insert unnecessary apologies and obligatory platitudes about COVID-19]

I’m on two WorldCon panels this year, which is next week! One on science fantasy and one on medicine of the future. I’m looking forward to these. If you’re interested in joining in, you’ll need a CoNZealand membership.

I’m also pleased to announce that my story “Whom My Soul Loves” has been nominated for a Ditmar Award. It seems to have been a quiet year for nominations, but nonetheless I remain very proud of this story. If you haven’t read it already, I’d be honoured if you did.

November news

So much going on this month!

Little Blue Marble has reprinted my Far North Queensland epidemiology adventure story, “Trivalent,” originally published in Ecopunk (Ticonderoga Publications). I still love my grumpy virologist and I’m glad this story is free to read now.

And Strange Horizons has published my very personal dybbuk story, “Whom My Soul Loves.” It’s not only queer and Jewish, but is set in the community that brought my parents together, making my existence possible. (Meta!) This one is also free to read and there’s an excellent podcast version, so I hope you’ll check it out.

I mentioned this in my last post, but to reiterate: GenreCon is coming up on 22 November. I’m on two panels (“Love in Strange Worlds” and “Overcoming the Monster”) and I’m running a seminar, “Writes and Rituals”, about religion and ritual in fiction, and how ritual can be useful to writers in their own practice.