Happy dance over here!!! Otter Coast: A Medical Marijuana Mystery... Join in on the book party... because my second eco-fiction novel is ready for you! Read a review, buy & read, add a starred review!

As architectural intern Amalia Sengupta Erenwine grapples with her nascent career in New York City and the consequences of her new relationship, her friend the Reverend Mildred McCaine plans a panel about medical marijuana at her Binghamton church. When these two women take off on a road trip back to Mildred's hometown, they each in their own way intend to prove themselves pure of intent and unencumbered by their pasts. Amalia hopes to demonstrate she's true to her word and figure out her love life, and Mildred is drawn to confront fuzzy details about her family's past. But when the women uncover mysterious goings-on at Mildred's childhood home, an intriguing ancient artifact, and long-forgotten memories of otters at play, their fine intentions come unraveled. How will Amalia reconcile her deeper knowing with her life's goals? And how will Mildred remember and come to terms with her family's history, and her own present and new unfolding?

Links are ready in two places - Barnes and Noble and Amazon...

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/otter-coast-maia-kb-chowdhury/1143042148?ean=9798986185415

https://www.amazon.com/Otter-Coast-Medical-Marijuana-Mystery/dp/B0BV5DD9LB/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1676895718&refinements=p_27%3AMaia+Kb+Chowdhury&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Maia+Kb+Chowdhury

Canadian, UK, Asia, Africa, ANZA links to follow as soon as they're up online. For international, orders, please go directly to your local bookseller and order with this information:

Maia Chowdhury, Otter Coast, ISBN: 9798986185415

Please add a starred review on Goodreads, as it helps to generate more interest and views, rankings and sales. Tell your friends and share this message...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100779578-otter-coast

Thank you, friends, for all your support in the making of this book! Enjoy!

Maia :-) <3

#Adventure #AmWriting #Architecture #BIPOC #CliFi #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeFiction #CommunityPlanning #ContemporaryFiction #CreativeWriting #Desi #Diversity #EcoFiction #Engineering #Fracking #GoodReads #HighSpeedTransit #HydraulicFracturing #IndieAuthor #IndiePublisher #Intersectionality #LiteraryFiction #Logistics #Love #LoveStory #Marijuana #MedicalMarijuana #Metaphysical #MixedDesi #MixedRace #Mystery #Nanowrimo #Planning #Rail #Reiki #Transit #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #Visualization

Very excited to have just received the first review of my new eco-fiction novel, Otter Coast! Stay tuned… adding some snapshots of covers in progress…

#Architecture #Celtic #Desi #EcoFiction #MedicalMarijuana #MixedDesi #Mystery #Reiki #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #WritersOfMastodon

3 Good Things, Monday!

1. My art open house (drop in by appointment) is going well! Have sold a few pieces so far (all Reiki-infused and inspired), and more appointments scheduled prior to December 24th. In the photo I've attached, you'll see one of my paintings in the background behind all the text of the book cover for my new novel (see number 2 below). :-)

2. I am on track for publishing my second novel (Otter Coast, a medical marijuana mystery!) on the Winter Solstice. A funny day perhaps in light of the timing with holiday sales (it is not in time for people to order paper copies for Christmas and have them arrive, but e-books will be in time); it feels right, so I'm going for it. Also, as you'll see from the photo of the book cover design in progress, we have lots of Lorem Ipsum text to be replaced. I love Lorem Ipsum text, makes me feel like clean dishes, clean sheets, new opportunities. :-)

3. I'm getting closer to solving some work-related architecture and engineering design challenges which are always intriguing to me. Although I can't talk about work-work, I can say that in novel number 1 (The Erenwine Agenda---a love story that centers on fracking---which I am ALSO reissuing on the Solstice, in my given name, Maia Chowdhury) and in novel number 2, there is lots of workplace drama of the highest caliber! 🙂

Now, back to said Day Job. 🙂

#3GoodThings @3goodthings

#Architect #ArtForSale #CreativeWriting #DayJob #Desi #EcoFiction #Fracking #HolidaySale #HydraulicFracturing #IndieAuthor #IndiePublisher #IndependentPublisher #LoremIpsum #MixedDesi #MedicalMarijuana #Mystery #Publishing #Reiki #SmallPress #Solstice #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #WinterSolstice #WomenInArchitecture #WomenInSTEAM #WomenInSTEM #Writer #Writing

3 Good Things, Saturday morning edition:
1. I applied for a doctoral degree program! Let’s see what happens.
2. I finished Nanowrimo! Got the first draft done of Novel #3 in my trilogy and also set a publication date (Dec 21) for Novel #2 in the same trilogy.
3. My son is having friends over tonight. This might not sound like a big deal. I’ve wanted to create a new home for him and his older brother that felt cozy and comfortable and different from the home he has with his dad. Him having friends over makes it feel “normal.” I’m very happy about that. And we got our Christmas tree up, too, so it will be a little sparkly-celebratory, too.
#3GoodThings @3goodthings #ThreeGoodThings
#AmWriting #ChristmasTree #cozy #DBA #desi #divorce #doctorate #EcoFiction #Fiction #friends #home #MixedDesi #Nanowrimo #tree #trilogy #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #writing

People often ask me what I listen to when I’m in creating mode, whether in painting or writing. This year was mostly writing. I finished the 10 year trajecctory of working on my novel Otter Coast, a medical marijuana mystery (to be published in a few weeks - novel #2 in the ecofiction series) listening primarily to Ludovico Einaudi. And according to Spotify, I am in the top listeners to Einaudi in the US (probably in the world, I would guess). Here’s to creative influence! Thank you Mr. Einaudi!
#AmWriting #Author #BIPOC #Cannabis #Celtic #Desi #EcoFiction #Einaudi #IndieAuthor #IndependentPublishing #LudovidoEinaudi #Marijuana #MedicalMarijuana #MixedDesi #MixedRace #Music #Mystery #NewBook #Novel #Publishing #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #Writing #Writer

Three Good Things: The Ecofiction Writer Edition
Epic book day: got novel #1 (The Erenwine Agenda, fracking focus) layout output done for new edition to be published with my new name change (going back to my given name, Maia Chowdhury).
Did the “accept all changes” on novel #2 (Otter Coast, medical marijuana focus) and stripped the Word document of macros, ready for book layout. Pub date for Otter Coast: Dec 21!
And just picked up the printed first draft of novel #3 (Rail, high speed logistics focus)- super rough, finishing the first pass during Nanowrimo.
As I went to Staples to pick up the print I thought “I am a writer!” It only took me 3 novels to say so to myself (it’s in my bio and LinkedIn but to say it and mean it to myself is another thing).
Does that qualify as 3 Good Things? I think it does.
#AmWriting #Architect #BIPOC #BIPOCWriters #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeFiction #Desi #EcoFiction #FictionWriter #Fracking #IndieAuthor #IndependentPublisher #Marijuana #MedicalMarijuana #MixedDesi #MixedRace #Nanowrimo #Publishing #Rail #WinterSolstice #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #WomenWriters #Writer #Writing
#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings @3goodthings

Hi @zhivi ! You asked me to describe my ecofiction... here is my best go at it, this morning. 

I write for myself and others who are interested in visualizing what is possible, from a perspective of where we are starting. It's not science fiction. It's not realistic fiction. It's somewhere in between. I call it Visionary Ecofiction. I've written three novels, one is published (The Erenwine Agenda, with a focus on hydraulic fracturing, the natural gas extraction process), another is about to be published (Otter Coast, with a focus on medical marijuana and creative states of consciousness) and the third is - well, still being written through Nanowrimo (Rail is the working title, although I have changed it up a few times already; it has a focus on the logistics of high speed transit and community planning - and the protagonist is aiming to save the world 🙂).

All three interweave romance, although they're not romances. I call them adventures, love stories, mysteries... a little of all of these. Visionary Ecoficiton encapsulates the intrigue of all these genres, for me. The work is typically classified as Literary Fiction or Contemporary Fiction, and is also listed as Visionary and Metaphysical Fiction. The Erenwine Agenda was shortlisted for an international publishing award in the Visionary and Metaphysical category, and reached #5 on Amazon in the same group. It's on several Goodreads Lists (including Powell's Books') for classic and new Ecofiction and CliFi (Climate Change Fiction). I began publishing myself, and then branched out into publishing work of other authors when I realized there are many other people like me, who are optimists in the world and who write about ecology. We needed a platform! I created one. (This is the link.) https://www.aseiarts.com/

I think one of the best encapsulations of my work comes in the form of an interview conducted by the old Ecofiction.com site, now Dragonfly.eco. It was written a while ago when I was still married, and was not as far along in my writing trajectory - yet it summarizes the spirit of my work very clearly. (Thanks Mary for updating my name!) https://dragonfly.eco/maia-kb-chowdhury/ @ecofiction

My work (partly what you and I began talking about) also touches on race, identity and social context. I think that is as important in today's emerging conversations about climate as is the basic underlayment of ecology in ecofiction. How we identify ourselves and each other IS our cultural ecology. As a woman of mixed race, who identifies with more than one group, I feel a personal responsibility (and pleasure) to share my own intersectional experience through writing. 

Thank you for asking!

#Adventure #AmWriting #Architecture #BIPOC #CliFi #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeFiction #CommunityPlanning #ContemporaryFiction #CreativeWriting #Desi #Diversity #EcoFiction #Engineering #Fracking #GoodReads #HighSpeedTransit #HydraulicFracturing #IndieAuthor #IndiePublisher #Intersectionality #LiteraryFiction #Logistics #Love #LoveStory #Marijuana #MedicalMarijuana #Metaphysical #MixedDesi #MixedRace #Mystery #Nanowrimo #Planning #Rail #Reiki #Transit #VisionaryEcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #Visualization

@sffbookclub Hello & thank you for boosting!

I'm introducing myself as an ecofiction writer and mixed race author who features #MixedRace characters - first novel is published, that's The Erenwine Agenda (https://www.aseiarts.com/landing-theerenwineagenda) and second novel is about to be published (Otter Coast); third in the trilogy is in first draft mode (working title is Rail but I have changed it twice this week!) and I'm tracking the progress of it in Nanowrimo. Happy to be here! Thanks for creating this group!

#BIPOC #MixedRace #MixedDesi #Desi #AmWriting #IndieAuthor #IndiePublishing #EcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #VisionaryEcoFiction

@bookishbrews I’m thinking I should have you review and/or set up an interview related to my novel The Erenwine Agenda prior to my reissuing it under my new (post divorce) name, and also have you review Otter Coast prior to its publication. Those are novels 1 and 2 in my trilogy (it’s the 3rd one I’m first drafting in Nanowrimo now). The trilogy is ecofiction and has mixed race characters (mixed Desi, mixed First Nations). And other race related themes that I won’t say because they would be book spoilers! Lmk how this works. E-mail mkbcstudio@gmail.com if preferred. Also tagging @ecofiction as I am interested in having you review these as well from an earth based ecofiction perspective.

And thanks!

#AmWriting #EcoFiction #VisionaryFiction #VisionaryEcoFiction #Nanowrimo #IndieAuthor #IndiePublishing #BIPOC #WomenInArchitecture #WomenInSTEM #WomenInSTEAM #AsianCanadian #CanLit #AsianAmerican #Desi #MixedDesi #MixedRace #FirstNations #MixedFirstNations #Metis

I am starting a new thread with this inspiring article about amplifying voices at the table: https://www.vox.com/2016/9/14/12914370/white-house-obama-women-gender-bias-amplification, and am crediting @minimammoth for bringing it up today. Thank you! #Amplify #Voice #WomeninSTEM #Desi #MixedDesi #BlackInSTEM #BIPOC #POC

Just filled out a health insurance form (in the US) that offered me a new ethnicity choice: Multi White Asian. I'll take it. Weird, but I'll take it. #Celtic #MixedDesi

Trying this again with the right tags this time!!! Newbie problems...

Here is the first page of The Erenwine Agenda, my first published ecofiction novel, sharing for #FlashFicFriday

Amalia Sengupta Erenwine stood in the middle of the gravel lot in Binghamton’s Aqua-Terra County Park, and eyed the mud puddles ahead on the trail. Lace-ups were a good start, but she needed something more heavy-duty on her feet. Betsy stood on the far side of the clearing, head bowed over a printed set of Polson Grohman’s architectural drawings, in a quiet huddle with the environmental center partners and the gas executives from Atlantia Actuaris.

With Betsy across the clearing and a moment to herself, Amalia could breathe it all in and enjoy it for what it was: a spectacular natural environment. The park gave her a boost of energy; just to be in it was enough. She put the camera in her bag opposite her packed lunch, rested the bag on a tipped-up stone slab at the trailhead, and glanced ahead to see dark clouds gather on the horizon beyond the fall colors of upstate New York.

Trying to let go of her inner conflict with the gas company’s investment had drawn it closer, and she found herself facing the reality that her internship in architecture was underwritten by the natural gas industry. Fracking supported her growth as an architect. Her environmentalism turned so awry, so quickly, on her move to New York City.

to read more: https://www.aseiarts.com/landing-theerenwineagenda

on Powell's Books list of New and Classic Eco-Fiction

top 5 Amazon bestseller in Visionary Fiction

shortlisted for best Visionary Fiction, International Book Awards

soon to be reissued under Maia Kumari Bree Chowdhury

and... second in trilogy, Otter Coast, is about to be published - that one is a medical marijuana mystery!

#AmericanAuthor
#Architect
#Binghamton
#CanadianAuthor
#CanLit
#CliFi
#Desi
#EcoFiction
#Ecology
#Energy
#Engineer
#Fiction
#Fracking
#GreenBuilding
#IndieAuthor
#Inspiration
#MarcellusShale
#MixedDesi
#NaturalGas
#NewYork
#OilAndGas
#Pennsylvania
#ShaleGas
#Sustainability
#VisionaryEcoFiction
#VisionaryEcology
#WomenInArchitecture
#WomenInSTEAM
#WomenInSTEAM

Here's my summation of the ethical journo issue, and it is in the form of a three headed question:

What triggers another person, why, and what is our personal/professional responsibility to step around those triggers?

There is not going to be one answer to this in the fediverse, IMHO. At least, this querying happening this week on Mastodon is triggering inner reflection of what we consider "safe space" and how we create it. We may not all have the same definition or means of getting there.

I'm interested in where this takes us. I'm here for the conversation.

#BIPOC
#BlackMastodon
#ContentWarning
#CW
#Desi
#Diversity
#Ethics
#Intersectionality
#Journalism
#LGBTQRights
#ManSplaining
#MixedDesi
#SafeSpace
#TransRights
#WhiteWashing
#WomenInSTEM

@vultureculture um yes always (#MixedDesi here).

@azizhp I started using #desi and #MixedDesi (because I am).

Scrolling back and found I missed on using #CamelCase here on my new hashtag #MixedDesi so I'm redoing it and doing a little Mixed Desi #dance at the same time. 😉

A few tips for newcomers, as I have learned myself in the past week...

#AltText Descriptions: Please use them, many folks here depend upon them and have been using them for years before we all arrived.

#CamelCase: when you use hashtags, use Camel Case if you have more than one word: #WelcomeToMastodon is easier to read than #welcometomastodon - so do that. Use WAAAAY more hashtags than you are used to on Twitter. Mastodon is hashtag dependent.

#ContentWarning: If you are posting something that might even in the slightest trigger another person, use the Content Warning (CW) option that you can toggle on at the bottom of the toot window. It's polite here. People can choose how they want to view and interact. Use CW more than you are used to on Twitter.

#Diversity: a few people have commented, "lots of white men here!" Well, ok, but you can also find each other by using hashtags like #WomenInStem #BlackMastodon and many more including my favorites that I started up: #Desi and #MixedDesi (i.e. me). Start your own if you don't see yourself represented, so others can find you, too.

#DMs: are under the globe option in the toot window for privacy setting and they appear in your full list / feed of notifications (don't freak out at that).

#Donations: This is all run by volunteers. Make a donation. Click on the "about this server" at the bottom of your screen (might appear in a different location than on mine) and find out who is running your server and how to make a donation. And thank them!

#Introductions: Please write a friendly intro and use the hashtag #introduction so people can learn about you. Be interested in others. Grow your community through daily, friendly interaction.

Have fun! This is like a big global cafe with many tables to sit at, and conversations to be had.

Lots more tips linked in my feed. Welcome!

@minimammoth @fimi_biscuit I started up #desi and #mixeddesi for south asian diaspora folks.

@roclaverton Hi, #mixeddesi here!

#desi folks I am using this hashtag here... thinking of starting #mixeddesi for folks like me too. Oh, I just did. 🙂