So Many Freebies

I was just settling back to enjoy a restful Saturday afternoon, and I thought I'd let you know about all the wonderful FREE short stories, previews and "about" material you could download FREE and enjoy! :)

Newsletter #32: August 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Join Me On GoodReads!

Connect with me on GoodReads! :)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3358833.Christina_Engela

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Action! Adventure! LGBT Heroes! - The Quantum Series by Christina Engela!

Action! Adventure! LGBT heroes! Get the Quantum Series Now!

Life out on the frontier isn't easy, and neither is living on Deanna - a third-rate Terran colony on the edge of sanity as much as on the edge of civilization! The Quantum Series by Christina Engela, now standing at six titles, is sci-fi with a dash of fantasy, featuring a host of heroes, heroines, villains, aliens, and unusual and often humorous situations.

#LGBTheroes #scifi #action #fictionwriting #recommendedreading

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

Show your appreciation for Christina's work!

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019. 

________________________________________

Newsletter #30: June 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

FAQ's Answered: Why do I write about LGBT people?

I write sci-fi stories, and over the years, I've been occasionally accused of humor - and even wit. Sometimes my work has been rather flatteringly compared to several well-known authors in humor, fantasy and sci-fi - not that it's ever gone to my head - one day if my books ever start making me actual money, it might. For now however, I concentrate on telling my stories - and telling others about them.

Unlike any of the authors I've been compared to however, I write stories that feature LGBT characters in a positive, affirming light. Some of my main characters are like me - in one or more times in my own life - lesbian, gay, bi, or transgender. One of those characters is even a plant - and another is a talking cat - not that I am or have been one of those before, but oh well, now you can see what I mean by humor!

The question I'd like to explore with you today is "Why"?

Why do I write about LGBT people? More to the point, why bother to use LGBT characters to tell my stories through?

Where Else Will You Find LGBT Heroes In Fiction?

"LGBT characters, in Engela’s work, follow narrative arcs that occasionally intersect with their sexual or gender identity, but are more often driven by the human characteristics shared by all people—hope, fear, ambition, humor, and love." - Sarah Rutledge Fischer, Focus Mid-South magazine

Action! Adventure! Space Opera!

Don't Scroll Past Without Thinking Rationally

I'm so tired of seeing posts like these in my Facebook feed. They're click-bait at best - and that's saying a lot. At worst, they're mindless, narcissistic time-wasting tripe designed to draw people into a vicious circle of cultist fantasy and a celebratory rejection of reality.

You know the posts I mean, right? Pictures of infants, men, women or children injured, abused, sick, dying - and sometimes even suffering animals - "don't scroll past without praying or saying 'amen'" they proclaim in the accompanying texts.

Why?

A Brief Summary Of My Publishing Career So Far

One of the very many downsides to living in a shit-hole country like South Africa - is that even if you have all the talent in the world, you can do absolutely sod-all with it.

Goodness knows it's hard enough to be an indie author anywhere - but here? In South Africa?

All I was trying to do today was to get my 13 already published books turned into audio books... and this happens.

This was the fourth site doing audio books that I've tried. Either they don't allow South African writers to register, or they don't have royalty-sharing deals for their authors, which means the author has to pay in $$$ for the job.

Let me give you a brief summary of my publishing career. I'm sure you will find it amusing:

Don't Read Books By Christina Engela - You Might Get An Open Mind!

Back in 2017, after seeing all the hate vented against me on some of my FB posts coming from Angus Buchan fans - some of whom claimed I was a "fake profile" and "didn't really exist", a Facebook friend in the USA sent these images to me on condition of anonymity since she feared reprisals from her narrow-minded conservative townie neighbors.

Newsletter #28: April 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Newsletter #27: March 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Awesome Sci-fi On A Budget!

Two brand new editions of "Black Sunrise" and "The Time Saving Agency" - books 1 and 2 in the Quantum Series by Christina Engela - are now available (along with the entire Galaxii Series) on GGG mall, a local digital content provider based in the Eastern Cape, South Africa!

Newsletter #26: February 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Newsletter #25: January 2019

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

"Loderunner" - Why Did I Write It?

"Loderunner" is book 4 in my Quantum Series, and I completed the first draft in 2007. The background of the story and why I wrote it is something I've never gone into at length before, so for those of you who are interested, this might be worth your while reading.

Paranormal TV Shows? Try Specter Adventures!

"Static" by Christina Engela - the first installment in the Panic! Horror In Space series, is now available!

Some people enjoy watching paranormal TV shows – but not Stuart Flane, captain of the Terran starship Mercury. Having just narrowly missed being a ghost – or worse, himself – after a weird incident involving reanimated corpses and alien nanobots, Flane wanted nothing to do with playing host to a bunch of paranormal investigators for a popular TV show called ‘Specter Adventures’. Neither did he fancy a 12 hour jaunt on Floridia-7, which was described by some as ‘the most haunted abandoned Terran outpost in the galaxy’ – but since he owed Commodore Peters for covering his ass after he lost nearly his entire crew to zoms, he reluctantly agreed. And that, pretty much, is where things started going off the rails.

Newsletter #24: December 2018

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

In A Mirror, Darkly

Hmmm.... When people get upset about posts or memes or statements on social media, specifically Facebook, criticizing Christianity...

"It's offensive!" They cry.

"Show respect to my beliefs!" They shout.

"Don't post that where I can see it!" They demand.

What's really offensive to me is the number of adults who go around driving cars, owning guns, raising kids and being allowed to conduct business, who act as if any of that stuff is real and get butt-hurt when anyone contradicts their little "world view".

Turkey Day

It's Thanksgiving Day in "the land of the free", or so the story goes.

 

The "Land of the Free". It makes you think, doesn't it?

I wonder what native Americans are thankful for on Thanksgiving? Don't you?

Without being facetious - have you ever stopped to really, actually think about it?

"Demonspawn - An Airtight Narrative" - Review

In "Demonspawn", the second title in the Galaxii Series by Christina Engela, a tale of suspense and horror unfolds. 

Adrift and stranded in deep space with no hope of rescue, the I.S.S. Mordrake has six month’s worth of food left, but just less than two weeks of air – and things are looking pretty grim. And, as if there’s not enough on their plate already, something dark and mysterious drifts into their path – an ancient derelict ship littered with the dusty remains of its long-dead crew! The derelict presents an all-too convenient and timely solution to their problem, offering the desperate castaways the spare parts they badly need to repair their ship... but nothing's ever really that easy, is it? There's no such thing as a free lunch out here, in the cold empty wastes of deep space.

Another Round At The Crow Bar: #23 November 2018

Read my latest newsletter here! Enjoy! :)

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

Another Amazing Review For "Demonspawn"!

I just found another great review of "Demonspawn", the second title in my Galaxii Series!

Demonspawn, Christina Engela

by Aimee Ann, October 6, 2018

"Demonspawn by Christina Engela is incontrovertibly a must-read science fiction horror novel and a novel that should not be missed! Demonspawn is the spine-tingling second installment of Christina Engela’s Galaxii series that takes us, adventurous readers, to the depths of space on a journey riddled with dangers around every turn. Demonspawn by Christina Engela will chill you to your core, it will seep into you deeper than the vast cold of space and it made for a thrilling read! I love how the tension and suspense build to a horrifying crescendo that had my heart pounding through my chest in terror, shock, and excitement!

"Blachart" by Christina Engela - Galaxii #1

“Blachart” tells the story of a former Space Fleet officer trying to make a living as a private loderunner owner and skipper. Mykl d’Angelo has fallen on hard times – and has just had the worst day of his life in that field. Due a minor misunderstanding, his crew has mutinied and left him and two others behind to crew the ailing loderunner Pegasus – which just happened to literally lose its stardrive in the middle of the middle of nowhere! His two remaining crewmen are killed when the ship’s engine explode, and Mykl d’Angelo is marooned and awaits rescue in deep space.

Buy Now.

Watch the book trailer video: https://youtu.be/OGcxZpVAV7U

The Opening And Closing Of Doors

2018 - and indeed, October 2018 in particular marked a turning point in my life, where I closed a few doors behind me on past endeavors, and opened a door ahead of me.

My activist past in terms of belonging to organized groups and associations is a lengthy convoluted one, and if you'd been following my blog "Sour Grapes: The Fruit Of Ignorance" since I started it in 2009, you'd probably be aware of some of this.

What A Lovely Review Of “Demonspawn”!

I just spotted this lovely review of “Demonspawn” – book two in my Galaxii Series, and I just HAD to share it with you!

“Demonspawn by Christina Engela – a review

by Lee Hall

‘In space, not all things were certain… not even death’

Demonspawn is a detailed well-imagined space story, which I found hard to put down, in fact I read the book in just 3 sittings.

Christina Engela has created a believable world of space travel, delivering it in way that seemed to me logical and explained without straying from the main plot.

From the very opening, there is a deliberate psychological vagueness as to what the ‘big bad’ could be. This heightens the mystery giving readers a real urgency and a want to find out, eventually you will.

If It Ain't Broke...

If you can't understand this simple concept, YOU are part of the problem.

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________

New Release: "The Pink Community - The Facts" Second Edition!

New release: "The Pink Community – The Facts" - Second Edition! Back in 2009 when I was in full swing of my human rights advocacy and running two LGBT rights groups (SA GLAAD and ECGLA), I put together an online information resource which mainly consisted of useful quotes and links to articles online.

As an activist who campaigned a lot on social media against bigotry in form of homophobia and transphobia, these links came in handy to post as replies to enraged bigots, rather than typing out lengthy replies each time! Instead, the link would manifest with a reference to a useful scientific or medical article that would invalidate the bigot's viewpoint, and they would be left there, seething, embarrassed, with egg on their faces!

Gradually this list grew until it migrated from a text file I kept on my PC, into a Word document - and then, when I started my blog "Sour Grapes: The Fruit of Ignorance", I dedicated several pages to it there. Later, in about 2012, I migrated it to my official author site, where it still lurks, as a free resource for human rights advocacy. This allowed for page hierarchies rather than just a huge cluster (or clutter!) of pages on a site!

The Enemy Of My Enemy Is Not Necessarily My Friend

Why is it that when people who use a word like 'tranny' to describe transgender people are told, by a transgender person, that the word is derogatory and offensive towards transgender people, they rally and insist that it isn't?

America's Shame Before The World!

I can't understand how a majority of Americans - supposedly the most forward-thinking people on the planet - could vote "Trump".

It's mind-blowingly disappointing. It's awful. Simply awful. 

 

This is a dark day for human rights, not just in America, but everywhere. Considering the orange monkey's appalling campaign promises, there will be human rights violations and civil rights losses in abundance as Trump faces pressure from his rabid supporters to live up to his election promises - build the wall, strip LGBT rights, enact racist laws, deport all immigrants, hack the constitution, make Christianity a state religion.

No LGBT Stereotypes Here!

Good day, everyone!

Today I'd like to talk to you about stereotypes!

(Before I get into an explanation of what I mean, I would like to emphasize that my stories are not just "all about LGBT people" or intended to rub straight reader's noses in a rainbow flag and sprinkle glitter all over their cornflakes!)

You see, I've been asked a rather difficult question as a writer, and that is "What exactly is my intended market?"

New Living Ways Ministry SA Seeks Human Rights For 'Ex-Gays'

This morning I found an item in my mailbox from Andre' Bekker, a representative of "New Living Way Ministry" - an 'ex-gay' group in South Africa. 

 

It was headed "An Open Letter to the Gay Community and Activists", and its content can be read right at the bottom of this article. 

 

I have no idea who else has received a copy of this letter, but since it was headed 'an open letter', I presume it was meant for the whole LGBT community in South Africa, and of course activists such as myself.

The Magenta Dragon

[I wrote the following article for The Wild Hunt (a UK Pagan magazine) in 2016. It also appeared locally in SA Vampyre News (SAVN) and on Penton Alternative Media at more or less the same time. At the time I was acting as the chief researcher for the Alternative Religions Forum, after working on the academic paper known as "Satanism: The Acid Test".]

Most in the South African Vampyre community who have done a little research into the history will know that this community’s recorded history began in May 2010 with the foundation of House Valur. Most will know that the community only began growing and taking form with the founding of the South African Vampyre Alliance (SAVA) in June 2011, but little if anything is known about the community in the time before that.

Passion, Perception And Prejudice

Today is another day I find myself facing accusations that I 'hate Christians'. The source of this accusation, undoubtedly, is some of the posts I circulate on Facebook - posts which unmask Christian hatred for the 'other' - that is, for non-Christians and LGBT people, also atheists, Pagans and people who worship other gods.

What DO I Really Want?

It's regarded as naive' to want everyone to 'just get along' and 'make nice'... but nevertheless, that's all I really want from the world. Every day as a human rights advocate I see words spoken by people consumed by anger and hatred towards other people, and it saddens me. Yes, I've spoken out in anger before too, and I will again today and tomorrow... but that's a reaction to the hatred and anger of others - and the acts of cruelty committed out of their hatred and anger. At least I am above committing such acts of hatred and cruelty, unlike those I usually take on as an activist.

Unbelievable!

Let's talk about belief. It's amazing - and also quite frightening - how some people seem to be more concerned with what other people believe about anything, rather than concerning themselves with their own private beliefs. Typically this is even more true when it comes to religious beliefs.

Guest Post: "Moral Conflicts & Liberty: Gay Persecution In Uganda & How They Can Be Liberated" by F. Mwine

The following paper was sent to me by Francis Mwine Mubwaro, a LGBT activist from Uganda, with a request to repost it on my blog.

I am honored to oblige, and it is with utmost respect and admiration that I share this document here:

TITLE OF SESSION: MORAL CONFLICTS AND LIBERTY: GAY PERSECUTION IN UGANDA AND HOW THEY CAN BE LIBERATED.

PRESENTER: FRANCIS MWINE

This paper is published under the responsibility of Krysler Thematic and think tank group, where the presenter is the founding member and Chairperson, affiliated to Twagalane Association.

Comments on this paper are invited.

Please contact the author and presenter at EMAIL: frankmwine22@yahoo.com 

Live Your Dream!

I think we all start off hoping to start changing into that mythical supermodel with the long thin legs, that impossible Barbie waistline and cleavage we always wanted as soon as we embark on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)... Meanwhile, it doesn't happen for everyone quite the way we hope it will, and certainly not overnight, if at all. I think it's an unrealistic expectation we all have.

A Little Note On Freedom Of Religion From Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch

Here's a little note on freedom of religion, tolerance for diversity and equality for all in South Africa:

This little notice appeared in a local SA Newspaper in Afrikaans, although I am still waiting for someone to tell me which paper it appeared in.

 

Very charming - and I suppose were an occult group to post a similar ad about a course covering 'the evils of Christianity' (and I might be tempted to list a few), then it would be reported as hate speech (and the complaint would be taken in a very serious light - not dismissed by the Press Ombudsman or SA HRC as all complaints on such articles have been), or the ad wouldn't be posted by the paper in the first place because it might offend the 'mighty Christians'.

Manic Street Preacher With Huge Appetite 'Eats Witches For Breakfast'!

Let me tell you about my morning. 

 

Two things have absolutely pissed me off and ruined my mood for the day. One was more just a case of inconvenience. The other... well, the other was more of a literal slap in the face from both the other people I was surrounded by - and from the officials of SARS itself.

Let me start at the beginning.

 

I went to SARS (the 'tax man' for my non-local friends) at 6:45 am, thinking I'd be near the front of the queue. I was number 6, which is not bad, considering I was number 13 yesterday - but then today we waited and waited and waited and waited ...and waited and waited - watching SARS people to-ing and fro-ing and not actually doing anything much - until 815 am, when a chap eventually turned up to give us our numbers. 

 

That's 2 hours of standing, with no benches, no shelter against inclement weather (which there wasn't, fortunately) and no toilet facilities - and if you leave the queue, you lose your place. Unless you're the sort who just pitches up out of the blue and claims you "were here" two hours ago.

 

Oh, right. You were the invisible man?

Why I Think Oscar Got Away With Murder

I am not a judge, and in fact I have never been trained in any legal trade. However, I am not stupid. 

 

Perhaps it is because of this, that like many people, I am upset by the recent court fiasco in which former para-Olympian Oscar Pistorius was given a mild slap on the wrist for the death of his girlfriend Reeva. 

 

It weighs heavily on my mind. In fact, the injustice that I feel has been done is quite upsetting to me. Then again, I console myself that in the end, it's not really my problem. After all, I'm okay - I haven't been shot in my own bathroom, and neither am I likely to just go on a shooting spree if I hear things going 'bump' in the night. 

The Memo

An article by a militant fundamentalist "Christian" group misleadingly called "Freedom Of Religion SA", entitled "Christian Leaders Unite to Protect Religious Freedom in SA" states: 

 

"the growing number of cases being opened up against Christians, and lost by them, for trying to live out their beliefs, clearly indicating that religious freedom is already being lost in South Africa." 

 

This statement is not only false, but it is misleading as well. Let me explain why.

Ignorance Prompts Stereotypical Knee-jerk Reactions

[20141004 - 180 with Bob on KAYA FM - "Satanic groups have approached the MEC of Education in Gauteng to suggest that satinism should be offered as a religious subject in schools. Do you think it's a fair request or are we taking our democratic rights too far?"

Minimum Wage = Minimum Worth

Perplexed by the trend lately of grumpy cashiers and unfriendly clerks at convenience stores and fast food restaurants, last evening I picked up a takeaway dinner from a popular chain, and chatted to the lady behind the counter. She'd been on her feet behind the counter serving customers since 12 am. It was 9pm, and she was hungry and tired. When I asked her about staff meals, she told me they don't get those anymore.

That's strange, I thought, when I was at high school I also did the same job part-time and we used to get staff meals - to the point where the smell of that brand would actually put me off eating it for a while - but we got it. Yes, that was 24 years ago - but I was still rather shocked. 

The Department of Justice Pamphlet 'Harmful Religious Practice Is A Crime' - An Analysis

The Department of Justice Pamphlet "Harmful Religious Practice Is A Crime" - An Analysis.