Raven's DragonCon Schedule! 🐲📋

& a snippet from Blood Depths in our feature The Raw View 🥩

Raven Belasco
August 06, 2026

Wow, this is the first newsletter that I missed my Tuesday deadline since I first moved in with my mom to help her stay at home as her Alzheimer’s progresses. It’s been a crazy period of appointments, and my health has been pretty suboptimal, which is not a fantastic combo…

But there is exciting news! My panel schedule for DragonCon came in AND IT’S SO GOOOOOD

Title: Vampires: Return of the Monstrous
Description: Vampires weren't always tragic, romantic, or heroic — they began as monsters to be feared. Today's creators are embracing that legacy, making vampires that are terrifying again. Our panelists dig into the rebirth of the monstrous undead and why audiences are hungry for it.
Panelists: Clay Gilbert, Eric R Vernor, Kevin Grevioux, Lindy Ryan, Raven Belasco, Erika L Lance(M)
Time: Fri 9/4/26 08:30 pm
Location: Peachtree 1-2 Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Who Could Resist?
Description: What happens when the One Ring lands somewhere far from Middle-earth? Would superheroes, space captains, or anime icons resist its pullâ€”or fall fast?
Panelists: Raven Belasco, Jennifer Liang(M), Judy Stephens, Billy Todd, Laura Grabowski
Time: Sat 9/5/26 01:00 pm
Location: L401-L403 Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Same Places, Different Times: Historical Urban Fantasy
Description: Our panelists explore supernatural beings and magic occurring in historical real-world settings.
Panelists: Clay Griffith, Susan Griffith, Raven Belasco, Wayland Smith, D.B. Jackson, Karen Bembry(M)
Time: Sat 9/5/26 04:00 pm
Location: Chastain F Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: 15 Minute Mentor Sessions
Description: A chance for budding authors to talk one-on-one with a successful industry professional about business, promotion, the writing process, & career advice. Sign up in the Writer's Track. (Embassy E/F).
Panelists: Raven Belasco, Toni Weisskopf, Paul Barrett, Cathalson
Time: Sun 9/6/26 02:30 pm
Location: Embassy G Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Please note, these schedules are TENTATIVE. A final schedule will be included in the Guest Information sheet.

Are you going to be at DragonCon? Hit reply to this email and let me know. Maybe we can meet up for a coffee… ☕

Don’t forget, National Book Lovers Day on August 9th harnesses all the excitement bibliophiles feel about books into one celebration and to facilitate that bookish joy, everything on the IIP website ships FREE on that one day: books, audiobooks, and of course our beloved bookmarks 🔖🔖

Here’s the coupon code so mark it in your calendars and use that day to get the book(s) you don’t already have, buy gifts for friends, or swag-up with the leather or gorgeous new stained glass bookmarks!

🥩 The Raw View 🥩 — Unedited Snippets of Raven’s Most Recent Writing

From last’s 5000 word progress in Blood Depths…

We were discussing what to try next when Nthanda’s phone rang. His eyebrows almost shot off his forehead. With this new SIM, only Barqan should have the number, and he flashed us the screen to show it was an unknown number.

He hit the green circle and said, “Hello?”

A female voice. “Why are you trying to find Dr. Aleema Salamé?” He didn’t have to put it on speaker; with our am’r hearing we could listen in just fine.

Nthanda paused and answered carefully, “Dr. Salamé has great knowledge of medicine. I would very much like to learn from her.”

“Take her classes, then.”

“I would, but I am only in Nigeria a short time. And I hope to ask her about some very specialized treatments. She has been recommended to me specially.”

“That is too bad. She is not available.”

“Dr. Salamé was recommended to me by, shall we call her… Madam Canaan.”

There was a pause. “Recommended to you?”

Nthanda stopped, thought about the question, looked sharply at me, and replied, “Recommended to a friend who is traveling with me. By a mutual…acquaintance.” Truly, no one could call Astryiah a friend. She was for herself, first and foremost, and you either were traveling the same path, or you got out of her way.

“Now I hear the truth in your words. Come to Katsina city. She is collecting plants for the herbarium here. This is the address…”

Nthanda wrote it down. I didn’t pay attention because my head was spinning.

When he had thanked the woman and hung up, I stared at him, disbelieving.

“What is it, treasure?”

“Katsina. Is. Where. We. Came. From.”

“Yeah, ironic innit?”

“An eighteen hour drive seems more than just ironic, to me.”

“Ah, you youngers. So impatient. What’s eighteen hours in an am’r life?”

“Once the sun comes up, it’s a nasty fucking headache, is what.”

Viv choked. “She have a point!”

Nthanda chuckled. “We can stop for the day and try to find a place to shelter. But everything will just take that much longer.”

“You can say that because I, as the youngest am’r, will be driving for that shift. You and Viv will be under the sun-protection blankie.”