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News: Harry Potter Tree Gets Surgery

Harry Potter Tree

We can’t leaf this tree alone! A historic tree featured in the fifth “Harry Potter” film, “Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix,” is in danger of toppling over. The aged cedar of Lebanon tree, located in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, is 55 feet tall and has a massive hole in the trunk. The hole makes it so that the tree could tip over at any moment. But a rescue plan is in the works. Tree surgeons ― yes, this is a thing ― are using “climbers and a cherry picker to fix cables to its larger upper … Read more

Announcement: All in Fear Anthology

All in Fear

Open Ink Press has a new queer horror antholgy out: Horror wears many faces, and its masks can be tantalizing. Some of the top names in queer fiction come together to spin their own versions of horror. Worlds rife with dark beauty and mystery, the familiar becoming terrible, creatures ethereal and alluring—and all bearing the gleam of love. Does hope lie along these grim passages or only doom? It will become clear. All in time—and all in fear. Buy Links Open Ink Press | Amazon Individual Stories Company by Roan Parrish NICK LEVY’S family is falling apart and he has … Read more

Trailer: The Mummy

The Mummy

Poor old London landmarks. They’ve only just recovered from ‘London Has Fallen’. The first full trailer for forthcoming monster movie reboot ‘The Mummy’ has arrived, and it manages to squeeze in an ancient sarcophagus, reanimation, a terrifying plane crash, Tom Cruise’s death AND resurrection, emergency parachuting, and full-scale metropolitan destruction, all in just under two-and-a-half minutes. Oh, and some Russell Crowe as Dr Henry Jekyll (yes, that one). Tom Cruise heads up the first in a series of new movies from Universal, based on their ‘monster’ properties, like ‘The Mummy’, the Invisible Man, the Wolf Man and Van Helsing. They’re … Read more

For Writers: Writing A Series

James Eric series

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer ‘Nathan Smith: Knowing that audiences say they want series, but being aware of the financial diminishing returns—how long a series is too long, the different types of series, and do you write them in one go, or do you pepper with standalones, etc. Join the chat

Announcement: Mischief Corner Books Quarterly V6

Mischief Corner Books Quarterly Volume 6

Mischief Corner Books has a new volume of its quarterly out out: The Quarterly is an eMagazine of LGBTQ fiction—of all kinds. This volume features five short stories: Athanasia by E.J. Tett The Angel of Illusion by Teel James Glenn The Russia Soldier by Andrew Warburton Rapture by Gregory L. Norris The Grand Opening of the Official Dew Point Museum by Nathan Sims It also includes an Interview with Poppy Dennison talking about “The M Word,” and our Featured Author Toni Griffin. And our very own Angel Martinez offers an Op-Ed on “Sense & Submissions.” Buy Links Mischief Corner Books … Read more

News: An AI Christmas Carol

AI Christmas Carol

The carol is a lie — and it’s an extremely unsettling one. University of Toronto researchers tasked an A.I. with looking at a picture of a Christmas tree, writing a song about it, and then singing the results for the world to hear. The song that came out of it is definitely a Christmas song, but it’s an extremely unsettling one. It’s no “Santa Baby,” but it does show just how far A.I. has come. Nvidia revealed some more details about the project, which runs on its hardware, on Wednesday. The company said the neural network used to create the … Read more

Announcement: Haven’s Fall, by Elizabeth Schechter

Haven's Fall

QSFer Elizabeth Schechter has a new MM / FF fantasy book out, and she’s stopping by QSF with a guest post: On the Care and Feeding of Beta Readers All writers know that there is one group of people who you cherish and protect, that you treat with absolute respect and not a little bit of awe, and who you should go out of your way to make certain they are happy. No, not editors. Editors are wonderful people, and they deserve their own blog posts about how wonderful they are. The people I’m talking about now are the people … Read more

Entertainment: Tom Payne Says His “Walking Dead” Character is Gay

Tom Payne

Tom Payne, who plays Paul “Jesus” Rovia on The Walking Dead, sat down with the Huffington Post to talk about the show and his character’s sexual orientation, confirming that his character, true to creator Robert Kirkman’s wishes, is gay. Said Kirkman in a Reddit Q&A in 2014: “In my opinion there should be more awesome gay people in fiction because there are plenty of awesome gay people in real life. I want Jesus to be a character where his sexuality is as unimportant as Rick or other heterosexual characters. So we won’t focus on it constantly and it won’t be the focus of any … Read more

Guest Post: Root of the Spark, by Michele Fogal

Root of the Spark

Author Michele Fogal has a new queer sci fi romance book out, and she’s sharing a guest post with us: Science Fiction & Diversity – The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything Thanks so much for having me Scott and the gang! It’s an honour to be here! I hope everyone will enter the giveaway contest! Diversity in SF I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy, and both were entry points into diversity for me. Historically, SF has always been pushing the envelope of what’s politically and socially appropriate and acceptable. It allows and encourages us to explore the … Read more