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For Readers: What’s Most Important to You?

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Sci fi, fantasy and paranormal stories have many hooks to draw you in. Maybe it’s the phasers or the mind-melding dragons or the sparkly vampires. Maybe it’s the heroine who gives her life to save her people from a deadly virus. Or the science that allows a man to predict the future. Or the strange ship that passes through the solar system without even seeming to notice us. So my questions to you today: What’s more important to you in an LGBTIQ speculative fiction story? The cool tech / magic / supernauralness? The flavor of the culture / society? The … Read more

For Writers: LGBTIQA Romance Tropes

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Mpreg

One of the things that came up during our recent visit to the Dreamspinner retreat was the use of tropes, especially in romance. There’s a great list of general romance tropes here: http://www.mindyklasky.com/index.php/for-writers/romance-tropes/ I especially like “secret baby”. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like, if you aren’t already familiar with it. As Angel pointed out to me, tropes aren’t bad, per se, although they can become clichés. They can be used to build a story, and many readers seek out their favorite tropes to find new stories to read. Even Amazon has books categorized by them. The other thing … Read more

Announcement: The Lusty Adventures of Theseus, by Arthur Griffin

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The Lusty Adventures of Theseus

QSFer Arthur Griffin has a new fantasy book out: The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur has never been quite this steamy! Handsome Theseus journeys to Athens to claim his birthright as heir to the throne, and along the way he meets the roguish Pirithous, who teaches him all about matters of the heart—and body. When they reach the city, Theseus is shocked to discover that his father, the king, has a tradition of sacrificing youths to the Minotaur, the monster that inhabits the island nation of Crete. Theseus and Pirithous set out to slay the Minotaur. After learning Crete … Read more

For Writers: Historical Accuracy in LGBTIQA Fiction

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castro History

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Heather Rose Jones: When we write queer stories set in history, how do we deal with the historic reality of queer lives? Or, from another point of view, are queer historic novels held to a different standard of “historical accuracy” than straight ones with respect to the lives of their characters? Join the chat

Precrime: China Goes Minority Report

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Minority Report

China’s effort to flush out threats to stability is expanding into an area that used to exist only in dystopian sci-fi: pre-crime. The Communist Party has directed one of the country’s largest state-run defense contractors, China Electronics Technology Group, to develop software to collate data on jobs, hobbies, consumption habits, and other behavior of ordinary citizens to predict terrorist acts before they occur. “It’s very crucial to examine the cause after an act of terror,” Wu Manqing, the chief engineer for the military contractor, told reporters at a conference in December. “But what is more important is to predict the … Read more

Announcement: Earthshatter, by Albert Nothlit

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Earthshatter

QSFer Albert Nothlit has a new sci fi book out: The world is gone. All that’s left are the monsters. The creatures attacked Haven VII with no warning. An AI named Kyrios, a nearly omnipotent being, should have protected the city during the Night of the Swarm. Except It didn’t. No one knows why It failed, or why It saved eight specific people: the Captain, the Seer, the Sentry, the Messenger, the Engineer, the Alchemist, the Medic, and the Stewardess. They have no idea of the meaning behind the titles they’ve been given, why they were selected and brought together, … Read more

For Writers: Wargames

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Wargames

War has long provided a backdrop to speculative fiction. Mars wars with Earth. Interstellar wars rage across the vast gulfs of space. Orcs march against the combined forces of dwarf and elf and man. And werewolves and sparkly vampires take on one another. So my questions today: Do you write any stories that are set against a backdrop of war? War against an alien race, war between human empires… what are some of your favorite examples, either that you have writter or read? And have you written war sci fi with LGBTIQA war heroes? Join the chat

For Readers: Lesbian Movie Cliches and Why They Hurt Fiction

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Film Tropes

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Angel Martinez: You know the ones. The Self-sabotaging protagonist. The angry, humorless lesbian. The butch badass. The omg a lesbian relationship is so scandalous movies. The man who comes along and magically breaks up an established lesbian couple. What are the lesbian film tropes, and what would you like to see replace them? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat