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U=(N/T)M*G: Boundless

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Today, I feel a little like the Ancient One explaining spellwork to Doctor Strange. I love that scene. It’s the essence of today’s post, one that sprang from a very interesting article that I never expected to see. I’m, of course, talking about mind over matter. Anyone who has ever encountered quantum theory in their work knows, at least tangentially, about the Bell Test. It’s used to measure quantum particles and see if the measurement of one particle coincides with the other particle. Einstein called it the spooky theory. Recently, theoretical physicist Lucien Hardy came up with the idea to … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Overload

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To quote one of the science articles I found on this week’s topic: “Biology is really one big horror story.” And some of the links you find herein are pretty damn creepy, too. From the voodoo Queens of New Orleans to the always classic Night of the Living Dead, zombies are a science fiction and horror staple. And I know what you’re going to say. “Tabitha, what do zombies have to do with science? Because that’s crazy talk.” That is sorta true, after a fashion. It depends on what part of science one looks at. Shambling, rotting, undead husks of … Read more

Asta’s Annotations: Epithets (Editing Tip for Authors)

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Today I am wearing my editor hat and talking to the QSF authors out there (although readers may also find the discussion of interest). The topic I would like to discuss is the issue of epithets. This is something I see from authors across genres; however, it tends to be prevalent in LGBT fiction, no doubt because authors are trying to accommodate for the fact that they often have two leads of the same gender, between whom they need to differentiate.

Perhaps some of you are thinking, “What’s an epithet?”

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Jeff Baker: Boogieman In Lavender: “Oh, The Horror!”

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horror - pixabay

Call it dread, terror, fright or the heebie-jeebies, all beings know fear. The universality of this emotion may partly explain the popularity of the genre, a popularity that stretches back way before Stephen king or Clive Barker. Even before Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” over 200 years ago. Back maybe to the days of caves and early Man huddled in groups around a fire listening to tales that thrill. LGBT readers (and viewers) are no strangers to the appeal of fear. One might immediately assume we have a special set of fears; being outed. Public stigma and discrimination from being out. The … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: 410

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Full disclosure: I’m a city girl. I’ve spent most of my life it cities, clocking the majority of it in San Diego. And even though I’m stuck in this one-horse town pretending to be a metropolis, that’s Tucson by the way, I still keep up with what’s going on in the big roiling cauldrons of humanity. It’s no secret that our world is in trouble because of CO2 overload caused by a huge amount of human activity. In fact, we just hit 410 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. But it’s the reaction that got me thinking. An offhand comment … Read more

Where No Gay Has Gone Before: Fashionistas in Space!

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When many of us hear the word ‘fabrics’, we immediately think of avant-garde, haute couture dresses, the latest fashions from Paris, or ‘who-is-wearing-who’ on the Red Carpet.  In space exploration, however, fabrics have more applications than for just snazzy clothes, like antennas, spacesuits and shields for spacecraft. Raul Polit Casillas, a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is the son of a fashion designer from Spain, so he grew up familiar with fabrics.  Now he is applying his knowledge and skills to develop woven metal fabrics for applications in space. The fabrics that Polit Casillas and … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: April Madness

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We’re in the middle of April right now. Spring is in full bloom. The white blossoms have fallen from the trees, to be replaced by tiny pink flowers on other branches. Camellias are giving way to wisteria. Not that I have too much time to notice these things, although I try to snatch a moment or two to observe them. The flowers help refresh my spirits, before I return to the madness. For this is a month of crazy, non stop writing projects for me. Yes, a writer should always be involved in projects to stay in form. This month … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Edit

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From the mythical Kraken to the potential future Squibben, octopodes have terrified a lot of humanity for as long as we have known of the existence of these curious creatures. And wild. Did I mention these cephalopods are wild? Because they’re basically the closest we currently have to aliens on this planet. From a human point of view, these creatures may seem to be just another lower lifeform that shares our planet, on the same level as cats, dogs, crows and dolphins. Smart, but not as smart as us. Recently, however, we may have discovered something a little different. As … Read more

Jeff Baker: Boogieman in Lavender – Sleator and Selden; of Genies and Singularities

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Jeff Baker

We are out there. We are not always obvious. In the days before the 21st Century’s sometimes grudging acceptance of LGBT YA authors, such authors labored largely in the closet, their works publicly known while their orientation was not. Two authors whose works have recently crossed my desk again are William Sleator and George Selden. Both names are probably jogging a bygone memory or two. Both had at least one familiar hit; Sleator with “Interstellar Pig,” and Selden with “The Cricket in Times Square.” And both men had definite LGBT connections. I’ll start with Sleator (pronounced “Slater.”) I first encountered … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Plague

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You say the word plague, and most people’s eyes light up with horror or interest. Because, despite numerous plagues over the course of human history, only one really springs to mind with that one word. One that doesn’t need an introduction. I’m talking about the Black Plague. The Black Death, in and of itself, has had its day in a wide variety of books of both fiction and nonfiction types, even stretching into urban legends to this day. The horror of this disease is well known and used to great effect. As Ducky in NCIS once told us “The infected … Read more