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Discussion

Reading “Heated Rivalry.” Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender February 2026

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Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid by Jeff Baker NOTE: Of course, this review contains a bunch of spoilers. “You know those guys on rival teams who act like they hate each other when the game is playing but are really good friends when the game is over? Well, this takes it to its logical extreme…” —-Kenny Blasco, explaining the TV show “Heated Rivalry.” It’s almost impossible to scroll through any LGBT social media or websites without seeing references to “Heated Rivalry.” The Canadian Gay Hockey Romance that has taken television audiences by storm. But before there was a TV show, … Read more

Mightier Than The Sword, And It Fits In Your Pocket A Lot Easier! Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender

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Mightier Than The Sword And It Fits In Your Pocket A Lot Easier by Jeff Baker “I’ll call for pen and ink and write my mind.” —–Wm. Shakespeare. A review for Goodreads and my recent flash fiction story about superheroes. What they have in common is they weren’t initially written by my typing them up on a laptop but by writing them up by hand in a spiral-bound notebook. So why is it that I do not always opt for the convenience of a laptop, where I can create quickly, edit easily and with less onscreen distractions. But electronics aren’t … Read more

John Van Druten: His Closet Was The Stage—Jeff Baker; Boogieman In Lavender

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John Van Druten: His Closet Was the Stage by Jeff Baker “Oh, Pye, Pye, Pyewacket, what’s the matter with me?” —–from “Bell, Book and Candle” I grew up reading plays. Part of that came from my watching a lot of TV shows and movies. In High School I had the run of the Library as my Mom was one of the Librarians and I read plenty of plays as well as a lot of books about plays and TV and Movies. (I didn’t get on stage until college, but I digress.) As I liked movies and TV shows with sci-fi … Read more

400!!! (I Can’t Believe It Either!) Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender. May 12, 2025.

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400! (I Can’t Believe It Either!) by Jeff Baker Four-Hundred Stories! I almost can’t believe it! But I’d better explain. Back in May of 2016 I stumbled across a mention of a Facebook page called “Monday Flash Fics.” The idea was simple; they would post a picture prompt Monday and anybody who wanted to had a week to write up a flash fiction (usually less than 500 or 1000 words) story to go with the picture; post it on their blog and link it to the Facebook page. “Sounds interesting,” I told my (late) husband Darryl. I set about and … Read more

Jeff Baker: Boogieman In Lavender “Snacking With Panthers.” Oscar Wilde’s Short-Stories. April 2025

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My Well-Worn Copy Of Wilde’s Short-Stories. Snacking With Panthers; The Short-Stories Of Oscar Wilde by Jeff Baker One of my very favorite short stories is Oscar Wilde’s “The Selfish Giant,” which I read as a children’s book in about third grade. The book included most of the text and the story was definitely there. I have since re-read the original many times and it was a few years later (also in Grade School, during those blissful days when a month stretched on for half a year) that I read Wilde’s famous novella “The Canterville Ghost.” That starts off as a … Read more

“…Until It’s Sold…” – Boogieman In Lavender

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I’ve been getting back into the groove of writing in the New Year after slowing down on doing longer stories. I actually have a list of longer stories I started that are unfinished. (“In progress,” as I say.) I’ve also been submitting stories to various markets online. I can do the last bit because I’ve been writing a lot of stories over the last decade or so and I have a lot that never sold. Some editors dismiss that as “in the trunk” stories but I disagree. Legendary writer Robert A. Heinlein once listed some rules for writers. Among them … Read more

Looking At A Few Books (Yes, Just Looking!) Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender

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Looking At A Few Books (Yes, Just Looking) by Jeff Baker Not much this month. Just a glance over and recommendation of a few LGBT themed books that have come my way. And full disclosure, I have not actually read all of them, mainly the anthologies I just got in the mail. (I will post links, although I have no affiliation with the books themselves.) First off I just received series editor Charles Payseur’s “We’re Here; the Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2022,” from Neon Hemlock Press. https://www.neonhemlock.com/books This edition edited by Naomi Kanakia and released in 2023. This is the … Read more

Nite Owl – Boogieman In Lavender

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I keep some odd hours. Part of this comes from the delivery jobs I had for about twenty-five years. There were some days I had to get up at four in the morning to get to the warehouse and start my run. The advantage was that some days I would be getting off work in the early afternoon when a lot of the nine-to-five workers would still be on the job. Of course, the disadvantage was that I would have to go to bed around nine at night to get enough sleep. During those delivery days I kept a spiral-bound … Read more

Initially Yours, On Beyond Cisgender VI Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Initially Yours: On Beyond Cisgender VI by Jeff Baker NOTE: This occasional series was inspired in 2019 by suggestion from A. M. Leibowitz about a reading list for High School beyond the straight, male paradigm. —jsb I am writing this during March 2023, which is Woman’s History Month. So here (a month or so late!) is a short overview of some (not all!) of the women who wrote sci-fi for the pulps and a little later. I fits in well with this ongoing series “On Beyond Cisgender” which started as recommendations for High School reading but these books are fine … Read more

Two Briggon Snow Podcasts – Boogieman in Lavender

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Look Up & Roommates – Two Briggon Snow Podcasts Radio drama, the “theater of the mind” is alive and well, in podcast form anyway. Back in the days of “The Shadow” or even the later “Radio Mystery Theater,” there would not have even been a mention of any LGBT people or issues. Not so with modern-day podcasts. Two in particular are produced by actor/director Briggon Snow. “Look Up,” a 2020-21 podcast series from Atypical Artists and created by Snow involves Emmet (Evan Bittencourt) and Lincoln (Snow) in a sci-fi drama. They are two teenagers who encounter each other on the … Read more