As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Discussion

When Your Short Story Wants to Become A Novel

by

I’ve never been good at short stories. For starters, I generally used to sit down and just start writing without an endpoint in mind. While it’s fun to have no idea where your story is going (it’s just like being a reader!) you end up with a whole bunch of half finished stories and a few that never seem to end. For a long time, when I tried to intentionally write a short story, I had a hard time reining it in. At a minimum, they seemed to want to become novellas… there just wasn’t a way to tell my … Read more

When Should You Have Sex (in Your Sci Fi Story)?

by

Up until the last year, most of the stories I had written had been “straight” sci fi (pardon the pun) or fantasy – stories that relied on the sci fi or fantasy plot as the main driver of the story. Oh sure, they usually had a gay character or two, but not always as the main character, and even when they were, usually without a major “romance”. Then I discovered Dreamspinner Press and their upcoming anthology submissions page. I decided to try my hand at writing some short stories that were MM romance with a sci fi or supernatural twist. … Read more

Writing Characters Who Aren’t Like Us

by

I posed the question “Why is there no market for FF sci fi, fantasy (or romance fiction in general)?” recently in the MM Gay Sci Fi group on Facebook. There were some great, thoughtful responses to the post, but the one that struck me most came from Angel Martinez: “even if you haven’t written a specifically F/F story – how many of you have included lesbian characters in your work?” And I realized that I have never had a lesbian character in one of my stories. Even though they often feature gay characters, and I believe in inclusion. I have … Read more

Setting the Scene

by

When I’m writing sci fi (or any fiction, for that matter), I tend to write scenes fairly quickly, without a whole lotta scenery, and then go back and layer that in later. I usually do an initial draft, an indepth second read and edit, and then two more lighter passes to get everything right. I find that, especially for shorter stories, choosing a song that fits the theme or mood of the story often helps me “see” it better. For instance, my short story A New Year, about two men who meet, seemingly by chance at first, ever 11 years … Read more

Finding the Ending

by

I’ve just finished my first draft of a short sci fi story set about 500 years in the future. As I’ve gotten back into my writing with a vengeance this last year, I’ve been re-learning my writing process. Every author is different. Some like to write in the middle of the night (or do so out of necessity). Some can only write for 10-20 minutes at a time, while others like to go on writing retreats and dedicate themselves for a week at a time to the art. Some write full-time, while others fit it around an unrelated full-time job. … Read more

When is Your Best Time for Writing?

by

One of the things I think about a lot is when I should be writing. I mean, probably first thing in the morning should be best, but I have daily commitments that keep me busy every morning until breakfast. And I have a more-than full time job, too. It’s our own business, so I have some flexibility, but still… So I settled on an hour every day at the end of the day. But sometimes that doesn’t work out – we go out to dinner, or other things intrude. So instead, sometimes I’m writing in bed, or writing in line … Read more

Launching a New Queer Sci Fi Writers’ Group

by

We just had a new section of the blog installed. We’re working on getting it ready over the next week or so – it will be a place where member authors can post their LGBT sci fi, fantasy, and supernatural work for critiquing. I’ve wanted to have a writers’ group for a long time where I could post parts of my stories that I’m working on or having trouble with. This part of the blog is password-protected and will be open to members only, so there’s no risk of getting dinged for having “published” your work on the blog. If … Read more

Finding the Time

by

I’ve always wanted to be a published writer, but with a full-time other job (actually more like time and a half), it’s been easy these last few years to find excuses not to write. Because writing isn’t easy. It’s often hard, mind-breaking work, coming up with the story, working out the plot, and the day-to-day grind of actually putting it to paper. So why do it? I find there’s something deep within me that I access when I write – a creative wellspring that may be hard to reach, but that’s so rewarding when it’s finally tapped, when the story … Read more

Science Fiction’s Queer Problem

by

Found this great post on medium.com: Sci fi has a problem with gay and lesbian characters. This is especially true of TV science fiction, but print is almost as guilty, and most games with a sci fi flavour are exercises in testosterone-fueled head-stomping (which, while good fun, does not generally make for nuanced or diverse characters). I can probably name on the fingers of maybe both my hands the number of gay or lesbian characters I’ve come across in the genre as a whole, across all media. For a category of fiction predicated on imagining worlds stranger than and off … Read more

Sci Fi vs. Mundania

by

I’ve been working on a few stories for submission to Dreamspinner – a gay romance publisher. Most of them have had a bit of a sci fi twist – but my latest one, Translation, is a straight-ahead mainstream romance short. It’s a little weird for me – I enjoyed writing it, but I missed having the twist. I’m not sure that I enjoy writing mundane fiction, even if it is gay-themed. I finished my second draft and sent it off to several people (including my hubby) for review – so far one rave. We’ll see if Mark likes it. Now … Read more