FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Charli Coty: How do you know when to stop revising/submitting/querying a story? Do you always persevere until they’re published or do you have “trunk novels” that you’ve given up on? If you have trunk novels, what about these stories kept them from seeing the light of day (either in your own estimation or based on rejection feedback you received)? Join the chat
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: Have we ever discussed writting gender past male/female binaries? The Andorians in Star Trek have four genders. Alien Nation had three. The Left Hand of Darkness has androgens. How would we write alternate genders? This is a legacy chat. Join the chat Image by chonastock
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Victoria Stagg Elliott: Currently there are several medical procedures that are routinely carried out on infants and children (vaccination, circumcision, etc.) I don’t want to get into the merits of these procedures, but what procedures could you see becoming routine in the future for either adults or children and how could they form the basis of a really cool queer sci-fi novel? Join the chat
Somewhere in my files is the beginning of a bad story called “Summer Job.” It’s wordy and takes an overly long time getting started. It has a small-town Kansas setting, an adolescent protagonist and an element of dark fantasy—all things that appear regularly in stories I’ve written. But I wasn’t trying to be Jeff Baker; I was trying to be Tom Reamy. I first stumbled across Tom Reamy’s short fiction in an anthology of horror stories from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The story, “Insects in Amber” grabbed me right off with its setting in an old (and … Read more
FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Freddy MacKay: Let’s discuss trans, enby and gender fluid characters in speculative fiction. How they are handled. How the world/tech/magic/nature works for them or against them. SF could be interesting because technology could be developed enough you wouldn’t ever know the difference unless a trans*/enby person wanted you to. What kind of society would that be? How would trans, enby and gender fluid people identify themselves and why? A parallel (though not the same) would be looking at the deaf community and how they feel about cochlear implants. Some are … Read more
FOR BOTH READERS AND WRITERS Today’s topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: I recently came across the term “skoliosexual,” meaning someone attracted to nonbinary (transgender, agender, genderqueer, etc.) partners. Another recent acquisition for my vocabulary – “enby” – or NB – non binary. There are so many terms these days for different kinds of folks across the queer spectrum that many of us loose track. I thought it would be great to bring up a bunch of these terms and what they mean. If you fall into a category that many folks aren’t yet familiar with, share it and … Read more
FOR WRITERS & READERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Amy Wasp Wimberger: Fantasy Romance (especially epic fantasy) is one of the lowest selling categories in the romance world. Why do you think that is? Is it a viable genre? Is it due for a comeback? Writers, do you write it? What’s your experience? Readers, do you read it? If not, why? Join the chat
