As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Worldbuilding Week Day One: Languages

Worldbuilding Week

Welcome to the second annual Worldbuilding Week at QSF. We’ll talk about all aspects of building a world for your story, including languages; alien/magical races; history and timelines; culture and politics; sex, marriage and reproduction; and tools and techniques. It should be a lot of fun. Today we’re talking about languages, and Loren Rhoads will be our moderator. Here’s Loren’s take: One of the things I love about the Star Wars universe is the diversity of species in the background characters. Unfortunately, beyond Chewbacca, Admiral Ackbar, and Nien Nunb, few aliens who are good guys speak. When I wrote my … Read more

For Writers: Tackling Difficult Events

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: After 911, fiction took the tragedy and ran with it, acting as therapy, and release for the populace. Do you see your work as a conduit for helping people cope during times of anti-LGBTQIA duress, or do you not feel comfortable confronting those elements in the work? Note: Hank suggested this topic right after the Pulse shooting, but suggested that we wait a bit to tackle it. Join the chat

Ayres & Graces: Queer Author Ryan Vance

Writing and getting published is hard for every writer, but queer writers face unique challenges in the publishing industry. Ryan Vance, editor of the e-zine The Queen’s Head and The Island Review, is here today to discuss some of the challenges he’s faced as a gay man in the writing community. What challenges have you personally faced as a queer writer? I’m queer. It informs my experience of the world, and the stories I go on to tell, and those stories have as much worth as any pre-existing norm I might have unintentionally adopted. It’s worth stating from the outset … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Those check boxes on the contract

Hi all! For today’s Bits, I wanted to talk a teensy bit about book formats and media. In the past couple of years, I’ve seen more publishers going for a “check box” type of contract where the formats are listed and the ones included in the specific contract are checked off. So what are all these things? eBook Self explanatory, up to a point, but you should know what formats your publisher offers and where they distribute. PDF, epub, mobi and html are the most common (mobi is the Kindle format, though most Kindles now can handle multiple formats with … Read more

For Writers: Why the HEA?

Happily Ever After

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: Why happy ever after? Is it because a lot of the people here write romance, and the genre demands happy ever after or happy for now? I’m not talking about classic “moralistic” anti-gay non- happy endings, but pyrrhic victories, truly heroic sacrifices, and prices of war? Join the chat

For Writers: Morally Reprehensible Societies

Hannibal Lechter

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Lex Chase: In spec fic, what about the portrayal of alternative societies that may or may not set well with readers? For instance, the television version of Hannibal invoked sympathy and sex appeal in Hannibal Lecter himself even if he is a morally corrupt individual. How would you convince a reader to understand in the context of the world building that the characters occupy, their society and/or practices are not morally reprehensible? How do you invoke sympathy in a villain? How are you able to understand the hero’s life isn’t wrong or horrific like … Read more

We Already Invented the Wheel. Where the Boys Aren’t Part 2. After Stonewall

John Allenson

The first part of discussing the herstory of all women cultures went from the early 20th century up to 1970.  Several people remarked that there hadn’t been queer-positive stories.  We’ve forgotten that part of our heritage when it was virtually impossible to publish positive images of Queer lives.  Many countries had (and still have) laws that forbid positive depictions of so-called alternative lifestyles.  To have any depiction of Lesbian lives it was necessary to have a tragic ending.  It was shocking to have a Lesbian still alive at the end of a story as in The Killing of Sister George.  … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Sites for SF Writers?

Hi all! This is going to be a short one because…you’ll see. Someone raised the question this week (forgive me, I don’t remember if it was on QSF or out in the FB-galaxy or how exactly the question was worded) about the best websites for science fiction writers. As so often happens when faced with such a broad question, my forehead kinda crinkled and I said to the screen: It depends. Scott hates when I say that. But it really does. When we write science fiction, we should be, in one respect or another, concerned about the science. That could … Read more

Asta’s Annotations: How to Make Your Editor (and Yourself) Happy

Asta's AnnotationsGreetings! My name is Asta, and welcome to my new column Asta’s Annotations.

Since this is my first time posting, allow me to introduce my column and myself. I am a published author of both mainstream (Nicki J. Markus) and LGBT (Asta Idonea) fiction. I am also a qualified freelance editor, working mainly on LGBT manuscripts. I’ll be posting a monthly column at Queer Sci-Fi in which I’ll cover a range of topics. However, my primary focus will be on tips and tricks for writers and style discussions. Wearing my editor hat, I’ll also offer some advice on preparing your manuscript/submission, and that’s where I thought I’d start today. All my posts will draw on my personal experience. It may be that my tips won’t suit everyone, but even if they aren’t for you, I hope they’ll offer a springboard to help you find your personal style and preference. So, without further ado….

Read more

For Writers: Bisexual Erasure

Bisexuals

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Brian Cherry: Gay for you, bisexual erasure and gay romance with only one or no actual gay or bi character in the relationship. We have a long history of trying to make things black or white in our society – we like people to fit into either/or boxes. Even in the LGBTIQA community, this has been a problem. This has manifested itself in various ways over the years, many of them affecting our bisexual friends. For instance, for a long time, many gay men who fought hard to be open and proud about their … Read more