FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: It’s just two weeks until the official start of the 2018 Queer Sci Fi flash fiction contest. This year’s theme is “impact”, so I thought we’d have a little fun and brainstorm ways “Impact” could be used in a story. Go! Note that all ideas posted here are free game for folks to use without compensation/recognition. Join the chat
* insert drumroll * Impact! Our 2018 contest launches on March 1st, and closes it April 1st. Take that however you will – an asteroid impacting the earth; the environmental impact of climate change; two paranormal entities crashing into one another in combat; the impact an action by an individual can have as it ripples through society. Heck, even an impacted wisdom tooth can work, as long as you sell it. It’s up to you. We’ll be accepting stories from across the queer spectrum, and would love to see more entries including lesbian, trans, bi, intersex and ace protagonists, as … Read more
Another great review for “Renewal” – this one from Melanie at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words: I am such a fan of flash fiction, the ability to tell a complete story in 300 words or less. Renewal is Queer SyFy’s Fourth year’s collection of flash fiction and what an incredible winner it is. Like a library full of tiny jewels, Renewal‘s flash fiction is glorious in it’s presentation of the dizzying array of imaginative themes and world building by it’s host of authors… Such power, such beauty. And this collection is full of such haunting tales. As J. Scott Coatsworth … Read more
Just got a fantastic review for “Renewal” from Rainbow Book Reviews: The first thing I’d like to say is that with the breadth of topics and themes covered, everyone interested in any of the four genres should be able to find something of interest in this collection. It is divided into groups of stories per genre, so it’s easy to find the type of tale you’re looking for – and to at least sneak a look at one or more of the sections you might not usually look at. Horror is not something I enjoy reading, but I found quite … Read more
It’s “Renewal” release day, and time to announce the winners of the 2017 QSF Flash Fiction contest for Renewal! The Winners ***Third Place, Siri Paulson, Urban Renewal **Second Place, S R Jones, In a Bind * drumroll * *First Place, Steve Fuson, Mating Season Congrats to our winners – the stories were amazing this year. The Judges I want to thank our amazing judges: Angel Martinez Ben Brock Jerome Stueart Clare London The Publisher and the Artists I also want to thank Freddy MacKay at Mischief Corner Books for the amazing coordination and formatting. And the artists, Gus Li, … Read more
It’s official, The stories and winners are chosen, and the illustrations are all in. Our third annual flash fiction book “Renewal” now has an official release date: 9/13/17 We should have preorder links shortly. We’ll be announcing the winners this year on that date, so expect a bit more fanfare when the thirteenth rolls around.
Every year, QSF holds a flash fiction contest to create an amazing new anthology of queer speculative fiction stories. We ask authors to do the nearly-impossible – to submit a sci fi, fantasy, paranormal or horror LGBTIQA story that has no more than 300 words. Our 2017 contest launches on March 10th, and closes it April 10th. The theme for 2017 is “Renewal”: Take that however you will – a new beginning after a nuclear war, a birth of a werewolf baby, the reforging of a fantasy sword, etc. It’s up to you. We’ll be accepting stories from across the … Read more
Hey all, Something fun today – we’re pre-announcing our flash fiction contest theme for 2017. This will be our fourth year doing the contest – hard to believe it. For the first three years, our themes (and the people who chose them) were: Endings – Scott Discovery – Mark Flight – Angel For our fourth year, the theme was chosen by Ben, and is… *insert drumroll here*: Renewal We want your stories of when things changed for the better. Tell us about: The wicked witch who was redeemed by good magic The old bucket of bolts starship given a new … Read more
Our friends at STRW are running a flash fiction contest this month – it’s a great way to sharpen your flash skills for our forthcoming QSF contest in April. The details: Last week, we told you that November was National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as its called and gave you all the links to the contest and the details. It goes on every November each year. Its for you or anyone who actually had the thought “hey, I wonder if I could write a story”. Write…50,000 words. In one month. Chart your progress. Meet tons of people on line just … Read more
OK, so as you may have noticed, we’re getting ready to order some more QSF swag. Last year, we did the Impossibly Tiny Buttons. This year, we’re gonna do buttons again with the QSF logo, but we’re gonna make them bigger. And you know what bigger means? Room for more words. :P We are writers, after all. So here’s where we need your help. We want to come up with a cute catchphrase, something that will make people wanna pick these up AND wear them (and we’ll be running a button-based contest at the show – but more on that … Read more