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Jeff Baker—Boogieman In Lavender

The View From Worldcon, or Down On The Swanwick River by Jeff Baker A stack of autographed books and a head full of memories. Those are the souvenirs from a few days at MidAmeriCon II, the World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City, MO August 17 through 21, 2016. We got there Thursday the 18th in time for me to drive over to the Crown Center (the vast convention facility where the convention was being held) and see it all for myself. I had been to Bouchercon (the Mystery Writers of America Convention) in Cleveland in 2012 so I … Read more

New Discoveries Day!

New Discoveries Day

Hey all, Welcome to New Discoveries Day – a day once a month (usually on the last day of the month) when we discuss recent discoveries that fascinate us and that could spawn plot bunnies (or plot squirrels or plot mongeese – your plot animal of choice). So chime in and let us know about any new discoveries you ran across in the last month – links are always appreciated. Thanks to Freddy MacKay for the great idea! –Scott Come Join the Chat!

The Golden Rules

etiquette

Hey all… Here’s what I posted on FB this morning about the discussion group rules: Hey all… this is a fantastic bunch of folks, and it always amazes me that we have nearly 1800 members, and yet have so few incidents and ruffled feathers. That said, there have been a few issues in the group lately, so I wanted to take a moment to go over a couple things with y’all. The main reason this group works so well is that we all respect one another, and we focus on talking about queer speculative fiction. Sometimes the discussions get a … Read more

Jeff Baker—Boogieman In Lavender

Jeff Baker

The Better Part of Wisdom The Better Part of Wisdom By Jeff Baker   In contrast to a lot of other science fiction writers, Ray Bradbury wrote no gay-themed science fiction, no fantasy stories with gay characters. But the author of “The Martian Chronicles” did write at least one story with openly gay characters, and while it has no elements of science fiction it is worth taking a closer look at. In “The Better Part of Wisdom,” we are introduced to Tom and Frank in their cozy apartment, one happily using the other’s lap as a pillow, when they are … Read more

Announcement: Junk Mage, by Elliot Cooper

junk mage

QSFer Elliot Cooper has a new sci fi/fantasy book out: When technomancer Quillian Defote crash-lands on remote planet Marutuk, he has limited time to repair his ship and get off world. If he fails, he’ll forfeit his position as professor of mechanical transmutation at the prestigious Ivy Arcanarium and ruin his employment prospects in yet another sector. Hunter, a cyborg guarding a junkyard that holds what Quill needs, is charmed by the wayward mage and wants to help him. But Hunter is bound by honor to dutifully guard his mistress and her possessions, no matter how cruelly she treats him. … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Junk DNA

I must say, I learned some weird stuff while researching this topic. It’s no secret that we don’t know an awful lot about our DNA, what makes us what we are, but more is coming to light every day. And it’s more than just the standard what gives blue eyes or left-handedness either. I repeat, it’s weird stuff. For a start, the term junk DNA was something we thought up in the 1970’s to label a bunch of DNA code that we didn’t think did anything. It’s not actually junk, come to find out. On top of the standard automatic … Read more

New Discoveries Day

New Discoveries Day

Hey all, Recently we launched New Discoveries Day – a day once a month (usually on the last day of the month) when we discuss recent discoveries that fascinate us and that could spawn plot bunnies (or plot squirrels or plot mongeese – your plot animal of choice). So chime in and let us know about any new discoveries you ran across in the last month – links are always appreciated. Thanks to Freddy MacKay for the great idea! –Scott Come Join the Chat!

U=(N/T)M*G: Big Bangs and Black Holes

A lot of writers are under the impression that science is great for research, but not so much for plot ideas. That’s what inspired me to write this blog about science. That, and an astrophysicist friend of mine. I’m also honor bound to inform that I’m not a college educated scientist. So, to start, let’s talk about black holes and the Big Bang. A black hole eats everything. Light, energy, matter. Everything. And it tears it all down into energy which it holds on to until the black hole dies, which takes trillions of years. They’re cannibals too. So, I … Read more