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Announcement: Club Revenge, by JM Dabney

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Club Revenge

QSFer JM Dabney has a new Paranormal Dark Fantasy/Horror book out: Amora Medina-Jackyl and her son, Ripper, know one thing well–vengeance. They inflicted pain without mercy to those who deserved the punishment. Although, they lived by one motto, family is to be protected above all else. When a child, an ancient cult murdered Amora’s parents and siblings. They never knew the Hell they brought down on themselves that one brutal night. Amora was many things in her four centuries. A daughter and a sister, a mother, yet she was best known as a killer. When she meets her end, Amora … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Pubbing beyond the ‘Zon

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(Inspired by part of a conversation with Scott yesterday…) There are as many reasons to take publishing into your own hands as there are writers. Tired of rejections. A work that just doesn’t fit a specific catalog. The desire for control. An ingrained mistrust of publishers. Point to someone who has taken that publishing plunge, and they may have several dozen reasons. Up until fairly recently, self-publishing could be an expensive proposition. You had to purchase ISBN’s if you wanted to be listed anywhere. You had to purchase cover art. You’d best have a professional editor or folks like me … Read more

Announcement: Keep the Stars Running

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Keep the Stars Running

QSFer Lexi Ander is in a new sci fi anthology: Space is not always filled with adventures and glory. Not everybody goes racing off to battle evil and save the galaxy. Between the rebels, pirates, royals, and spies are the everyday people who work hard just to get by and ensure everyone gets home safe. Less Than Three Press presents a collection of tales about the ordinary folks who keep the stars running. » The Prince and the Programmer by Cassandra Pierce » The Aurora Conspiracy by Lexi Ander » About a Bot by Andrea Speed » Flight Risk by … Read more

Discussion: Sexy Character Names

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character names

OK, I thought we’d do another fun one today. When writing, choosing names can be one of the hardest parts – coming up with great character names that help identify your character and color him/her/them in the way you want. This is especially true with sci fi, fantasy, and paranormal, where you often want an exotic sounding name that nevertheless doesn’t cross the line into absurdity. So I have three questions for you today: As a writer, how do you choose/find names for your characters when you write? As a reader, do character names ever get in the way of … Read more

Announcement: The Lonely War, by Alan Chin

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The Lonely War

DSPP author Alan Chin has a new Alternative History book out: The realities of war are brutal for any man, but for a Buddhist like Andrew Waters, they’re unthinkable. And reconciling his serene nature with the savagery of World War II isn’t the only challenge Andrew faces. First, he must overcome the deep prejudice his half-Chinese ancestry evokes from his shipmates, a feat he manages by providing them with the best meals any destroyer crew ever had. Then he falls in love with his superior officer, and the two men struggle to satisfy their growing passion within the confines of … Read more

Mixing Sci Fi and Fantasy

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Sci Fi Elf

Some of my favorite sci fi authors often throw in a dash of Fantasy. Look at Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books, which included dragons (albeit genetically created ones). Or many of Sheri Tepper’s books, that create a Fantasy-like setting in a post-apocalyptic world. I even wrote an “elf in the future” story that I hope to get published one of these days. When it’s done right, I LOVE mixing these two genres. But it’s not always done right. So what do you think? Do elves, dwarves and wizards have a place in Sci Fi? Or do you prefer your science fiction … Read more

The Midweek Mingle: Watershed Moments

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A lot of the complaints I’ve heard about QUILTBAG+ representation in fiction are about the portrayal. People are happy to see these characters, yes, but the way the author shows them isn’t always the best. Stereotypes (which I’ve covered in a previous Midweek Mingle) run rampant and, though not quite as bad in my opinion, another plague runs rampant through the QUILTBAG+ community in fiction. A lot of times, the only indication you have that a trans* character is trans*, that a lesbian character is a lesbian, that an agender character is agender, is an outright statement of this fact. … Read more

Announcement: The Time Slip Girl, by Elizabeth Andre

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The Time Slip Girl small

QSFer Elizabeth Andre has a new interracial lesbian time travel romance novel out: What if the woman you loved was more than a century away? Dara, a computer programmer from Chicago, is visiting London when she opens a door in an Edwardian house and slips into Edwardian England. Agnes, a beautiful London shop girl, takes in the bewildered 21st century American lesbian, but, as Dara begins to accept that she is stuck in 1908, she also begins to accept that she has feelings for Agnes that go beyond gratitude. And the longer Dara stays, the harder Agnes finds it to … Read more

Listening to Music While Reading/Writing

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Fantasy Music

When I’m writing, I often use (or create) a playlist of songs that help me get into the mood for the piece I’m writing. Sometimes it’s a particular song that has helped to inspire the story. Sometime’s it’s a genre – mournful celtic music is one that works particularly well for me – that helps me zone out of the world and into the story. On the flip side, sometimes music also helps me tune into a story I am reading. So how about you? Do you use music when you write? When you read? If so, what kind of … Read more

What is the Dryden Experiment?

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The Dryden Author and Artists Group

Hey all, I’m Joel Stottlemire, the Chief Editor of the Dryden Experiment. We are multi-media publishing company that uses a Creative Commons licensing structure. Scott asked me to write a post explaining what Creative Commons is and how we use it. Creative Commons is a book unto itself. It came out of the software community. A lot of programming is repetitive and code gets modified and copied all the time. This creates a kind of weird place in terms of rights. Whoever wrote the code in the first place legally owns it but it doesn’t make sense for every coder … Read more