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Writing Transgender

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I’m about to start off on a new story, and have decided to include a transgender character with basically a gay orientation. I know a fair amount about the transgender community from covering the struggle for LGBT rights for six years. But knowing is not the same as living. I’ve decided to try to find an expert to help me get the details right. I’m not straight, but I write straight characters. I’m not a woman, but I’ve written female characters. I’m not a werewolf… well, you get the idea. But I think writing transgender characters is a bit of … Read more

Keeping the Focus

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One of my greatest challenges is sticking to my planned writing times and actually writing for the whole hour I set aside each day for that purpose. The reasons are myriad. My phone buzzes when I get a text or facebook contact. I want to check for new emails I run a little late at “work” and use up some of my writing time the phone rings We have plans that conflict with my writing time I’m just feeling particularly ADD My plan is to always write from 5-6 PM, for an hour, without exception, but of course life doesn’t … Read more

QSF Member Book Announcement – Hybrids: Arrival

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One of our new members, Chris O’Guinn, has a YA gay sci fi book to announce: The night that Joaquin witnesses the fire in the sky was the last night of anything normal for him. His world of high school and football is completely upended as he comes face to face with an extraterrestrial being. Thrace, as the alien calls himself, seems friendly enough. However, he has abilities that are far beyond human. And he comes with word that others of his race are already on Earth. Joaquin’s friendship with Thrace takes him into danger and chaos as he learns … Read more

Semper Fae Release Day and That Odd Question

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I’ve often said, only a bit tongue in cheek, that I write both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. But for me, this is the majority of the fiction I’ve always read and what I’ve always written, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Contemporary fiction has its place, for other people, and I’ll read it on rare occasions. But it’s not natural for me. So when people ask if it’s difficult switching back and forth between SF and Fantasy, my short, glib answer is “no.” It’s not difficult – but I’m convinced that writing each one … Read more

Book Review: A Solid Core of Alpha

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Hey all, I just finished reading Amy Lane’s “A Solid Core of Alpha”. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it’s the story of a boy, Anderson, who sees his entire world destroyed, and flees in a shuttle on a ten year flight all alone to find safety, and a man, CJ, who meets Anderson when he finally arrives at his destination. A good portion of the book revolves around the shuttle journey. And if you think that one guy in a shuttle would make for boring reading, you’d be wrong. Anderson learns to tinker with the … Read more

Looking for Inspiration

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Where do you go when you need a little inspiration for your writing? What do you do? For me, it’s often music. Sometimes a certain song will tweak an idea in my mind, a seed that then grows into an idea for a story – not a simple retelling of the song’s lyrics, but more a feeling, an idea that springs from it. Other times, I’ll be stuck somewhere in a story, and I’ll be in the car on the way somewhere, and again a song will tease an idea free in my head, which will link to something else … Read more

My First Book Cover

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OK. when I say I, I mean ours – it’s an anthology, and I’m only one of the authors. But still… My story Bear at the Bar, my first sale, is included. Woo hoo! While the anthology is mainstream bears, my story tips a little into the paranormal. On sale from Dreamspinner in August, I think.

Hey! Where’s the Funny Stuff?

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Most people (especially non-SF fans) think of science fiction as deadly serious. Because of the often deadly serious topics SF tackles–oppression, climate destruction, discovery vs. ethics–they believe the stories don’t easily lean toward the humorous. However, comedy is the oldest form of social commentary and science fiction has a long, legitimate history with it. From Keith Laumer’s Retief books to the Stainless Steel Rat, from Red Dwarf to the Hitchhiker stories, science fiction humor may not always get the attention it deserves, but it’s always been with us. As a long time science fiction reader, (don’t ask how long, that’s … Read more

Writing the Future

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One of the most difficult things for me as a sci fi author is figuring out what I think the future will look like. Not just socially – that’s often the fun part, coming up with new social constructs to hang my story on. But also physically. What will the cities look like? What will gadgets look like? How will they work? How ill we eat? Communicate? Have sex? These can be fun things to figure out too, but they can also be writing minefields. Take, for example, computers. 50 years ago, they existed only as huge, room-sized things that … Read more