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Announcement: Ilya and the Wolf, by Rory N. Coileain

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Today we have a new paranormal tale from QSFer Rory Coileain. Ilya is so deep in the closet he’d find Narnia if that wasn’t a decadent Western story. Volyk, a wolf who carries the blood of the ancient oboroten’, shapeshifters, longs to show him the way out, but if Ilya follows the wolf, two lives will change forever. Excerpt And the angel said unto them, be not afraid… Ilya was not afraid. Enraptured, yes. Entranced. But not afraid. He had been ready for death when he closed his eyes in the wolf’s embrace. Instead, he was whole, and awake, and … Read more

Making Magic

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Today we have two topics from QSFers that dovetail rather nicely. From Angel Martinez: “Magical systems – magic isn’t just ‘magic’ in a well built world. Different ways in which magic ‘works’.” And from Jim Comer: “Any belief system can be used for magical purposes, right? @Ayn Rand detailed an elaborate quasi-religion called @Objectivism. What dybbuks, haints and vodu spring from Right Principles? Can we do magick by proving that A is A?” So since we haven’t done a fantasy topic for a bit, I thought it might be fun to discuss magic. So for our writers out there – … Read more

QSF Flash Fiction Winner Announced

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We’ve wrapped up the judging of the First Annual QSF Flash Fiction Contest early, so we’ll be sharing the top stories over the next 6 days. After that, most of the submitted stories will be posted on the site for everyone to enjoy. We had some fantastic submissions this year – congrats to everyone! All stories were limited to 300 words max, with the theme “endings”. The winner of the contest is Cari Z – congrats, Cari! Here’s her story – enjoy! A Second Chance to Die Well By Cari Z It’s time to close the crypt. Dayell knows it. … Read more

Announcement: A Fallen Hero Rises, by M. Joseph Murphy

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QSFer M. Joseph Murphy has a Fantasy series out, starting with A Fallen Hero Rises: With the power to alter reality, Tadgh is the most powerful man on the planet. Which is why the demons want him. Three hundred years ago, a group of heroes imprisoned a dark god and his lieutenants in a hell dimension known as the Void. Since then, the people of Maghe Sihre have lived in relative peace. Now, a secret war brews at the edge of civilization. Tadgh Dooley, a young gay man from Earth, is burdened with a dangerous and impossible power. He has … Read more

Are Vampires Out of Style?

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So we just went through the whole True Blood and Twilight things, which at their hearts included prominent vampire characters. But they were also kind of a grab bag of paranormal characters, and lately, shifters have seemed to be ascendent. So are Vampire tales going out of style? As I’ve commented before, we’ve seen a gradual transition from vampires as evildoers in the dark of night to allegories for the LGBT experience or misunderstood lovers. I suspect that, for vamps to make another comeback, someone will have to find a new way in – another way to tell this age-old … Read more

Can We Live on Mars?

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The guys over at ASAPScience have a new video all about Mars and the obstacles we’d need to overcome in order to set up a human colony on the red planet – gay club presumably included. Full Story at Towleroad.com

Announcement: L’histoire de François – Vampire, by Edward Kendrick

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QSFer Edward Kendrick has a new vampire book out: Since his turning in 1022 young spy, François, has hated all humans. And yet, in 1347, he falls in love with one, only to be betrayed by Giles who tells his liege lord that François is a vampire. The lord blackmails François into spying for him. Years later, François gains his revenge on Giles through his son. In 1876 New Orleans, François joins forces with Vasile, a master of the city, to take on human vampire hunters. Then Vasile’s human lover dies and Vasile turns to François for comfort. Will love … Read more

How Long is Yours?

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We’ll be announcing our flash-fiction contest winners in the next few days. I know, we originally planned to give ourselves a month. But we got through them more quickly than expected, and I gotta say, we were quite pleased with the quality of the submissions. Anyhow, the whole thing got me wondering about story length. Flash fiction (or micro fiction, as it is also called), is a particular beast, because it requires the author to edit out all but the barest details, and yet to provide a complete picture with those few words. One of my favorite micro fiction pieces … Read more

Announcement: Once Upon a Pirate, by Jambrea Jo Jones

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QSFer Jambrea Jo Jones has a new fantasy out: Valda Rollins hates dragons and now he’s stuck with one who won’t leave him alone. It was bad enough he was imprisoned for helping right a wrong, but the beast locked up with him won’t stop pestering him. Flame is a simple dragon. All he wants is to help his kingdom and if he gets a mate along the way he’d be even happier. Flame’s sole purpose in life is to protect people and he does that by staying strong. He doesn’t understand why more people don’t want to be their … Read more

LGBT Sci Fi and Mega Structures

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QSFer Jim Comer posed an interesting question recently: “Megastructures and where and how they belong in SF/F; where do we fit in? Dyson Spheres/Shells, Ringworlds, Topopoleis. Alderson disks etc. This group deals with QUILTBAG individuals, mostly of human-like species. CAN we tell an LGBT story in such a setting? Is there any point even to discussing LGBT issues when we’re constructing a shell AROUND A STAR? … Very few hard SF authors (want to) deal with us and our issues, whether because of their social conservatism or because they don’t see QUILTBAG people as having a place in such a … Read more