FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer K. S. Madden: Asexual characters in spec fic and romance – what do you want to see more of? And who does it well? Our readers discuss. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat
Astronomers have discovered a distant galaxy that’s giddily blowing bubbles like a toddler with a glass of chocolate milk. Unlike milk bubbles, however, these two huge galactic balloons are filled with gas, stretch a few thousand light-years across and appear to be crackling with charged particles 100 times more energetic than any found on Earth. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, researchers detected the bubbles jiggling near the center of a galaxy named NGC 3079, located about 67 million light-years away from Earth. Bubbles like these are known as “superbubbles” because, well, they’re supersized. … Read more
QSFer A.L. Lester has a new gay/enby sci fi time travel book out: Shadows on the Border. Sequel to Lost in Time Newspaper reporter Lew Tyler and his lover, Detective Alec Carter, are working out the parameters of their new relationship. Meanwhile, time traveler Lew is trying to decide whether he wants to stay in the 1920s or find a way to get back to 2016, and Alec doesn’t know if he can bear the vulnerability of being in love with someone who uses such dangerous magic. Fenn is a Hunter from the Outlands, come through the Border to search for … Read more
Title: Shadows on the BorderSeries: Lost in TimeAuthor: A.L. LesterGenre: Sci Fi / Time TravelLGBTQ+ Category: Gay/Non-BinaryPublisher: JMS BooksPage Count: 190 PagesReviewer: MaryAnn About the Book Sequel to Lost in Time. Newspaper reporter Lew Tyler and his lover, Detective Alec Carter, are working out the parameters of their new relationship. Meanwhile, time traveler Lew is trying to decide whether he wants to stay in the 1920s or find a way to get back to 2016, and Alec doesn’t know if he can bear the vulnerability of being in love with someone who uses such dangerous magic. Fenn is a Hunter from … Read more
FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Thea Nishimori: We seem to have a growing socio-economical divide. How could that influence intelligence in the human race in the future? Over the long run, could social forces end up being a driver for evolution, either toward or away from higher intelligence, ie: could being rich or poor make our descendants either smarter or dumber? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the … Read more
Attending the premiere of Captain Marvel in Los Angeles, Marvel’s production chief Victoria Alonso told Variety that “the world is ready” for a gay superhero. Alonso would not confirm rumors that the studio is seeking a gay lead for its 2020 tentpole The Eternals, but said,“We are going to cast the best ‘Eternals’ cast that we can and when we’re ready to announce it we promise you we will.” She added: “Why would we only want to be recognized by only one type of person? Our audience is global, is diverse, is inclusive. If we don’t do it that way … Read more
K. Parr has a new FF Fantasy book out: The Sun and Moon Beneath the Stars. After being orphaned and forced to work as a palace slave, fifteen-year-old Rasha decides to end her life, but when she plunges a knife into her chest, she doesn’t die. Instead, a strange, icy power possesses her. The last time it took over, someone got hurt, and Rasha can’t let that happen again. But she’s got bigger problems. Her twin brother is alive, yet held captive by Solaris, a powerful sorcerer. When Rasha runs into Adriana, the selfish princess she once served, they discover … Read more
FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Hank T Cannon : Comic books, graphic novels, web comics: what kind of non-prose SF&F works are you into? Do any of them have a particular LGBTQ+ focus? Share! Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat
“Captain Marvel,” ranked as the most highly anticipated release of 2019, zooms into theaters today. It’s the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but only the first to star a female character. Even though it doesn’t get everything right, the movie is a fun and fresh take on the superhero genre. It’s amazing what happens when women and people of color take center stage. Set in 1995, and loaded with wonderful pop culture references, the movie is both an origin story and a mystery. Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (with Geneva Robinson-Dworet also receiving screenplay … Read more
Title: Illumined ShadowsSeries: Treble and the Lost Boys #3Author: G.R. LyonsGenre: ParanormalLGBTQ+ Category: GayPublisher: Amazon Digital ServicesPages/Word Count: 331Reviewer: MaryAnn About the Book When Victor Lucius was sixteen years old, a few cruel words out of his mouth led to a brutal tragedy, one that Vic has been trying to make up for ever since. Now, working as a missing persons expert, Vic tracks down and rescues people from abandonment or abuse, trying to alleviate the guilt constantly weighing him down. His latest case—a boy who was kidnapped at the age of two and then held captive for nineteen years—is by … Read more