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Announcement: Lonely Shore, by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen

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Lonely Shore

QSFers Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen have a new MM sci fi book out on 5/25: Zander and Felix return today in the second book in the Chaos Station series, Lonely Shore, by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen. All they can do is live day to day… Felix Ingesson has returned to his duties as the Chaos’s engineer with Zander Anatolius, his ex-boyfriend-turned-broken-super-soldier, at his side. Hope means something again. But there’s nothing Felix can do to battle the alien poison flowing through Zander’s veins, or his imminent mental decline. With each passing day, the side effects of Zander’s experimental … Read more

Do Facebook Events Work?

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FB Event Invite

We all get them. Invitations to attend a Facebook cover reveal, or author chat, or page takeover. I’ve gone to a few – I’ve enjoyed them, and even won a free book or two. But as promotional vehicles for authors, do they work? As a writer, do you use them, and if so, what have they done for you? And as a reader, do you like attending events on FB with authors?

“Song of Oestend” By Marie Sexton

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Genre: MM Fantasy Romance Length: Novel Song of Oestend takes place in an alternate reality and resembles the Old West, but with some odd technologies, ancient mysticism, and ghosts thrown in for fun. I would feel comfortable labeling it as steampunk, paranormal, or fantasy, but I labeled it as fantasy because both steampunk and paranormal fit into that genre. Aren Montrell is a social leper from the city, and to get away from it all, he travels to Oestend for a job as a bookkeeper. Of all the cities he could have chosen, I honestly have no idea why he … Read more

Vietnam Bans Gay Romance Novels

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Danmei

Vietnam has banned gay romance novels following media reports that they are ‘poisoning’ young people. The ministry of culture sent a letter to publishers ordering them to stop printing ‘clichéd, useless, obscene and offensive’ romance novels, most of which are translations from Chinese. It also told them to review all their published books and remove anything ‘indecent.’ Earlier this year, the media condemned Chinese romance novels, singling out danmei – gay erotica – for special criticism. The books, most of which started as web fiction, were accused of giving young people unrealistic ideas about love and relationships and even promoting … Read more

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