FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Ben Brock: Why is a raven like a writing desk? Riddles in fiction. How do you feel about them? Do they aid worldbuilding? What are your favorites? 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
FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Kari Trenten: I’d also love a discussion on tarot cards, since their imagery has a strong impact on some of the novels and plots I’m working on. That’s a great topic – have y’all read anything that used Tarot VCards as a device or as part of the plot? 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
Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Brian Cherry: Forty years ago, it was taboo to even write about gay love, let alone anything LGBTIQA… Twenty years ago, it was taboo to write about being transgender. Ten years ago, it was taboo to write about being non binary or intersex. So according to you, what is taboo or controversial to write about in queer fiction now? And should it be? Join the chat
Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Matthew J. Metzger: The big one for me is the double standards. There seems to be a presumption that you need to have a degree in gender studies to write a trans character, no matter the actual plot or genre of the book. Whereas I can see eight novels on my feed right now that are M/M and could be changed to M/F with a simple pronoun switch-up. Why can LGB books be about, well, anything you want, but the idea of a book with a character who just so happens to be transgender … Read more
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: TOPIC 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 Dystopian fiction has been around forever, but in recent years, it seems to have gained a foothold in the popular culture – witness The Hunger Games and other movies of the same ilk that have spring from YA book series. Some authors seem to have a penchant for destroying planets and cultures. Maybe it’s ISIS, or the Great Recession, or just a sense that things … Read more
Today’s topic comes from QSFer Heather Rose Jones: How do people (authors and readers) view the relationship between “LGBTQI SFF” and “SFF with LGBTQI characters”? Do you read/write both? Do you consider them identical or distinct categories? Are the two angles in dialogue with each other, and if so how? Great questions. I was asked at Rainbow Con during a panel if a character was really gay if their sexuality wasn’t overtly expressed during the story. So what do y’all think? Join the chat!
Today’s topic comes from QSFer Tim O’Leary: I work with someone who seemed perfectly nice in every way. Funny, charming, etc. And three months into knowing him, we were having a casual conversation and he nonchalantly revealed through a story he was telling that he was a raving anti-Semite. But what was most chilling was how calm and natural he was about it. So it made me think about fantasy and sci-fi with different races. Obviously we’ve seen examples of racism in Star Trek and shows like that, but usually the racism (bigotry against Klingons, etc) is overt and obvious. … Read more
One reason I’ve been writing all these years has to do with helping us feel good about ourselves. I’d like to think the cultural work that’s proliferated from the latter half of the twentieth century through today has contributed to building our strength so we could accomplish all we have. If the pendulum of history swings against us like a wrecking ball from the future, we’ll need the writing, the photographs, the women’s music–to stay strong, to be queer strong, just as we need it now. But will our stories be available twenty, fifty, a hundred years from now? I … Read more
Today’s topic comes from QSFer BA Brock: Sometimes it’s easier for me to read trans stories, when the worlds are fantasy. I’ve read several fantasy stories recently, where the characters have struck me as trans, but in the context of the book, there were no trans people. I love this ability of fantasy, to explore heavy current social issues, in a setting other than our reality. It allows me to let go of the minutia (did the author get it exactly right?), and at the same time still experience the pain and joy of my identity. I’d imagine these stories … Read more
