FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Marina Justyaoi: Historical fiction that plays fast and loose with reality, does it irritate you or make you wish it had been that way? (Particularly in same-sex relationships). 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
QSFer Pelaam has a new MM Sci-fi, steampunk alternate universe fantasy book out: Pinkerton man Bram McCabe likes to work alone. But when a madman titling himself the Avian Emperor threatens the world’s skies, he’s forced to work with an English team already on the case. Things go from bad to worse for Bram when he takes more than a professional interest in Vyvian—a man with a secretive past. Each man dances around the other, hiding their true feelings, knowing they live in very different worlds. The Avian Emperor is as cunning and lethal as he is intelligent, and when … Read more
Frankenstein Part 1 – Strange Conception. We know the myth of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. The myth is fairly factual but the underlying biases give a completely false understanding of who Mary Shelley was, why she wrote the first science fiction novel (at least in English), and what was happening in the novel. The basic myth is that a group of important men and a couple of young women were trapped in a castle in Geneva and bored out of their skulls. The poets came up with a contest to tell … Read more
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Angel Martinez: A lot of queer fiction writers and readers think of lesbian romance as an “emerging” genre. But lesbian romance emerged as a genre in the early 20th century. What are some of the older FF titles you’ve read and most enjoyed? And how has the genre evolved over time? 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
QSFer Odin Alexander has a new sci fi book out: The Village was the place to see and be seen in 1920’s New York. Jazz, flappers, and endless parties. Doctor Josef Norwich is a brilliant psychoanalyst but bored with his clients who see his profession as another amusement to fill their gin-drenched time. Then there is Hyperion Walsh, an enigmatic spiritualist who has gained fame by exposing fake mediums while promoting his own authentic talents, as a showman. Once on Josef’s couch, he begins relating an extraordinary life that Josef isn’t sure is real. As he probes Walsh, Josef suddenly … Read more
DSPP author JS Cook has a new historical book out: When Feldwebel Horst Stussel is murdered in Jake Plenty’s Moroccan brothel, local police chief Nicolas Renard suspects Jake’s involvement in the crime. Renard has loved Jake since their service in the Legion Etrangère during the Great War, but in this era of concentration camps, gas chambers, and the infamous pink triangle, his love for the American dare not speak its name. When sadistic Nazi officer Major Danzig, a fanatic who excels at the arts of torture and interrogation, comes to Maarif, it isn’t because of the Feldwebel. He is in … Read more
QSFer Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks have a new paranormal book out: War is hell, but coming home is even harder. Edward Kilsby, Lord Withycombe, flying ace and noted adventurer, has grown increasingly restless with civilian life. He seeks refuge from his depression and nightmares in adrenaline, and when that fails, in painful sex. Until his erstwhile fiancé blackmails him into making an arctic expedition. In the frozen wastes, Edward and his secretary, Charlie, work hard, facing the rigors of the climate and the lethal war machines they are testing. But no-one is prepared for what lies under the ice. … Read more
History holds some of best quirks, don’t you think? How rich is a world that has a fundraising event like this one: When ‘Womanless Weddings’ Were Trendy Definitions of marriage in America keep expanding, but for most of the country’s history, the word “wedding” has called to mind images of a woman in a white dress and a man in a black tuxedo. And traditionally, June was the most popular month to get hitched. So, there’s no better time to reminisce about a once-popular community ritual — still perhaps practiced occasionally — that would seem to be on the edge … Read more
Knowing the history of your genre gives you insight into how it’s viewed in the larger world. Why do publishers eschew works that push the boundaries? Which archetypes touch something in readers? Do you know your history well enough to shape the future of Science Fiction? Click here for a primer on LGBT themes in speculative fiction
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