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#OWNVOICES: Intersex Authors

Ownvoices Intersex

We’re starting a new thing on Saturdays on the QSF Facebook group – #ownvoices. Each week, we’ll feature a different group of writers who don’t get the attention they should. Today, we’re featuring authors who are intersex and who write intersex characters in speculative fiction. #ownvoices If you’re an intersex author, tell us about yourself, your experiences as an author, and the spec fic books you write (especially those with intersex characters – with links, please). If you’re not, you can still participate – share your favorite intersex authors and their spec fic works that include intersex characters. Note: This … Read more

GUEST POST/GIVEAWAY: A Tangled Legacy, by Mickie B. Ashling

Tangled Legacy

QSFer Mickie B. Ashling has a new MM / intersex / bisexual fantasy book out: A Tangled Legacy. Prince Colin of Sendorra would have been the spare instead of the heir if fate hadn’t intervened. Like his father and forefathers, Colin is expected to marry and father a child or his principality reverts to Spain at the time of his death. Filling the royal nursery with healthy babies seems easy enough until Princess Charlotte—his childhood friend and intended bride—breaks off their engagement. Nobel Prize winner—and powerful gray witch—Alain de Gris isn’t looking for love. Science and research have taken center … Read more

FOR READERS: Your Favorite Intersex Characters

Intersex Flag

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: We focus a lot on the gay and lesbian sides of queer speculative fiction. But how about intersex characters? Spec fic provides a fertile playground to explore all kinds of identities, and intersex characters are no exception. Sometimes they are done really well, and sometimes… Let’s focus on the good portrayals. What are your favorite speculative fiction stories with intersex characters? 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

10 AM Pacific: Intersex Presentation by Cody Kennedy

Intersex

We have a great event today – QSFer Cody Kennedy has put together a great two hour presentation on what being Intersex is and what it isn’t: Cody will share with you what intersex is; what intersex is NOT; how one becomes intersexed; how many types of intersex combinations exist; the difference between organs and glands, and internal and external organs; what it means to live as an intersex person; commentary on surgery; intersex rights and where the law remains gray. The presentation will last approximately two hours and will include a Q&A session. Sign up here: https://www.facebook.com/events/497658957275736/ The discussion … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT/GUEST POST: Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, by L.M. Pierce

Trans Liberty Riot Brigade

L.M. Pierce has a new genderqueer ace/aro sci fi book out: Andi knows being born an intersex “Transgressor” and then choosing to stay that way can have lethal consequences. After all, surgical assignment is mandated by law. But she ain’t going to spend her life hiding from the Society, hooked on Flow, and wanking tourists just to make a few bucks. She’s a member of the Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, an underground faction of Transgressors resisting the government’s war on their illegal genitalia. But it’s not enough to tag their messages on shithouse walls and sniff down the next high. … Read more

For Writers: Writing Non Binary

Gender

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: John suggested that we talk about writing non binary characters. So often in fiction, we’re stuck on the idea that characters are either male or female – that they fit into society’s traditional gender worldview. Even with transgender characters, there’s often an expectation that they are “really” one or another – male or female – and are on a journey to physically become their real gender. But that leaves out a whole bunch of people, including folks who are intersex, transgender people who do not fully transition, and gender fluid … Read more

For Readers: Metaphorically Queer

X-Men

For Readers: Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Andrew Kelley: I know that there are several Sci-fi movies and books that weren’t specifically LGBT themes and didn’t even make mention of any LGBT issues that I strongly identified with and really moved me. Even though I don’t think the author/director/screenwriter meant it to be an analogy it still could have been. Are there movies/ books that others felt this way about as well? 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

Man Tries to Kill His Intersex Child

A Chinese man has been arrested for trying to kill his newborn baby three times with the help of the child’s grandfather. According to the Deccan Chronicle, the father has been detained while the grandfather was released pending trial. “We thought we would have a girl. But soon we were told the ‘girl’ is actually a boy, with an atrophic sex organ. We panicked and got concerned,” the child’s mother, Yang Xiaoqing, told the newspaper. She said the father tried to kill the baby because “he is neither a boy nor a girl”, but a “monster.” The man tried to … Read more

Categorizing Our Books

Book categories

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer ‘Nathan Smith: How do we walk the fine line between categorizing books as readers (or writers) in order to challenge the industry to be more representative? A novel with gay characters is often listed as gay (or, m/m) primarily, and discussed that way, even if it’s a science fiction or fantasy or romance or mystery. In SF we have a bit more leeway and I feel like we’ve made a bit more progress than other genres, but even then: if the book involves LGBTQ characters, it’ll be very much treated as a queer book–which … Read more