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For Readers: Making the Dish

pasta

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFers Hank T Cannon and John Allenson: Have you every read a fantasy etc where food descriptions are a significant part of the story and then tried to make the dish or an approximation? For example: https://hobbitmeals.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/hobbit-recipes/ 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: Why Do You Read?

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Denise Dechene: Why do you read? For pleasure, research, for escape, ideas? 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

Asta’s Annotations: The Death of Punctuation, or the Decline of the Reader?

Anyone who knows me well will know semicolons are punctuation marks about which my views are passionate. Unfortunately, many digital/small publishing houses do not appear to agree. Notes from editors frequently come through to me with requests to remove all (or at least some) of my semicolons since they are ‘specialised punctuation’. My response to this (in my head) is to ask: Since when? Now, this column is by no means intended as a rant against any publishers or fellow editors; I merely use it to illustrate a point. I fully accept that each publishing house has its own preferences, … Read more

For Readers: Branching Out

Tree

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Ryane Chatman: “What inspires you to branch out?” Let’s expand on this a bit. I read pretty much ONLY sci fi and fantasy, so you’d have to wave a pretty big carrot in front of me to get me out of my rut and into something else. What do you read, mainly? And what would it take to entice you to pick up a different genre? 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: Plugged In

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: Do you listen to music while reading? If so, do you have different songs/artists for different moods or genres? 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: Where Do You Read?

reading

We all have our own favorite places to cozy up with a good book (or our kindle, or iPad, or whatever you like to read on) For some of us, it’s outside. Others prefer a cozy bed, or a warm spot by the fire on a rainy winter evening. So where do you read? In bed? In the line at the Post office? Under your favorite tree? Wherever you can? 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

Opinion: What Will Happen to Our LGBT Literature?

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

Discussion: How Do You Read?

book review

We’re always talking about writing, and plots, and characters, and genres. Today I thought we’l look at the other end. How about for reading – do you use a kindle or other e reader that lets you read the same book on different devices in different places? Are you still an old-school reader who prefers paper? And where does technology take the book in 5 – 10 – 20 – 50 years? Come join the discussion

Discussion: Last Book You Read

Books

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames: Name the last LGBT SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal book you read (name and author) and give the tags you would assign it. You don’t have to say if you loved it or hated it (don’t want to make authors feel bad) but will be interesting to see what kind of books we’re all reading. Vamps? Dragons? Aliens? BDSM? For me, I’m in the middle of three: The Caphenon, by Fletcher Delancey – a sci fi story about the arrival of a group of strangers in a mysterious craft, so sci fi, LGBT, lesbian, outer space. Lore … Read more