Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Denise Dechene: What are your thoughts about sex in YA books (dealing with teens 15 and older) should there be sex on page or do you think it should be fade to black? This is always a tricky one. Let’s approach this with our usual (trademarked) QSF calm and collective reasoning. :) 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 reader topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: Who makes the decision whether a LGBT book or story is YA suitable or not? Is it the author or the publisher and do different publishers have different standards of what is suitable as far as depictions of sex in a LGBT YA rated story? It’s a good question. For instance, I’ve often heard that works with fade-to-black sex scenes… you know: “Christian took Skylar by the hand with a wicked grin. He pulled him down onto the bed as the door slowly closed behind them…” …are “suitable” for YA because there’s … Read more
QSFer Sandra C. Stixrude has a new sci fi book out: An inhabited planet is not what an interplanetary mining company hopes to find while in search of rare mineral deposits, but the low-tech natives should be won over by a few ‘miracles’, right? Emily Nandi, the mining company’s legally mandated xenologist, isn’t so sure. The planet’s social structures are complex, fascinating and frustrating – she advocates research and caution rather than the seat-of-the-pants first contact the company president wants. Investigator Shadow is convinced ghosts are watching him until a fellow investigator disappears, plucked from his harduk’s back without a … Read more
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Angel Martinez: Are we seeing the things we need to see? Recommendations and how spec fic can help. MM seems to be the dominant force in the LGBTIQA fiction market these days. But for young girls, especially girls who like girls, we ought to be encouraging more YA fiction. So what’s out there now that’s good in YA FF speculative fiction? And what would we like to see more of? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join … Read more
QSFer Jay Jordan Hawke has a new paranormal book out: What would you do for the boy you loved? What if to save him you had to abandon him forever? Fourteen-year-old Joshua Ishkoday faces an impossible decision as a terrifying dream sets him upon a thrilling and treacherous journey of self-exploration through the dangerous vastness of the Wisconsin northwoods. There, along with his best friends, Mokwa and Little Deer, Joshua summons the power to confront his greatest fears. To do so, all he has to do is trust in his dreams. Unfortunately, Joshua discovers that his dreams have been deceiving … Read more
QSFer Andrew Demcak has a new paranormal book out: Being different can be dangerous, and discovery can be deadly. High school freshman James Kerr is finding out he’s not quite like his classmates. Around the time he realizes he’s attracted to his best friend, Paul Schmitz, James starts channeling a dead writer’s poetry and also discovers he has an ability to manipulate energy—a super power. Before James can figure out why this is happening to him, tragedy strikes in the form of Paul’s abusive father, and James is sent to a government-run school, The Paragon Academy, which specializes in juvenile … Read more
We’re thrilled today to have a guest post from Cheryl Headford, the author of the new book Hostage: Anger is one of those things that both tear down and build up. Righteous anger can be the spur we need to get off our arses and DO something, while simmering cold anger can poison us and make us do things we never thought we would stoop to. Both kinds of anger appear in Hostage. Rowan’s anger is his driving force. It has lodged itself deep in his heart and colours everything he thinks and does. In particular it dominates his relationship … Read more
QSFer Steven dos Santos has a new paranormal book out: When Ultimate Evil engulfs the entire world, only Dagger can pierce the Darkness—even if the Apocalypse falls on a school night! Dagger Beaumont is a High School senior who’s been recruited by D.U.S.T. – a covert governmental organization dedicated to battling supernatural terrorism all over the globe. However, Dagger’s unresolved conflict over his missing brother could be his undoing, as he races around the world battling the Dark Reich, a diabolical organization on a quest to possess an ancient artifact and unleash a mystical plague to enslave humanity. If that … Read more
Today’s topic comes from QSFer Anastasia Vitsky: “Could we have a day devoted to YA?” I think it’s a great idea. While I haven’t written any yet myself, there’s a market for it. So here are my questions today – do you write or read LGBT YA sci fi, fantasy or paranormal books? If you’re an author in this genre, how have they been received? What sells and what doesn’t? Is it difficult navigating the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not in YA? And as a reader, what are some of the stand-out books you’ve read?