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Magic in the Everyday World

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For today’s column on writing and reading LGBT Fantasy, I thought I’d go in a little bit different direction. Most of our previous discussions have focused on high fantasy – elves and dwarves in the tradition of Tolkien or epic fantasies like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, or the idea of Faery and its interaction with the real world. But what about stories that dip their toes into the fantasy pool, but in a more subtle way? These stories are often called “magical realism”, and can involve a touch of the supernatural, the unexplained, or simply something a little outside … Read more

“Cuttlefish Shifter Gangbang”

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Cindy Wang over at Dot429 dips her toe into shifter world: It’s no secret that the genre of supernatural fiction, especially supernatural romance, has thrived in recent years. Shapeshifters–generally werewolves–are a magnet for fan fascination. Shows like MTV’s Teen Wolf (somehow) continue to be successful, and even vampire-centric franchises such as True Blood and Twilight have a strong werewolf contingent. So, it’s also no surprise that some stories have stretched the shapeshifter fad to include all sorts of creatures. (Well, the cuttlefish were a surprise.)… And now, as promised, the gay cuttlefish porn. I’m not sure if these title puns … Read more

New From MLR Press: Crossing Over, by Christopher Riley

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Crossing Over will take you on a powerful and intensely erotic journey through the sacrifices a man must make to find unconditional love. Across the span of twenty centuries, Jovian’s fiery passion for integrity captures the attention of the evil Titus, who converts Jovian to a vampire so that he may covet him for the rest of time. When Titus’ affections go unrequited he is driven to torture Jovian, influencing events in history all along the way. The love triangle between Titus, Jovian and his drug addled boyfriend brims with the trials and tribulations of immortal life, virtue, rebirth, and … Read more

Living in a Warming World

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Okay, I know this often brings up a lot of angst – the idea that humans living on this planet have created conditions that could lead to run away climate change. The science is almost 100% unified on this issue – it’s our politics that is still catching up. Still, we’ve seen a number of recent weather events that, if not caused by climate change, has likely been exacerbated by it. Just this week, I read a story about a hurricane threatening Los Angeles. Not as a direct hit, but by the giant waves it was stirring up out in … Read more

I’m Just a Regular Guy (In a Wolf’s Body)

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I’m wrapping up a short story about spaceman and wolf shifters, and one of the things that’s come up during the writing of the story is how wolves (or at least shifter wolves) think and act while they are in Wolf mode versus how they think and act in human mode. For instance, in some shifter stories the human mind is entirely subsumed by the Wolf mind, and the shifter acts entirely is an animal, or almost entirely, when in Wolf mode. In other stories, the Wolf is essentially a human in wolf form. And of course there are all … Read more

Review: City of Monsters by Andrea Speed

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Another ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords.com review (crosspost)   Rating: 4 stars out of 5 Hunter Burrows used to be an insurance investigator on Earth. But something happened 6 months ago and Hunter ended up a shifter of unknown species who was transported to Nightshade, a literal city of monsters in a near-Earth dimension called Dev. Nightshade is filled with vampires, weres of all types, zombies, reverse tooth fairies, and yes, even Yetis. Left somewhat amnesiac by the transition between dimensions, Hunter learns that having a job is high priority and becomes a finder for a fee. Since Hunter doesn’t know what type of … Read more

Dorchester Gay Pride Parade Has Sci Fi Theme

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HUNDREDS of supporters came out in force to celebrate this year’s Love Parade. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their supporters took to the streets of Dorchester to march in the parade, which had a sci-fi theme this year. The parade, which was launched in 2009, is a celebration of love and acceptance and has been increasing in size each year since it began. The march began at the town pump and ended at Maumbury Rings where celebrations continued with live music and comedy acts. Organiser Chris Kendrick said: “The parade went really well. We went with a Star … Read more

Writing in Another Land

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Okay, so we’ve talked about writing a different kind of person than you actually are – maybe you’re a straight woman writing gay romance. Or maybe you’re a gay man writing a transgender character. Or someone in Iceland trying to imagine the experience of someone in South Africa. That last one gets to today’s point. There’s an old adage – “write what you know.” But so often, we are challenged to write things and places that we don’t know it all, especially in science fiction, fantasy and paranormal. And these often require research to get the details right. Recently I … Read more

Straight Women Love Gay Porn

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OK, so it’s not specifically sci fi, gay or fantasy, but this caught our eye since such a large proportion of both writers and readers of MM romance are women: In 2001, Salon received the equivalent of a Dear Abby letter from a straight women confessing, “[Gay porn] turns me on like no heterosexual porn ever has. What’s up with that? Am I a freak?” In response, writer Tracy Clark-Flory recounted her experience co-judging the Air Sex Championships, during which the all-female panel of judges was often “recoiling in disgust.” That is, until a man unexpectedly and vigorously began reenacting … Read more

How True Blood Became a Paranormal Allegory for Gay Rights

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In 2000, Alan Ball, a TV writer who’d worked on Grace Under Fire and Cybill, hit the jackpot. American Beauty–a satirical melodrama he’d written about the suffering, brutalizing, twisted soul of the suburbs–won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Sam Mendes), and Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), which is not too shabby for a movie that was originally turned down by Chevy Chase. Ball, whose script had already earned him a Golden Globe, took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The 43-year-old Ball found himself turned overnight into a very hot property. In an earlier era, this would … Read more