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Columnists

Boogieman In Lavender: Working In The Slush Factory

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Jeff Baker

This is for writers and more importantly, for those people who want to be writers. There is an inescapable reality to anyone who writes and puts their work out into the market. That part is simply; it might not sell. A lot of times, on average, it will not sell. At least not at first. Every writer deals with rejection. Usually in a form letter or e-mail, sometimes with a more personal mention of your work; maybe even encouragement (“Please let us see more of your work.”) or criticism. (“Way too wordy.”) This is all part of the writer’s life, … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: RA

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That picture, the one of the cat lounging on a desk, set as the featured picture? That’s the God!Cat Ra, who shares my home. And I say shares because it’s common knowledge that no one really owns a cat, unlike dogs. Although I don’t think I really own the God!Dog Anubis, who also shares my home. But this furry paperweight inspired me to figure out why humans originally came to associate, and worship, and then keep cats. Now back when we migrated from place to place with wooden spears and baskets looking for food along migration paths, dogs were our … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Compress

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In the grand scheme of world building, nothing is more difficult than details. How does that console work, what is that weapon made of, why does magic work that way? All the little bits an author needs to know, even if the reader doesn’t. Times like these, however, far removed from Heinlein’s guesses at what technology would even look like far in the future, we sci-fi authors kind of have a leg up from authors of old. Our tech and science jump exponentially every couple of years and new stuff is discovered almost daily. Take the newly made compressed glassy … Read more

Torso

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Above is a picture I’ve took at the Capitoline Museum. This statue seemed the embodiment of classical male beauty. It’s one of the reasons I’ve used it as substitute for cover art in any posts relating to ‘Aissa and Polyxena’. Never mind my Work In Progress is about cross driving. Like many a writer and reader in the MM genre, I’ve been captivated by the male torso. I’ve seen a lot of bare male torsos on your covers. Some are slimmer and more classical. Some are broader. Some have a softness to the ripped abs. Some are unabashedly hard. This … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender Review: Heiresses of Russ

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Jeff Baker

The story was that some people had learned to read again.—-line from “The Tip of the Tongue” by Felicia Davin. That most conventional of female archetypes, the bride, figures in several of the unconventional stories in “Heiresses of Russ,” the 2016 edition of the best Lesbian speculative fiction of the year, edited by A. M. Dellamonica and Steve Berman and published by Lethe Press. Leading off is the first of several award nominees, (Nebula nominee, shortlisted for the Hugo and Tiptree awards) “Grandmother-Nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds,” by Rose Lemberg. A story of gender fluidity, magic and deepnames where men and … Read more

Angel’s Bits Redux – Flash Fiction Roundup

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Renewal

Hey, QSF’ers! A special return of Angel’s Bits this week to recap and take a sift through what we saw in this year’s competition. When we started the Flash Fiction contest, it was on a lark. Oh, hey! This will be fun! We received 15 entries and gave out some prizes. Yay! The second year, we decided it would be cool to do a book. What were we thinking? But we received 115 entries that year, enough for a respectable book, and with the help of the MCB folks, there was indeed one. Discovery. The third year? We thought – … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Boundless

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Today, I feel a little like the Ancient One explaining spellwork to Doctor Strange. I love that scene. It’s the essence of today’s post, one that sprang from a very interesting article that I never expected to see. I’m, of course, talking about mind over matter. Anyone who has ever encountered quantum theory in their work knows, at least tangentially, about the Bell Test. It’s used to measure quantum particles and see if the measurement of one particle coincides with the other particle. Einstein called it the spooky theory. Recently, theoretical physicist Lucien Hardy came up with the idea to … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Overload

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To quote one of the science articles I found on this week’s topic: “Biology is really one big horror story.” And some of the links you find herein are pretty damn creepy, too. From the voodoo Queens of New Orleans to the always classic Night of the Living Dead, zombies are a science fiction and horror staple. And I know what you’re going to say. “Tabitha, what do zombies have to do with science? Because that’s crazy talk.” That is sorta true, after a fashion. It depends on what part of science one looks at. Shambling, rotting, undead husks of … Read more

Asta’s Annotations: Epithets (Editing Tip for Authors)

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Today I am wearing my editor hat and talking to the QSF authors out there (although readers may also find the discussion of interest). The topic I would like to discuss is the issue of epithets. This is something I see from authors across genres; however, it tends to be prevalent in LGBT fiction, no doubt because authors are trying to accommodate for the fact that they often have two leads of the same gender, between whom they need to differentiate.

Perhaps some of you are thinking, “What’s an epithet?”

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Jeff Baker: Boogieman In Lavender: “Oh, The Horror!”

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horror - pixabay

Call it dread, terror, fright or the heebie-jeebies, all beings know fear. The universality of this emotion may partly explain the popularity of the genre, a popularity that stretches back way before Stephen king or Clive Barker. Even before Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” over 200 years ago. Back maybe to the days of caves and early Man huddled in groups around a fire listening to tales that thrill. LGBT readers (and viewers) are no strangers to the appeal of fear. One might immediately assume we have a special set of fears; being outed. Public stigma and discrimination from being out. The … Read more