Here’s the big question in writing LGBT fiction; what makes a story “gay?” Gay characters? Gay themes? And how does an author identify a character as gay? This has, I realize, been talked about before. Two obvious ways are number one, the “coming out” story, which as a literary device has been done to death and is somewhat out of fashion right now. Number two; simply have your main character make out/hop in the sack with a same sex character. This sometimes takes the whole thing into the realm of erotica, something I don’t write very well at all. Then … Read more
Especially in this day and age, science is pretty damned expensive. For a long time, science was a hobby for royalty and the wealthy, unattainable to most of the lower classes of society. Even after the industrial revolution most couldn’t afford to science unless they has some kind of access to lab equipment. And even in the age of cheap products and hi-tech, innovative techniques, much less actual science, can cost a pretty penny to start up. Like the 3D printer needed for this idea. But the world of science is changing. Same as other aspects, the equipment needed is … Read more
Elon Musk talked about something interesting recently, which is not surprising at any given time. Musk’s ideas border on hard science fiction more often than not. But in this instance, he was stating a mere fact. Eventually, humanity is going to end up more machine than man. Me personally, I think it will be pretty damned cool. Sort of like Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies books without the over-emphasized idea of beauty or terrorists that started that entire world-building scenario off. I could download a complete manuscript from my brain onto the Net without the whole hassle of publishers, editors, and artists … Read more
This month, my husband and I make our yearly visit to DunDraCon. It’s one of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States. You can find all kinds of games there. Card games. Board games. Games with miniatures. Along with my personal old addiction, roleplaying games. I’ll never forget the moment I found ‘Vampire: the Masquerade’ on a shelf at Game a Lot in Santa Cruz, California. I’d played in a few RPGs before, but that particular book seemed to have been written just for me and for players like me. Creating a character in that universe would be like … Read more
Trickster gods occur in many cultures and often demonstrate a certain gender and/or sexual fluidity. For today’s post I will concentrate on one: Norse trickster Loki.
Loki practices forms of magic which, in Norse culture, mark him as effeminate. He’s also a gender-bending shapeshifter, as demonstrated in the following tale….
“Transcendent,” edited by K.M. Szpara, is the latest “Best Of” collection from Lethe Press. The question arises, would there be enough Transgender-related speculative fiction for a full anthology, let alone an annual series? The answer, judging from the fifteen stories assembled here, is “yes.” The stories display a surprising variety, never straying from Trans characters, (some not obvious) or themes. Transformation is an obvious recurring motif in the stories but when it occurs, it is often in subtle and startlingly different, and entertaining ways. “The Librarian’s Dilemma,” by E. Saxey, features a group “seeding” an archive, The Hairad Collection, which … Read more
Something pretty awesome happened a couple of weeks ago. Well, it started with something very bad, and led to awesome. And I never thought I’d see the day. Donald Trump gagged scientists working for the government. I don’t mean he put a hold on any official statements from departments that did scientific research until he could get a handle on what was going on n those areas. I mean he gagged the individual scientists. That’s the bad part. Ordering scientists to without information, especially when it’s taxpayer funded data, is unprecedented in this country to my knowledge. But a few … Read more
A rather alarming, but interesting development has occurred in the realms of environmental science and policy. One of humanity’s greatest fellow travelers has earned its place on the endangered species list. Meet the Bombus Affinis, better know as the rusty patched bumblebee. Despite the fact that bee stings are so fatal to my mom, I love bees. They’re strong, organized, focused and peaceful. Bees are yet another necessary part of existence continuing on this planet. And they are dying. Without bees, the world, humanity not the least of it, would be in dire straights. Our little fellow terrestrials are the … Read more
We hear a lot about the male gaze in the arts, but what about the female gaze, especially when it comes to MM fiction?
It is no secret that women make up a high percentage of gay romance writers and readers. I, myself, number among them. The question I thought I’d raise today is what influence this prevalence of women has upon the genre. Does it even affect it at all?
Gaying The Story Up; or “Keep It Light, Keep It Bright, Keep It Gay.” by Jeff Baker I’ve done it. At least I’ve tried it. Taking a story I’ve written and making it appealing to an LGBT market by inserting a gay theme or character or making a character gay. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. There was a riff on the superhero genre I wrote about ten years ago. Couldn’t sell it, and then I saw a market for an LGBT-themed anthology. So, I tweaked the story a little, made one of the characters in the … Read more