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Angel’s Bits – Those check boxes on the contract

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Hi all! For today’s Bits, I wanted to talk a teensy bit about book formats and media. In the past couple of years, I’ve seen more publishers going for a “check box” type of contract where the formats are listed and the ones included in the specific contract are checked off. So what are all these things? eBook Self explanatory, up to a point, but you should know what formats your publisher offers and where they distribute. PDF, epub, mobi and html are the most common (mobi is the Kindle format, though most Kindles now can handle multiple formats with … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Caravaggio’s ‘John the Baptist’

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I just got a real treat last month. I went to Rome and saw my favorite Caravaggio painting in person; ‘John the Baptist’. This playful, ethereal boy is so different than the martyr, the severed head in other versions of John the Baptist. This is also very different from the two other paintings Caravaggio has done of ‘John the Baptist’, which are also in Rome. No shadow of death or despair touches this boy. He teases playfully, as he smiles coyly at us from a veneer of cloth, which enhances his nudity rather than concealing it. What is he subtly … Read more

We Already Invented the Wheel. Where the Boys Aren’t Part 2. After Stonewall

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John Allenson

The first part of discussing the herstory of all women cultures went from the early 20th century up to 1970.  Several people remarked that there hadn’t been queer-positive stories.  We’ve forgotten that part of our heritage when it was virtually impossible to publish positive images of Queer lives.  Many countries had (and still have) laws that forbid positive depictions of so-called alternative lifestyles.  To have any depiction of Lesbian lives it was necessary to have a tragic ending.  It was shocking to have a Lesbian still alive at the end of a story as in The Killing of Sister George.  … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Sun Synchronous

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My all time favorite trope of fiction is the Grand Quest. Always has been, always will be. Oddly enough, it’s a hard to find the Grand Quest in its true form when it comes to science fiction. Part of the reason for that is, usually, authors come at disasters in science fiction as either a race against time to fix what’s happening, or attempting to find a solution to the new reality in a way that makes life closer to the old reality. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great reading and I have a great time doing so. But there … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Sites for SF Writers?

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Hi all! This is going to be a short one because…you’ll see. Someone raised the question this week (forgive me, I don’t remember if it was on QSF or out in the FB-galaxy or how exactly the question was worded) about the best websites for science fiction writers. As so often happens when faced with such a broad question, my forehead kinda crinkled and I said to the screen: It depends. Scott hates when I say that. But it really does. When we write science fiction, we should be, in one respect or another, concerned about the science. That could … Read more

Asta’s Annotations: How to Make Your Editor (and Yourself) Happy

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Asta's AnnotationsGreetings! My name is Asta, and welcome to my new column Asta’s Annotations.

Since this is my first time posting, allow me to introduce my column and myself. I am a published author of both mainstream (Nicki J. Markus) and LGBT (Asta Idonea) fiction. I am also a qualified freelance editor, working mainly on LGBT manuscripts. I’ll be posting a monthly column at Queer Sci-Fi in which I’ll cover a range of topics. However, my primary focus will be on tips and tricks for writers and style discussions. Wearing my editor hat, I’ll also offer some advice on preparing your manuscript/submission, and that’s where I thought I’d start today. All my posts will draw on my personal experience. It may be that my tips won’t suit everyone, but even if they aren’t for you, I hope they’ll offer a springboard to help you find your personal style and preference. So, without further ado….

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Jeff Baker—Boogieman In Lavender

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Jeff Baker

The Better Part of Wisdom The Better Part of Wisdom By Jeff Baker   In contrast to a lot of other science fiction writers, Ray Bradbury wrote no gay-themed science fiction, no fantasy stories with gay characters. But the author of “The Martian Chronicles” did write at least one story with openly gay characters, and while it has no elements of science fiction it is worth taking a closer look at. In “The Better Part of Wisdom,” we are introduced to Tom and Frank in their cozy apartment, one happily using the other’s lap as a pillow, when they are … Read more

Ayres and Graces: Introduction

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Before we get started, please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Bran L. Ayres, I’m a 38-year-old non-binary writer and parent of three young nerdlings. I’ve had an intense relationship with science fiction and fantasy since I was very young. I started writing seriously in high school and after years of playing about I got serious and published my first sci-fi novel. Since then I’ve written a steampunk novel and short stories along with fanfiction and various articles. NOTE: Throughout this column I will use the acronym MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments and Intersex) as I feel it is a more … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Mainstreaming

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Hi all! We talk a lot ( a LOT) about mainstreaming queer spec fic in this group (and in the queer writing community at large) but what do we mean when we say that? Granted, it seems to mean different things to different writers, but the goal is the same: getting queer fiction out of the small, niche audiences (sometimes referred to as literary “ghettos”) and out to a larger reading population. Sometimes, authors are referring specifically to moving away from the erotic or even romance aspects of stories. Sometimes, they mean breaking into the big venues and the big … Read more

We Already Invented the Wheel. Where the Boys Aren’t – Part 1.

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John Allenson

When I started thinking of the topic of women only societies I quickly realized that I perceived of two separate types of story under the same label of ‘Lesbian Utopia’.  While there is a LOT of overlap in the way people have written about societies where a group of women have separated from the mainstream mixed society, (Amazons,) and single-sex worlds I’ve decided to treat the two as separate topics. After all, it’s not as if we talk way too much about women.  I’ll talk about Warrior Women in a later article dedicated to her history.  There is enough information … Read more