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Initially Yours, On Beyond Cisgender VI Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

Initially Yours: On Beyond Cisgender VI by Jeff Baker NOTE: This occasional series was inspired in 2019 by suggestion from A. M. Leibowitz about a reading list for High School beyond the straight, male paradigm. —jsb I am writing this during March 2023, which is Woman’s History Month. So here (a month or so late!) is a short overview of some (not all!) of the women who wrote sci-fi for the pulps and a little later. I fits in well with this ongoing series “On Beyond Cisgender” which started as recommendations for High School reading but these books are fine … Read more

“We’re Here” For a Best of the Year. New Yearly Anthology Series – Boogieman in Lavender

What would you have for your last meal? In Ann LeBlanc’s story “Twenty Thousand Last Meals on an Exploding Station,” an engineer on a doomed space station finds herself in a time loop and just has time to eat at a different one of the station’s thousands of restaurants before the end, an end which keeps repeating itself. This imaginative delicacy is just one of the delights in the 2021 edition of the new yearly anthology of Best Queer Speculative Fiction of the Year “We’re Here,” published by Neon Hemlock Press. The series stands as a fine replacement for Lethe … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender: Ban This Book!!!!! (Now That I Have Your Attention…)

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: I had planned on running something for Halloween (in fact had it already been written.) But disturbing trends call for something else for this, the October of our discontent. October is in the air. Halloween, falling leaves, football. And book bans and challenges are roaring into high gear. A decade or so ago, Conservative talk radio would grumble about “The American Library Association and their Banned Book Week,” claiming that “no books are being banned” even as they slyly attempted to remove books from libraries and bookstores. Now, with more conservative-friendly judges and organizations energized we see supposed … Read more

That Thing I Just Read

That Thing I Just Read

Welcome to “That Thing I Just Read (TTIJR) day on Queer Sci Fi. PLEASE MAKE THIS ITS OWN POST, NOT A COMMENT ON THIS ONE. a) share the great queer spec fic (sci fi, fantasy, horror, or paranormal) book you just read, and why you loved it so… b) ask for queer spec fic book recommendations. Please follow these guidelines: Make it a stand-alone post, not a comment on this post Do not promo your own books Please do not share negative posts/reviews. This is about sharing books we loved. If you have any questions, message any of our admins … Read more

for readers and writers: characters with disabilities

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FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: Readers: who are some of your favorite characters with disabilities in speculative fiction, and why? Writers: what have you written? Writers: This is a reader/writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Chat on FacebookChat on MeWe

For Readers: The Politics of Writing

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FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Scott: Without mentioning names, how political (or not) do you want writers to be? Is it important that they share your overall values? Or do you wish they’d keep their views private? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Chat on FacebookChat on MeWe

For Readers: Let’s Make a Mash-Up

Mash-Up - Star Wars and Sound of Music

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Scott: Something fun today. Take one of your favorite spec fic shows or films and mash it up with something else. Tell us the basic plot, and give it a name. Go! Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Chat on FacebookChat on MeWe

For Readers & Writers: Spec Fic Podcasts

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FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: What are your favorite spec fic podcasts, queer or otherwise? Writers: This is a reader/writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Chat on FacebookChat on MeWe