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Readers

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

For Readers: The Uncanny Valley

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Uncanny Valley

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Aidee Ladnier: Why aren’t there more depictions of the uncanny valley? Do we really want AI and robots that we can’t distinguish from humans? OK, there are a couple ideas here, so let me unpack this a little. For those who are unaware, the “uncanny valley” is an idea of robotics professor Masahiro Mori. Basically, people can feel an affinity for robots that are not too human. But there comes a point where a robot approaches humanlike appearance, movement, etc, but is not quite there, that becomes quite disturbing. Wikipedia describes it this way: … Read more

For Readers: Reading in 3D

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Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Marie Brown: What makes a fictional world come alive for you? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

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

For Readers: Non Binary Gender

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Non Binary genders

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: What books do you like where masculinity/femininity, etc. is portrayed as a continuum, avoiding monoliths, and acknowledging class difference that cause those who occupy those spaces to view those outsides of them as “more” or “less?” How does that affect your view of characters who aspire, covet, or fetishize those other characters who live on the other side of their continuum? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

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

For Readers: Branching Out

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Tree

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Ryane Chatman: “What inspires you to branch out?” Let’s expand on this a bit. I read pretty much ONLY sci fi and fantasy, so you’d have to wave a pretty big carrot in front of me to get me out of my rut and into something else. What do you read, mainly? And what would it take to entice you to pick up a different genre? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

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

For Readers: When is It Queer?

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Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Paula Wyant: How much does a character’s sexuality have to feature explicitly in a story for it to fall into the LGBTQUIA category? Do they have to be a relationship? Does the relationship have to be the central focus to the story? It’s a good question. We had this one at a Rainbow Con panel last year, from an audience member. For me, the simple fact that the protagonist is queer is enough, and introduces subtle changes throughout a story. But what do y’all think? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are … Read more

Angel’s Bits – Genre Bits and Pieces

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One of the biggest issues we watch authors obsess and fuss over these days is genre. What genre is this? Should I call it that? How many genres can a thing be? So why do we have genres in the first place? Who did this horrible thing to us? The short answer is the Ancient Greeks. Isn’t it always? Seriously, this is where it all started when the Greeks started to divide things into poetry and drama, into tragedy and comedy, epic poetry, lyric poetry and love poetry. (Seriously, there are three separate muses to handle poetry.) Modern genres start … Read more