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Boogieman in Lavender

Jeff Baker; Boogieman in Lavender. Brown Grass.

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Brown Grass By Jeff Baker A lot of things make me nostalgic this time of year, especially since I outlived my immediate family. I have some distant cousins I rarely see and some found family that I talked about in last December’s column. https://www.queerscifi.com/jeff-baker-boogieman-in-lavender-found-family/ All of them have been hugely supportive. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I live in Kansas. Driving from one town to the other involves covering a lot of ground, usually on the highway. Lots of farmland and a lot of grass by the roadside. In spring and summer that grass ought to … Read more

“Now What?” —-Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender.

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Election Night I wrote a very angry, very scared, very depressed version of this column. Apparently a lot of voters voted against their own self-interest and against society’s. Events like confidential documents probably shared with our country’s enemies and the attempted overthrow of an election in January 2021 have sunk down the collective memory hole of the American people. I’m upset, I’m depressed and I’m angry. All at people who should know better. People who voted and will probably be surprised at a tide of vengeance coming from the White House next year. People who voted for a guy who … Read more

“We Mostly Come Out At Night.” On Beyond Cisgender IX. – Boogieman In Lavender

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For this ninth (!!!) installment of the column’s occasional feature “On Beyond Cisgender,” we go into a recent YA anthology perfect for the Halloween Season. This feature is about books recommended for High School readers that go beyond the usual “white, male, cisgender paradigm,” an idea suggested by Amy Liebowitz, (thanks very much!) several years ago. “We Mostly Come Out At Night,” edited by Rob Costello, published by Running Press Teens, Hatchette Book Group in 2024 https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rob-costello/we-mostly-come-out-at-night/9780762483198/ features “15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels and Other Creatures,” to quote the cover blurb. Stories range from variants on a classic fairy … Read more

Looking At A Few Books (Yes, Just Looking!) Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender

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Looking At A Few Books (Yes, Just Looking) by Jeff Baker Not much this month. Just a glance over and recommendation of a few LGBT themed books that have come my way. And full disclosure, I have not actually read all of them, mainly the anthologies I just got in the mail. (I will post links, although I have no affiliation with the books themselves.) First off I just received series editor Charles Payseur’s “We’re Here; the Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2022,” from Neon Hemlock Press. https://www.neonhemlock.com/books This edition edited by Naomi Kanakia and released in 2023. This is the … Read more

For Representation Dial Yukon 2-8209 – Boogieman In Lavender

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This month, two examples of LGBT representation in forgotten places. And I must be intentionally vague about the first one. Fritz Leiber’s short-story “The Two Best Thieves In Lankhmar” (published in 1968) features his classic fantasy swordsmen Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser who are again their own worst enemies as well as best friends. They have acquired a stash of jewels they are trying to sell but things (of course) go awry. Set in Leiber’s fantasy world of Lankhmar the story does feature some LGBT characters but if I revealed more it would give away the story’s surprises, and the … Read more

Afternoon @ Sac Pride; Or, When J. Scott Met J. Scott And J. Scott – Boogieman In Lavender.

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L to R: Mark Marco Guzman, Jeff Baker, J. Scott Coatsworth Afternoon at Sac Pride; or When J. Scott Met J. Scott and J. Scott by J. Scott Ba…I mean, Jeff Baker He also met David Gerrold once, but has not met J. Scott Coatsworth yet. —-from Author Bio for “Random Notes,” QSF Column by Jeff Baker, March 12, 2020 I went out (drove, actually!) to San Francisco, California in June and one of the reasons I took the car was to do a few things I had wanted to do for a while. Check out a few places in … Read more

The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender

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The Only Thing We Have To Fear… by Jeff Baker NOTE: I usually post this around the 13th of the month, but I may be away from the keyboard for a couple of weeks. So I’m posting this way early! —-jeff “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” — Franklin D. Roosevelt “High Ang—Ziety!” —– Mel Brooks I think I have anxiety issues. This has taken me decades to realize. I’ve always been apprehensive about doing things. Always. I’ve joked for years that I was afraid of pretty much everything, which to some degree may be true. … Read more

Nite Owl – Boogieman In Lavender

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I keep some odd hours. Part of this comes from the delivery jobs I had for about twenty-five years. There were some days I had to get up at four in the morning to get to the warehouse and start my run. The advantage was that some days I would be getting off work in the early afternoon when a lot of the nine-to-five workers would still be on the job. Of course, the disadvantage was that I would have to go to bed around nine at night to get enough sleep. During those delivery days I kept a spiral-bound … Read more

Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender. Broken Metropolis. On Beyond Cisgender VIII

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QSF Broken Metropolis; On Beyond Cisgender VII by Jeff Baker AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the latest installment of this column’s occasional feature “On Beyond Cisgender,” recommending books written by or that feature people beyond the “Old Dead White Cis Hetero Male Literature Canon.” It was suggested by A. M. (Amy) Leibowitz who was lamenting the choices of books for High School reading. I’ve been doing this feature since October of 2018 and it is even more important in an era of censorship and book banning. So, here’s the latest installment.—-jeff Queer-themed anthologies of science fiction and fantasy, while not dominating … Read more

In Deep Mudd. Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender

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“I’m a doctor, not a T.V. tie-in writer.”—-anon. Recently, I viewed the last, nearly-forgotten episode of the original “Star Trek,” from 1978. Sort of. At least, I consider it an episode. But first, some background is in order. In the era before You Tube, streaming, DVDs or even VCR tapes there were precious few ways for rabid fans to relive their favorite T. V. shows or movies. For fans of Gene Roddenberry’s classic, the original “Star Trek,” one way was through a series of paperback novelizations featuring adaptions of the original episodes as short stories. These books, which were bestsellers, … Read more