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Genres

Undiscovered Places

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Alicia Nordwell: “A lot of ancient cultures came up with stories to explain natural phenomena with mythical reasonings. Science had explanations for many unknowns from the past, but what about the places in the world we still dare not go? Deep inside volcanoes, the Marianas Trench, the center of the world? Many authors of the past have written fantastical stories creating whole new worlds inside the one we think we know… but what do you think is hiding in the mysterious beyonds?” We’ve mapped the whole world, so hidden places are pretty few and far … Read more

“There Will be Phlogiston” by Alexis Hall

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Note: Someone in QSF Discussions told me about this book – I forget who – but I wanted to thank them.  I had no idea what I was getting into before I stepped into it, except I think we were discussing bisexual characters, and so everything was a pleasant surprise. This is a MMF Steampunk Novella, and I should note that this is #5 in a series.  I didn’t know that before I started it, but I didn’t find that to be a problem either, because it’s an origin story of sorts, our of bad assed trio. The backdrop is … Read more

Announcement: Black Dog Blues, by Rhys Ford

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DSP has a new urban fantasy out from Rhys Ford: Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears. It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin … Read more

Worldbuilding – Drawing Your World

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Over at WorldBuildingSchool.com this last week, they had a great post on drawing your own worlds: Being able to represent land on a map is a key skill required by any cartographer. So this tutorial will show you exactly how to draw land. Genesis 1:6 states “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” (NIV) Just as our real world requires dry land for land dwellers to live so too do our fantasy worlds. Though dry land is not something a fictional world must have, as films like Waterworld prove, however, for … Read more

Announcement: Fissures, by DJ Manly

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DJ Manly has a new paranormal book out with Amber Allure in the Spectrum Skies series: All hell is breaking loose–literally–as rogue vampires, believing humans and vampires should not dwell together, call on demons to help them in their deadly crusades. Just as Pascal and London prepare for a fissure to occur in Spectrum, London is taken by the vampire rebels, bitten, and tortured. Soon, Pascal presumes the man he loves is dead. But London rises again. Is he a vampire? Pascal isn’t sure, but one thing he does know–London is no longer his. But Pascal and London have even … Read more

Announcement: Winter’s Gift, by Sean Michael

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Sean Michael has a new fantasy book out from Torquere: Badly disfigured, Geoff lives alone in the woods with only his wolf as companion. It’s a solitary life, but one he is comfortable with. When he discovers a fairy with an injured wing at the beginning of winter, his whole ordered world is turned upside down. But will Mauve be horrified by his rescuer’s visage? Or can the fairy look beyond the scars and see into Geoff’s heart? Excerpt It was warm and dark and he couldn’t move. Something soft but heavy and confining was hold him down and Mauve … Read more

The Language of Fantasy

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Beth Brock (I know – she’s on a roll!): “In a fantasy world, how important is it to follow the rules of the history of Earth? Specifically language and social studies? Can you use French words in a fantasy world? How about German? Where is the limits of English? How can other languages help us bridge the scifi and fantasy language gaps?” Many of us have invented our own languages for Fantasy stories. But sometimes it makes more sense to use an existing language. I’ve borrowed from Gaelic for some of my Fantasy pieces, and … Read more

Announcement: Tracker, by Kethrick Wilcox

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QSFer Kethric Wilcox has a new paranormal book out: Once upon a time there was Beauty and there was the Beast. The spinners of tales would have you believe these two fell in love and lived happily ever after, the spinners lied. The Beast was a shifter and Beauty became a huntress and founded a long line of huntresses aided by the power of silver magic. Kieran Belle is a descendant of the House of Beauty and a tracker who longs to live a life free of killing shifters. Aided by his father he escapes to college in Little Rock, … Read more

Seeding Humanity

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Today’s topic is from Beth Brock: “Some scifi writers explain the similarities of humans to other alien races as “seeding”, as in an ancient race went through the universe and “seeded” the worlds with human-like DNA. How do you feel about that explanation that a lot of alien races are similar to humanity? How does that relate to LGBTQ studies?” I gotta say, this always bugged the hell outta me… why in the Star Trek Universe, for instance, most of the aliens are not only humanoid but could have sex and even produce viable offspring. It always struck me as … Read more

Announcement: Terrance, by DJ Manly

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Today’s announcement comes from MLR Press and DJ Manly: Terrance is happy with Alex, and for the first time, the voices in his head seem low and far away. Then they begin again, horrifying images fill his mind, as a small boy calls to him. No matter what, Terrance needs to follow that voice. But can he trust it? Is it really the voice of a small boy in trouble, or the voices from hell itself? Terrance’s communication with the dead leads him to some surprising discoveries. Excerpt “You look like hell,” Wes announced as Alex picked at the napkin … Read more