As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Space Taxi is Coming!

Prepare to have some sci fi plot bunnies released: NASA just announced a critical component of Launch America, the country’s highly anticipated next chapter in human spaceflight. The organization confirmed in a press conference today that Boeing and SpaceX will split the $6.8 billion “space taxi” contract, with $4.2 billion going to Boeing and $2.6 billion to SpaceX. Essentially, Boeing’s CST-100 Space Capsule and SpaceX’s Dragon will each send a test flight to the International Space Station to demonstrate their space taxi capabilities. Each team will fly to the ISS with a NASA crew member and cargo, show that they … Read more

Announcement: Take to the Sky, by Gregory Jonathan Scott

Hello Everyone! Check out the beautiful cover below for Take To The Sky by Gregory Jonathan Scott. Today is the Official Release Day. Description An angelic romance that’s Powerful, Suspenseful, Sexy, Uniquely Erotic, and Romantic. In a secret Michigan Laboratory, an experiment developed a superior creation that was anticipated but not expected. He was the ultimate conception, a core life-being merged with avian. He was born with a gift, a rare one; the ability to fly. His wings instinctively brought out the urge in him to fly, and Kellan’s need to be free became his obsession. When the dark, swirling clouds … Read more

Where Are All the Queers in Mainstream Sci Fi?

Morning all! Today’s topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: “The role of LGBT, etc, themes in mundane SF.” We talk a lot here about romance and love stories set in a sci fi universe. But there’s also a whole big mainstream sci fi market out there, and historically it hasn’t been friendly to LGBT characters. I watched Star Trek for years hoping for a gay character – I finally gave up that particular search – hey, did they ever get there? Ditto for most of the mainstream sci fi books – we’re not talking gay sex or even a romantic … Read more

Announcement: The Severing, by DJ Manly

MLR Press has a new supernatural tale out: Alex has no idea a ghost called Billy is following him around. Then a strange young man comes up to him in a public place and tells him someone is sitting at his table. Terrance talks to the dead. To him it’s a curse. Labeled psychotic, the dead have kept him from truly living. When he meets Alex, Terrance wants to be normal. Alex doesn’t believe that Terrance can communicate with dead folks. But when his best friend disappears, Alex begins to think that Terrance may be the only one who can … Read more

Need A Primer for Space Battles? We’ve Got You Covered

From our friends at Towleroad.com: Turn back now if you still cling to hope that Star Wars will one day become science, rather than just science fiction as It’s Okay to Be Smart’s Joe Hanson picks apart Hollywood’s flashy, but scientifically inaccurate space battle staples.

Announcement: Spooky Ginger Love, by Kendall Morgan

Today we have an announcement from QSFer Kendall Morgan: Keith Norwood, a handsome African-American gay bear, came to Camp You-Mee’s Bears Haunted Halloween Boo-Nanza Extravaganza for some cheesy holiday thrills and a little ass. A fan of the one-night stand, he thought all he wanted was to get laid. The camp’s cute assistant manager with a fantastic butt was Keith’s first choice. Instead, he loses his way in the haunted woods. He finds his way and himself with the help of Ronnie Gans, a big, friendly, hairy redhead, who is unlike any one-night stand Keith has ever had. Q&A Q: … Read more

Paranormal Hybrids

OK, it’s paranormal day at the QSF blog and group, so let’s have a little fun with it. I’ve been accused of spending too much time on shifters (in a playful way), so lets shift (ahem) the focus a little. The paranormal universe has a wide range of characters – your zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and whatnots – and an even wider diversity if you move beyond Western culture. What I’m interested in today are hybrids of some of these beasties. What would you get if you crossed a vampire and a wendingo? Or a werewolf and a ghost? I’d … Read more

Announcement: Parliament of Twilight, by Dani Hermit & Nevi Star

What do a TV ghost hunter, a fading Broadway icon, a CEO and his son, a bored assassin, and a whole host of other delightfully damaged and deranged characters have in common? The Parliament of Twilight binds them all from the shadows. The men of this deliciously Yaoi-inspired world fall in and out of love nearly as much as they fall in and out of danger. Steered from the shadows by the mysterious Parliament of Twilight, they must navigate nefarious plots, romantic entanglements, and mortal peril – everything from being attacked by monsters in the highlands of India to altercations … Read more

Elves in Black Leather

OK, time to turn our eyes to the dark streets of Urban Fantasy. I typically like my fantasy served High (the full-on world building kind of High, not the drug-induced version, though in all fiarness, I do have to say I’ve never tried it), But I also enjoy a good urban-based fantasy story at times – the oft-mentioned “Larque on the Wing” comes to mind, or the “Man of His Word” series that terry Brooks eventually merged with his “Shannara” series. Balancing the elements in an urban fantasy can be tricky – making fantasy characters seem “real” in present day … Read more

Writing the Future

Andrew Sullivan at the Dish flagged this great piece by David Mitchell: When you’re writing about the future, you simply try to work out what people in that future point will be taking for granted. In The Bone Clocks, there are two future sections. 2025 one is only about 11 years away–there’s just a few gizmos about the place and we’re basically there already. In the 2040s, however, more dramatic changes have taken place. There’s no more oil–or very little oil left. So you think about what people at that point will be taking for granted about travel, about the … Read more