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Sci Fi

Review: Noble Metals by L.A. Witt

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Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5 Steampunk Historical When Robert Belton and his brothers left home to make their fortune in the Klondike gold fields, they never imagined where their gold fever and poor judgement would take them. Amid betrayals and gambling debts, only Robert is left to survive in Seattle and he does so by becoming a prostitute. Robert hopes to save enough money to make it over the Chilkoot Trail into the Yukon and join the hunt for gold. Dr. John Fauth is on sabbatical from his teaching post at the university in Chicago. Dr. Fauth carries a … Read more

New MM Steampunk Release 7/14/14: Noble Metals by LA Witt

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Ever since Robert Belton gambled away the money to stake his claim in the Klondike gold fields, he’s been stranded in Seattle working as a prostitute. When an attractive customer needs help hauling provisions to the frozen north, Robert eagerly volunteers. Dr. John Fauth is only searching for one thing, and it isn’t gold. He needs platinum for the prototypes of his revolutionary inventions, and if he doesn’t find it in the Klondike, his university career—and his research—is over. Getting to the Klondike is a grueling, dangerous journey, and just hours after leaving Seattle, John and Robert find themselves in … Read more

QSF Member Book Announcement – Hybrids: Arrival

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One of our new members, Chris O’Guinn, has a YA gay sci fi book to announce: The night that Joaquin witnesses the fire in the sky was the last night of anything normal for him. His world of high school and football is completely upended as he comes face to face with an extraterrestrial being. Thrace, as the alien calls himself, seems friendly enough. However, he has abilities that are far beyond human. And he comes with word that others of his race are already on Earth. Joaquin’s friendship with Thrace takes him into danger and chaos as he learns … Read more

Hey! Where’s the Funny Stuff?

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Most people (especially non-SF fans) think of science fiction as deadly serious. Because of the often deadly serious topics SF tackles–oppression, climate destruction, discovery vs. ethics–they believe the stories don’t easily lean toward the humorous. However, comedy is the oldest form of social commentary and science fiction has a long, legitimate history with it. From Keith Laumer’s Retief books to the Stainless Steel Rat, from Red Dwarf to the Hitchhiker stories, science fiction humor may not always get the attention it deserves, but it’s always been with us. As a long time science fiction reader, (don’t ask how long, that’s … Read more

Writing the Future

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One of the most difficult things for me as a sci fi author is figuring out what I think the future will look like. Not just socially – that’s often the fun part, coming up with new social constructs to hang my story on. But also physically. What will the cities look like? What will gadgets look like? How will they work? How ill we eat? Communicate? Have sex? These can be fun things to figure out too, but they can also be writing minefields. Take, for example, computers. 50 years ago, they existed only as huge, room-sized things that … Read more

Starting a New Trilogy

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I’ve decided to take the advice of my friend Jackson Cordd and let one of my short stories become a novel. Well, actually, three novels. It started out as a story fragment I’d written years ago, and picked up again last year to work on. It decided at first that it wanted to be a novel, and then finally that it wanted to be a trilogy – the first time I;ve sat down to plan out a three book arc. I’d written about 12,000 words when I stopped work a couple months ago on it to focus on some other … Read more

Blending Sci Fi and Fantasy

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Growing up, I read my first Fantasy books – the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, starting in second grade. Not long after, I read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. They were two very different experiences, and I loved them both. Ever since, I’ve found myself reading a little hard sci fi, and then bouncing over to the other pole and reading a great epic fantasy novel. It’s a little like eating a salty dinner and washing it down with wild cherry pepsi. But I’ve also learned to love that middle ground – the fusion of sci fi and fantasy. It’s fairly … Read more

When Should You Have Sex (in Your Sci Fi Story)?

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Up until the last year, most of the stories I had written had been “straight” sci fi (pardon the pun) or fantasy – stories that relied on the sci fi or fantasy plot as the main driver of the story. Oh sure, they usually had a gay character or two, but not always as the main character, and even when they were, usually without a major “romance”. Then I discovered Dreamspinner Press and their upcoming anthology submissions page. I decided to try my hand at writing some short stories that were MM romance with a sci fi or supernatural twist. … Read more

Books That Influenced Me as a Gay Sci Fi/Fantasy Writer

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There have been a handful of books that I’ve read that have influenced me as I have strived to become an openly gay writer of sci fi and fantasy. I’m talking historically, not the great crop of gay-themed sci fi and fantasy currently on the market. The first of these was inarguably The Dancers of Arun, book two of the Chronicles of Tornor by Elizabeth A. Lynn. The book contains a pivotal sex scene between the differently abled protagonist and the man he has fallen for that sent me swooning as a gay teen. Never before had I read a … Read more