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Sci Fi

Discussion: Worldbuilding Week Preview

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Worldbuilding

In August, we’ll devote a whole week to worldbuilding – creating a realistic world in which to set your story/stories: –Languages –Alien/Magical Races –History/Timelines –Culture/Politics –Sex, Marriage, Reproduction –Tools and Techniques But we thought we’d preview it with a little discussion today. Are you a big fan of greatly detailed worlds in your LGBT Sci Fi fiction? Or do you prefer a sleek, stripped down approach that’s more character/romance driven? And what’s your favorite example, either way? And did we leave any important topics off the list above? Come join the discussion.

Article: How To Get Started (And Get Ahead) In Science Fiction Self-Publishing

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My podcast co-host S.A.Collins just shared this, and it’s a good read for authors. Pay close attention to the comments after the article, some good discussion going on. How To Get Started (And Get Ahead) In Science Fiction Self-Publishing To self-publish or not to self-publish… That is the question more and more aspiring authors are asking themselves these days. And with good reason—self-publishing has come a long way in the decade since it really hit the market and many of the blatant scams of the past have been outed by an increasingly well-informed author community. With the popularity of ebooks … Read more

Article: Celebrate Marriage Equality with these 12 Beloved LGBT Characters from Geek Culture

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Family and Reflection

Article: Celebrate Marriage Equality with these 12 Beloved LGBT Characters from Geek Culture Sci-fi tends to explore themes of identity, tolerance of differences, and true expression of the self, so many stories have served as allegories for the oppression of homosexuals in society, most notably X-Men. But in spite of this, geek culture hasn’t historically been the most diverse, with sci-fi TV and comics just recently taking some baby steps towards representation (there are no sci-fi movie franchises on this list). And the real world is catching up, as SCOTUS just ruled that gay marriage is legal in all 50 … Read more

“Black Dog Blues” by Rhys Ford

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Genre: Urban Fantasy Length: Novel   Kai Gracen is an elven outcast in a post-apocalyptic world, where magic exploded into the present day. There are still McDonalds and shitty politicians, but now there are elves and other fantastical creatures (including dragons). Kai gets by as a bounty hunter, going where the humans wouldn’t dare and killing ferocious beasts (including dragons). He was pretty happy too, until the dawn court started to interfere with his affairs, and he got stuck on a run with one of their snotty nobles, as well as with a human girl, who’s possibly carrying the greatest … Read more

Serious vs. Humorous Sci Fi, Fantasy and Paranormal

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Pill Bugs of Time large

Today’s topic was inspired by Angel: I’d say most speculative fiction is deadly-serious – in sci fi, will this planet continue to support us? Will we get to the stars? In fantasy, will we be able to defeat the evil-warlock and save the damsel (hey, what’s the male version of damsel?) in distress? In paranormal, will the wolves or vampires win the fight for world domination? But sometimes I want something a little lighter. :) So how about you? Do you like your spec fic deadly serious, as a writer or reader? Or are you more of a Hitchhiker’s Guide … Read more

Announcement: Discovery, QSF’s Second Annual Flash Fiction Contest

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Discovery

Queer Sci Fi has a new speculative fiction anthology out: It’s hard to tell a story in just 300 words. But somehow we inspired more than a hundred writers to give it a try, with some amazing results collected here for your pleasure. The rules are simple enough. Write a complete story—either sci fi, fantasy, or paranormal. Make sure it has LGBT characters and/or an LGBT vibe. And do it all with just 300 words. The stories in this volume run the gamut, from platypus shifters to alien slug monsters, from carnival horror stories to haunting stories of ships with … Read more

The Sci of Scifi: Integrating LGBT Characters

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I wish there wasn’t a gay fiction category. There are many reasons people read and write fiction of any genre with gay characters. My favorite type of story is not the one where the focus is on a character being gay. I love the story where the main character(s) just happen to be gay. Being gay shouldn’t be considered a character flaw so it stands to reason it shouldn’t be what defines a character. I think it’s great when a book/TV show/movie has characters that also happen to be gay. Their sexual orientation doesn’t need to be the story line. The … Read more

ARTICLE: New Sesotho-named dinosaur from South Africa

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Discovery is perhaps my favorite element of SciFi writing. So when we discover something NEW about our environment, a whole new realm of possible story ideas peeks out from behind the prehistoric fern fronds. I love that this article shines a light on an environment that paleo-research has not traditionally been funded to explore. New Sesotho-named dinosaur from South Africa South African and Argentinian palaeontologists have discovered a new 200-million-year-old dinosaur from South Africa, and named it Sefapanosaurus, from the Sesotho word “sefapano.” See the full article here

Article: Queer Cogs

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** I should preface this article by saying that I am self-published and have never submitted to Tor. Yet I continue to direct fellow authors and readers to this article because it both highlights the LGBTQ inclusiveness of Steampunk AND is hosted by the aforementioned large publisher. That fact alone sends one of steampunk’s primary messages: there’s hope for humanity. -Vance ** Queer Cogs: Steampunk, Gender Identity, and Sexuality Lisa Hager Given that speculative fiction questions our most basic assumptions about life, from what is the nature of consciousness to our knowledge of history, it also regularly challenges our accepted … Read more

The Sci of Scifi: A Place for Your Stuff

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Hello! I’m Elizabeth Noble and I’ll be bringing you articles to hopefully give inspiration to your writing or at least be something interesting to read. Writing in any genre requires research. Whether you’re writing about actual historical events or creating a whole new world for your book it doesn’t matter. It’s likely research is a large part of creating a novel. As readers of scifi are well aware many of the books/movies/etc created half a century ago resulted in the development of some technology we have today. As writers of scifi I feel strongly that we as a group should be … Read more