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US Still Spends More on Space Than All Others Combined

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Ever since NASA retired its last space shuttle in 2011, American space travel has taken a back seat to news of growing Chinese space ambitions, Indian Mars missions, Iranian space chimps, and Russian space geckos. But make no mistake, the United States is still the global powerhouse in space spending. Last year, the United States spent roughly $40 billion on its space program, which is more than every other country combined, according to a new study (pdf) by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). For comparison, China’s space budget, which is the second largest in the world, was … Read more

A Setback for Space Tourism

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Kenneth Chang brings us the latest on the Virgin Galactic tragedy: The Virgin Galactic space plane that broke apart over the Mojave Desert on Friday shifted early into a high-drag configuration that was designed to slow it down, federal accident investigators have said. The accident killed the co-pilot, Michael Alsbury; the pilot, Peter Siebold survived after parachuting out of the plane. Clive Irving puts the disaster in perspective: From the beginning in 2004 there has always been a credibility gap between the fairground hyperbole of [Virgin Group founder Richard] Branson’s formidable publicity machine and the scientific reality of the enterprise. … Read more

How the Universe Will End

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All of a sudden a tiny little bubble will appear. It can appear anywhere—under your chair, or somewhere in Andromeda, very far away—and this little tiny thing starts growing at a speed that’s pretty close to the speed of light. And as it expands, all things that it engulfs turn into an alien form of matter. It may be approaching us right now. Say it nucleated at Andromeda some millions of years ago, it may be expanding toward us at the speed of light. But we don’t get much of a warning. So the good thing about it is you … Read more

Me Me Monday!

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Welcome to ME ME MONDAY at our FB discussion group – your chance to pop in and tell us about your latest success. Have a new book or short story coming out? Let us know. Just sell something? Let us know so we can cheer you on. HOW IT WORKS: I’ll pin this topic to the top of our FB discussion page for the day. –Please post your announcement as a separate post, so I can also share it over to our FB page (as opposed to this discussion group). –If you want, send me your book announcement info at … Read more

Gay Heroes and LGBT Comics

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GAYSAR Comics is a company that has created a line of gay heroes with the purpose to not only entertain the public, but also raise awareness and to fight for gay rights. The first comic book entitled “The Cure” will be released on November 7th and will have a cost of $4.99 a copy. While they will only be publishing their first issue, GAYSAR Comics has already created a wide variety of gay heroes. See the Full Story at Seasons of Pride

QSF’s First Annual Flash Fiction Contest

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Hi all, Today we’re announcing our first annual Flash Fiction Contest. For our purposes, we’re defining Flash Fiction as 300 words or less. Stories can be Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Paranormal, or any combination of the three. The theme? Endings – something that’s ending, whether it’s a life, an era, a relationship, a planet, a world, a society, an idea. So be creative – come up with something that wows us in a short space – stories must be no longer than 300 words (not including title) and must fit the theme. Fiction with or without an LGBT romance. HEA … Read more

What Are the Best Cons?

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Today’s question comes from QSFer Angel Martinez – “What are the best cons?” I have to admit, as a neophyte writer, I haven’t been to any writer conferences yet, at least as a published author. I did attend a conference about 15 years ago in Berkeley for sci fi writers, and was personally snubbed by Mercedes Lackey, something of a point of honor for me. And I’m attending Rainbow Con in Tampa with the QSF crowd next July. So help me out here, some of you more experienced writers – what are your favorite cons, and why? What are the … Read more

Paying Markets for LGBT Fiction

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Today’s topic is from QSFer Bob Hole: “Paying markets we may not have heard of, especially short stories.” There are so many great publishers out there doing journals and anthologies and novellas and full-length novels in LGBT genres. I’d nominate the new MCB Quarterly from our own Angel Martinez and friends. So what other great paying venues do y’all know about for LGBT work?

Dismantling the Closet Door

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Today’s topic comes from one of our QSFers, but I have to apologize – I misplaced the name of the person who submitted this one – if you wanna come forward, I’ll happily give you credit. Nevertheless, it’s a great topic: “Are we past telling ‘coming-out’ stories? Are we past ‘being LGBT makes you a pariah’ stories? Do we need new sources of dramatic tension?” LGBT stories in general have gone through some historic periods. In the fifties and early sixties, they were all about how terrible it was to be gay – the repercussions in society once you were … Read more

Where Do I Submit My Non-Romance Story?

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: “who are the best publishers to submit gay sci-fi to? My work is not particularly romantic, but the protagonists are gay.” Hmmmm, I think we’re at the beginning of a potential expansion of LGBT stories in speculative fiction (hence this blog) that do not rely on romance as the principle plot driver. I’ve said for a while that I want to see more LGBT stories in sci fi and fantasy, especially, that are driven by the genre and not the romance. Not that there can’t be some romance or relationship included. I’d … Read more