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Strong Female Characters in Spec Fic

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Women in sci fi

There’s a long-standing tradition of male dominance in speculative fiction, but especially in Sci Fi. If you look back at the Golden Age sci fi writers, they are, if not all, than at least 95% male. This has shifted in recent years, but there’s still an under-representation of both female authors in mainstream sci fi, fantasy and paranormal (with, of course, some very notable exceptions). And there also seems to be a lack of strong female characters in these genres, lesbian and straight. So my questions to you today: What can we do about this? Are there still factors holding … Read more

Bring Us the Heads of Your Plot Bunnies

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Plot Bunnies

OK, it’s that time again. We need to fill up the bucket of QSF topics so we have things to discuss over the next few months. So please, post your ideas on our FB discussion group – anything you’d like to discuss that relates to sci fi, fantasy, paranormal, reading writing, etc – we cast a pretty wide net. If your idea is used (and most of them will be), we’ll credit you and tag you on the post. Discuss!

Non Consensual Sex in Sci Fi / Fantasy

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No Means No

OK, we haven’t had a hot button topic in awhile – we try to limit them to about one a month, because they often do stir emotions. So a four ground rules: –Please be civil –This is not a discussion about sex with minors – we are talking about adults here –Please be civil –Please be civil So here it goes – do depictions of MM non-consensual sex have a place in sci fi and fantasy? If so, have you used it, and why (writers) and have you read it, and did it forward the story (readers)? If not, why? … Read more

Announcement: Taliasman, by Anastasia Vitsky

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QSFer Anastasia Vitsky has a new FF Fantasy out: Born to a destitute woodworker who wanted a son to carry on the family business, Talia grew up with one phrase on her lips: “If I had been born a boy.” If she had been born a boy, she would have been cherished, supported, and launched into the world with her father’s legacy. As only a worthless girl, she toils all day long to earn her handful of inferior grain. Far away in the heavenly palace, Queen Vina receives a mysterious coin necklace from Nicodemus, teller of stories. Compelled by the … Read more

Mixing Sci Fi and Paranormal

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I like my sci fi hard and pure. But I also like it shaken on the rocks with a good dose of other genres. I’m currently in editing on my wolfman-spaceman series. It mixes paranormal and sci fi elements – although as Angel has pointed out, it’s technically not paranormal as there is a sci fi explanation for the wolfman and his friends. But still, it’s a wolfman-spaceman story. So my question for today – do you ever include paranormal / supernatural aspects in your work? And readers? Do you like your sci fi with a side of paranormal?

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

Where Are the FF Speculative Fiction Stories?

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Anastasia Vitsky: “I’d like a day specifically focused on F/F in the genre.” It’s a good point. I know there are such stories and novels out there – our own Angelia Sparrow has published quite a few – but the field is dominated by MM fiction. So here are my questions today: Why aren’t there more FF stories in speculative fiction? What can we do to change that? And what stories would you like to see told in this subgenre?

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

What Do Y’all Want to Talk About?

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Hey all, It’s that time again – time to fill up the topics well for the next month or so. We’ve done a lot of sci fi lately, so I’d like to see some fantasy and paranormal topics as well. Also, some more topics from a reader’s perspective. So what do y’all think? Share your ideas below – one per comment to make it easy on me – and if we use them, you’ll get the credit! xxoo –Scott

Your Favorite 2014 Read

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Since it’s the last day of 2014 (and the first day of 2015 for our friends on the other side of the International Date Line), I thought we’d keep it simple today. So looking back, what was your favorite LGBT speculative fiction read? And why? If it’s too hard to choose – you can name a couple. :)