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“The Queen of Lies” by Michael J. Bode

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Genre: LGBTQ+ Epic Fantasy Length: Novel   The story in The Queen of Lies is incredibly complex and detailed, as an epic fantasy should be, and we have several wonderful point of views to explore. There’s Maddox, the arcane student who fucks up his exams and accidentally winds up immortal—at first no one is certain whether they should praise him or condemn him. There’s Jessa, heiress to the throne of a long line of storm-callers. Her mother is conniving and maniacal (I may be downplaying the crazy part). And there are Heath and Sword, who are essentially mercenaries; Heath is … Read more

Guest Post: Midsummer, by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese

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Midsummer

One of the things Erin & I are interested in is where the line is between contemporary and paranormal, both in the romance genre and beyond it. Do we need shifters, vampires, and fae to call something paranormal or does superstition entertained as part of the totally rationally world catapult us into the paranormal genre? Our new novella Midsummer (Love’s Labours 1) is a contemporary romance set at a theater nestled in the Virginia Woods. But it also features a character who needs contact with trees like the rest of us need oxygen, who reacts with profound physical fascinating to … Read more

Submissions Week: Beta Readers

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Hey all, Welcome to our first submissions week – were we’ll talk about all things submissions. This is a great opportunity for our newer authors to learn things from our veterans – how to prepare your story (whether it’s a short story, a novella, a novel, poem etc) for submission to a publisher. Today we’ll tackle something many self-publishing authors neglect – having someone else proof your stuff before you publish it. They’re called “beta readers”, and they may or may not be professional editors. We’re all too close to our own work – we often can’t see the flaws, … Read more

Announcement: Forbidden Monastery, by Sam C. Leonhard

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Forbidden Monestary

DSPP author Sam C. Leonhard has a new fantasy book out: Rage is a seasoned assassin, and he lives by his own rules. One of them forbids him to kill children, and at sixteen, his new target is definitely too young to die. Instead of breaking her neck, he kidnaps Lucinda of Babylon—and soon finds out the girl has the knack to annoy the hell out of him. As if taking care of a stubborn girl isn’t enough of a burden, Lucinda’s best friend Keiran joins their escape. And falls in love with Rage. And totally ignores the fact that … Read more

Submissions Week: Writing Style and Grammar

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Submissions Week

Hey all, Welcome to our first submissions week – were we’ll talk about all things submissions. This is a great opportunity for our newer authors to learn things from our veterans – how to prepare your story (whether it’s a short story, a novella, a novel, poem etc) for submission to a publisher. Yesterday we tackled manuscript formatting – today we’ll tackle what’s actually in the thing. When you submit a story, you want it to be as good as it can possibly be. If you submit a perfectly formatted manuscript that is full or grammatical errors or style issues, … Read more

The Midweek Mingle: Shared Hardship

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So, when I first started doing the Midweek Mingle, I gave a fair bit of general information, along with discussing the Big Scary Barrier (TL;DR: Just because somebody doesn’t act like they want to be somewhere, it doesn’t mean they don’t. They may just feel uncomfortable.). One of the things I talked about in very brief passing was the fact that both the SF/F community and the QUILTBAG+ community were sort of shunned. When it comes to getting along and feeling comfortable and connecting with each other, shared hardship is one of the best tools we have. I wouldn’t wish … Read more

Announcement: Song of the Navigator, by Astrid Amara

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Song of the Navigator

QSFer Astrid Amara has a new sci fi book out: Tover Duke’s rare ability to move anything instantly across light-years of space makes him a powerful, valuable asset to the Harmony Corporation, and a rock star among the people of the colonies. His life is luxurious. safe. Routine. He has his pick of casual hookups passing through Dadelus-Kaku Station. His one brush with danger of any kind — the only bright spot in his otherwise boring life — is Cruz Arcadio, a dark-haired, hard-bodied engineer whose physical prowess hints he’s something much more. When a terrorist abducts Tover, hurling him … Read more

Submissions Week – General Formatting

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Submissions Week

Hey all, Welcome to our first (probably annual?) submissions week – were we’ll talk about all things submissions. This is a great opportunity for our newer authors to learn things from our veterans – how to prepare your story (whether it’s a short story, a novella, a novel, poem etc) for submission to a publisher. We’ll start off the week with the basics – formatting your manuscript. Any experienced author will tell you that the first rule is to follow the publisher guidelines. Skip those and your manuscript may not even make the slush pile. But what are some other … Read more

Announcement: Invisible 2, Various Authors

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Invisible 2

QSFer Angelia Sparrow has an essay in a new book about representation in science fiction and fantasy: In addition to 19 personal and powerful essays about representation in science fiction and fantasy, this also includes an introduction by award-winning author Aliette de Bodard, as well as a list of all the suggested books and stories from the comments and conversations online. Plus cover art by Mark Ferrari. Among other things, the authors talk about the portrayal of asexuality, the intersection of different aspects of identity, the treatment of Native Americans in fiction, myths and assumptions about military life, Princess Leia … Read more

Me Me Memorial Day 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