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How Many Characters is Too Many?

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One of my favorite things to read is Epic Fantasy – especially the kind that spans multiple books. These heavy doorstop-tomes can run to 1,000 or 1,200 pages, and are often filled with bunches of characters that would do those old “cast of thousands” Hollywood epics proud. But most forms of fiction do not lend themselves so readily to large casts of characters. Short stories, in particular, can quickly bog down with too many viewpoint characters. I’ve developed a simple rule of thumb for myself when writing short stories. If I want to write 5-10k, I use one viewpoint character. … Read more

Announcement: Playing Hard To Forget, by Piper Doone

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QSFer Piper Doone has a new paranormal book releasing December 26th: Ethan Robertson never asked to be the latest in a long line of werewolf hunters, but the war between his family and the werewolf Kinnairds has raged on for a millennium, and he is expected to fight like all the Robertsons before him. But then he meets Liam Kinnaird, a gorgeous, mysterious werewolf Ethan falls hard for. Despite the danger, they carry on a torrid affair until a terrible explosion destroys everything, including Liam and Ethan’s memories of their time together. Twenty years later, Ethan is embroiled in battle … Read more

Where Are My Banana Slug Shifters?

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: “Animal species: We see too many bears and wolves. Where are tales of kinkajous, binturongs, and banana slugs?” We do see quite a preponderance (love that word) of wolf shifters these days, as well as some panther shifters and pretty much anything else sleek and powerful. But how about a little more shifter weirdness? So my questions today – what animals would you like to see in shifter stories? And what are some of the weirder ones you have seen?

Announcement: Demons of Dundegore, by M. Joseph Murphy

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M. Joseph Murphy has a second book out in his Fantasy series: One man, one sword against an island of the undead. The Demons of DunDegore is a full-on zombie invasion within a classic epic fantasy setting. Demons have stolen the Sword of Kassandra, using its powerful magics to raise an army of the undead. Few survive the initial assault. Tadgh Dooley, a 17 year old gay werecat, travels to the island of DunDegore with his companions to rescue an 8 year old boy, the son of his best friend. But the forces of darkness have plans for Tadgh: capture … Read more

Reading Pet Peeves

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A few weeks ago, one of our members, Gus Li, posted an article on some of the biggest tropes in Fantasy – including my personal favorite, the Weapon Too Big To Carry. It got me thinking. We all have those things that really bug us as readers – you know, where you just roll your eyes at the writer and say “Really?” And as writers, many of us have our own nervous tics – little things we go back to again and again although we know we shouldn’t. I know one of mine – the mirror trick, when you want … Read more

Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction Contest – Honorable Mention

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We’ve wrapped up the judging of the First Annual QSF Flash Fiction Contest early, so we’ll be sharing the top stories over the next 6 days. After that, most of the submitted stories will be posted on the site for everyone to enjoy. We had some fantastic submissions this year – congrats to everyone! All stories were limited to 300 words max, with the theme “endings”. Our third of three honorable mention winners is Kiterie Aine – congrats, Kiterie! Here’s the story – enjoy! Angel By Kiterie Aine The monitors went silent and the staleness of the air told her … Read more

Announcement: Tethered Pair, by Elizabeth Noble

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Today we have an annoucement from QSFer Elizabeth Noble – book five in her sci fi/paranormal Sentries series: War rages across New Colorado Protectorate, and both sides employ normal and supernatural soldiers and arsenals. Sentries like Todd and Nick Ruger have the talents and training to combat such paranormal threats. When Todd and Nick are sent by New Colorado’s Chancellor Clarke to investigate a group of weapons smugglers, they wind up posing undercover on the riverboat Annabelle. To their horror, they discover the arms dealers are demons—creatures they have no experience facing. Staying alive will take all their skills and … Read more

Pansexuality and Sci Fi

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Beth Brock: “Have we posted anything in Queer SciFi about Pansexuality and how the mental and physical markers of how we label sexuality will probably change with the introduction of aliens, or even simply hundreds of years of technology? (think of…Jozy?…in Re-Life, who could change his/her body at will). What is homo and heterosexuality under those future conditions? Would everyone be a pansexual? What does pansexuality mean to you?” I admit, I had to look up the definition of pansexuality. I’m very familiar with the standard letters of the LGBT rainbow, but I’ve only heard … Read more

Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction Contest – Honorable Mention

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We’ve wrapped up the judging of the First Annual QSF Flash Fiction Contest early, so we’ll be sharing the top stories over the next 6 days. After that, most of the submitted stories will be posted on the site for everyone to enjoy. We had some fantastic submissions this year – congrats to everyone! All stories were limited to 300 words max, with the theme “endings”. Our second of three honorable mention winners is Aldous Mercer – congrats, Beth! Here’s the story – enjoy! Today we’re interviewing Dr. Julian Smith,expert on Argar Exopsychology By Aldous Mercer Where did you decide … Read more

Announcement: ZA: And the Dead Shall Rise

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Today we have a new Zombie Apocalypse novel from ID Locke: Tracey Hedgewood has planned for years with other ZA survivalists what to do in the very unlikely instance of the dead walking. He is the man with a plan now that the ZA has become a frightening reality of the world. Guy Thibaudeau has managed to survive the first week of the ZA through sheer luck and knows that he needs a plan, and soon, if he wants to stay off the zombie menu. Tracey and Guy meet while both foraging in the same store for supplies. Casual and … Read more