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Boogieman in Lavender

L. Frank Baum and the Indians – Boogieman in Lavender

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In an era where statues are being torn down and schools names are being changed, this column may be more topical than when I first came up with the idea a few months ago when grabbing at straws for ideas for columns. Namely, the subject of author’s personal lives and opinions and how or if that should affect how the writing is viewed. I have written before about my affection for H.P. Lovecraft in spite of the author’s views on race and nationality (in “The Strange Bust of H.P. Lovecraft,” https://www.queerscifi.com/jeff-baker-boogieman-in-lavender-2/  ) from my vantage point as a Bi man … Read more

Pride Month Interview With Anthony Cardno – Boogieman In Lavender

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My friend Anthony Cardno celebrated Pride Month with a series of Interviews with artists, writers, performers and others in the LGBT community, a series of interviews which stretched into July. (Just think of every month as a source of Pride!) Anthony omitted an interview with himself, so he graciously consented to answer a few of my questions (and a few reworded questions he’d asked me and others!) Hi, Anthony! I’ll start off by borrowing one of your own questions:  What are you doing to stay creatively motivated in these unusual times? If I’m being honest (as one should be), I … Read more

Boogieman in Lavender: The Fire This Time…

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“The world has gone mad today and good’s bad today…” —Cole Porter, “Anything Goes.” As I write this, America is on fire. Not everywhere, but L.A., New York and Minneapolis are the scenes of riots complete with burnings and clashes with police following the murder (we can call it that now) of George Floyd in Minneapolis during a police stop. Lootings have occurred and opportunistic politicians are screaming. A convenience store a few blocks down from where I used to live had its windows shattered. But all may not be as it seems. A far-right group called the Boogaloos has … Read more

writing For Podcasts: Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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                 Invasion of the Podcast People                                          By Jeff Baker                                           Some brief advice (with grateful thanks to Angel Martinez for invaluable information.) on writing a story for a podcast.             When I started writing fiction (back in the ‘90s) there was no such thing as a podcast, at least not that I know of. Now they are a regular, viable market for fiction of all kinds. Sometimes, they pay! As I have had my stories read on a podcast or two I can offer a few tips (which hardly count as expert advice, but every bit helps!)             … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender: Random Notes for March

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Mike Resnick

A few random notes this month. Every writer has inspirations. If they’re lucky, they get to meet them, and the meeting isn’t a letdown. Mary Higgins Clark died a few weeks ago. The bestselling suspense writer needs no introduction, but her magazine does. Running for a handful of issues in the 1990s, Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine included fiction and regular features about mystery writers and their characters. I hadn’t thought too much about trying to write any mysteries before I read the magazine. In my undisciplined way I didn’t get around to writing or publishing any mysteries until about … Read more

Boogieman in Lavender: The Tiptree Solution, or The Woman Men Didn’t See.

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Jeff Baker - Boogieman in Lavender

James Tiptree, Jr. was the pen name of science fiction writer Alice B. Sheldon. The previous sentence is probably the least complicated information about Alice Sheldon. The first fiction under the Tiptree name appeared in the 1960s. Most of her work was in the short-story form, stories of science fiction, fantasy or horror. This was in the era of the “New Wave,” when sex was beginning to show up in science fiction. Tiptree was believed to be a male writer by the public, and she did nothing to dissuade that belief. Several famous science fiction writers asserted that the kind … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender: On Beyond Cisgender: Books for High School

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Jeff Baker

On Beyond Cisgender: Books For High School                                                By Jeff Baker    A. M.  (Amy) Leibowitz has grumbled on Facebook about the “Old Dead White (mostly/presumed) Cis Hetero Male Literature Canon,” and how high-schoolers mainly read books from the aforementioned canon. No authors of color. Rarely any women. “Only literary fiction and other genres are typically not only disallowed but actively sneered at.” A. M. goes on to ask that if you could add any 4 books to a high school literature curriculum (one for each year of US High School) which would you add and why? Among the Facebook users … Read more

A Post From The Stone Age – Boogieman In Lavender

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rainbow TV - deposit photos

Stone Knives and Bearskins By Jeff Baker                                                 Our computers are down as I write this. At least, the modem and Internet are out. (Word processor still works.) Should have it back up sometime tomorrow. For the weekend we’ve been basically living in the 1970s, except with cable. It says a lot that I capitalized “Internet” above. We’ve come to depend on this thing. A lot. It has helped me get some of my writing published professionally and a lot of it posted. (It also brought my husband and I together but that’s another story.) We’ve had the T.V. on … Read more

Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender: Of Dracula and Dragons

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                                                            By Jeff Baker             He is one of the most famous characters in fiction, certainly the most famous vampire. He is Dracula, also known as Count Dracula. Not popular fiction’s first vampire, or even the second, but the template from which the others either followed or diverged.             And any writer, reader or fan of vampire-themed fiction should read “Dracula,” the novel from which all the movies sprang. Published in 1897 it is an epistolary novel; that is, one told through letters and journals and diary entries of the characters. Dracula himself does not appear in much of … Read more

When Carmilla Ruled the Night – Boogieman in Lavender

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Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender             But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths.                                                   ———from Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu She prowls the night, looking for blood—and women. She sleeps in late, usually rising at one in the afternoon, but it is at night that she seeks what she truly desires. She is Carmilla, seemingly a victim of a carriage accident recovering in a neighboring castle. The residents of the castle see nothing too unusual, even as … Read more