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characters

For Writers: Alien Ace

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Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Matthew J. Metzger: For ace: is the tendency of asexual characters to be non-human actually damaging perceptions of asexuality rather than providing positive representation? That’s an interesting question. Yes, I know it may be a shock to some of you, but there are asexual people among us. Ace ranks way down the totem pole on LGBTIQA rights and awareness. I didn’t even know that I knew any ace folks until fairly recently. So my questions today: Why is there such a scarcity of ace characters in queer fiction? And why are so many aliens? … Read more

For Writers: Writing Dirt

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Today’s discussion topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: What is the place of cleanliness, and of dirt? Are we so automatically used to hot running water that we are unable to imagine living (and sex) without it??? Delany has written some truly squick-inducing scenes of “anti-pornography” involving dirt and filth. It’s an interesting question. We generally like our characters pretty and clean, but sometimes they have to get dirty. I write a lot of stories that involve quests across a lot of territory. They’re gonna get dirty. So I try to be realistic about that, up to a point. And … Read more

Discussion: Favorite Fantasy Books

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Elizabeth Barrette: What are your favorite fantasy books with queer characters and how far back do they go? I’m fondly remembering the gay unicorn that Alan Dean Foster put in one of his novels. I haven’t read a lot of fantasy with LGBTI characters myself, but I did love the characters in The Chronicles of Tornor. And you? We have a bunch of modern day fantasy works to choose from, too… Come join the chat

Discussion: Limiting Magic

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Freddy MacKay: World limitations that help plot, or how to limit your character so they are challengeable. AKA Setting up magic rules. Freddy makes a good point, and I’m gonna take a part of it and run with it. Magic, to be interesting in a story, has to have some limits. Imagine if a character could just “magic” whatever result they wanted? Limits can be many things: Physical – channel too much magic and you destroy yourself/burn yourself out/need top recharge Emotional or Ethical – you *can* do many things, but your moral code limits … Read more

Article: Celebrate Marriage Equality with these 12 Beloved LGBT Characters from Geek Culture

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Family and Reflection

Article: Celebrate Marriage Equality with these 12 Beloved LGBT Characters from Geek Culture Sci-fi tends to explore themes of identity, tolerance of differences, and true expression of the self, so many stories have served as allegories for the oppression of homosexuals in society, most notably X-Men. But in spite of this, geek culture hasn’t historically been the most diverse, with sci-fi TV and comics just recently taking some baby steps towards representation (there are no sci-fi movie franchises on this list). And the real world is catching up, as SCOTUS just ruled that gay marriage is legal in all 50 … Read more

5 Reasons We Need Openly-Gay Speculative Fiction Writers

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Note: This article was originally posted on Council of Peacocks, M. Joseph Murphy’s blog, and was written by him. Reposted with permission. My second book, A Fallen Hero Rises (available on Amazon, B&N or Smashwords) features a main character who just so happens to be gay. People I trusted and respected advised me against it. They said it would ruin sales and alienate fantasy readers. I said screw it. I’m telling the story I want to tell because I know there’s an audience for it. I just had to find it. So I decided to research openly-gay speculative fiction writers … Read more

I’m Just a Regular Guy (In a Wolf’s Body)

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I’m wrapping up a short story about spaceman and wolf shifters, and one of the things that’s come up during the writing of the story is how wolves (or at least shifter wolves) think and act while they are in Wolf mode versus how they think and act in human mode. For instance, in some shifter stories the human mind is entirely subsumed by the Wolf mind, and the shifter acts entirely is an animal, or almost entirely, when in Wolf mode. In other stories, the Wolf is essentially a human in wolf form. And of course there are all … Read more

Writing Transgender Characters

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I’m getting ready to start another story, my first with a transgender character. The character’s gender identity as a man will be central to the storyline. I am excited to write it, and also a bit nervous – any time you write something you don’t know intimately yourself, you run the risk of either doing it poorly, or of offending the group you are writing about. Still, I think it’s worth the risk. We should always challenge ourselves in our writing, And sure, I may not (probably won’t) write this character as well as someone who is actually transgender, I … Read more

Writing Transgender

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I’m about to start off on a new story, and have decided to include a transgender character with basically a gay orientation. I know a fair amount about the transgender community from covering the struggle for LGBT rights for six years. But knowing is not the same as living. I’ve decided to try to find an expert to help me get the details right. I’m not straight, but I write straight characters. I’m not a woman, but I’ve written female characters. I’m not a werewolf… well, you get the idea. But I think writing transgender characters is a bit of … Read more

Writing Characters Who Aren’t Like Us

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I posed the question “Why is there no market for FF sci fi, fantasy (or romance fiction in general)?” recently in the MM Gay Sci Fi group on Facebook. There were some great, thoughtful responses to the post, but the one that struck me most came from Angel Martinez: “even if you haven’t written a specifically F/F story – how many of you have included lesbian characters in your work?” And I realized that I have never had a lesbian character in one of my stories. Even though they often feature gay characters, and I believe in inclusion. I have … Read more