As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Point of View: Everyone Hurts

by
Depression - deposit photos

Everyone I know is hurting. There are still flashes of beauty and love and triumph all around me, even moments of great joy. But the whiff of depression, the sense of things having moved beyond our control, hangs over everything like a sulfurous smog. Many of our friends and family are facing health issues right now – some short-term, others more dire and in some cases life-threatening. Other friends are facing imminent eviction, or just can’t seem to find a steady place to stand. Friends who find that what was once a dream-come-true is now proving to be more of … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Author Spotlight: Anders Fager

by
Anders Fager

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Anders Fager was not born as much as he fell out into rather bleak 60’s Sweden. He grew up wanting to become an astronaut and then a rockstar and eventually settled for being an army officer. He was also involved in the infant steps of the Swedish role-playing game industry. He made his debut as a writer in 2009 and his first book, Swedish Cults, is now hailed as a classic of … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

New Release: The Lucky Starman – Colin Alexander

by
The Lucky Starman - Colin Alexander

Colin Alexander has a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi book out, Leif the Lucky book 3: The Lucky Starman. Is Leif really lucky? Stranded in orbit, viewing a destroyed civilization on Earth through the screens of a starship almost out of fuel and food, he doesn’t feel that way. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. As the starship Dauntless returns from a successful mission to the planet called Heaven, Earth holds no attractions for Exoplanetary Scout Leif Grettison. He wants only to complete the mission and leave for another star, along with ace pilot Yang Yong. In fact, he would be … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

New Release / Giveaway: Chantz – Tim Rayborn

by
Chantz - Tim Rayborn

Tim Rayborn has a new queer urban fantasy out (bi, lesbian), Qwyrk Tales book 3: Chantz. Qwyrk can’t get a break. Spring is springing, but she’s stuck breaking up drunken faery fights as Beltane approaches. She really wants to take things to the next level with her possibly-probably-girlfriend Holly, but she keeps coming down with a chronic case of chickening out. And now, her best human friend, Jilly Pleeth, has had a rather odd encounter. While attending a concert by her favorite band, the Mystic Wedding Weasels, Jilly was amazed by their enigmatic singer, Chantz. There’s something downright magical about … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Point of View: The Delicate, Ever-Changing Art of Wordsmithery

by
steampunk typewriter - deposit photos

Today I thought I’d take you behind the scenes, to give you a sort of how the sausage is made look at my writing. Writing styles are constantly changing. Take a look back at the classics you read in high school – would any of those be published (without drastic revisions) today? Even the way we write fiction now, with all its accepted “traditions,” is very different than what folks wrote a couple decades ago. Take the common “said” dialogue tag. In the past, it was sprinkled liberally throughout manuscripts, and was considered to be invisible to the reader. It … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Author Spotlight: Leo Otherland

by
Leo Otherland

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Leo Otherland is a queer author, literal goblin, member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and lover of all things strange and unordinary from the arctic north woods of Wisconsin. This elusive scribbler acquired his passion for weaving stories of dark and broken things through a childhood spent huddling in books and dodging the unfriendly spirits that resided in the haunted house he called home. Currently, Leo remains in disbelief … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

New Release / Giveaway: Pinned – Liz Faraim

by
Pinned - Liz Faraim

Liz Faraim has a new lesbian mystery thriller out: Pinned. And there’s a giveaway. “Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian, who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again. At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse where they work. Upon the news of his death, she battles to find a balance between the joys of an exciting new relationship and the struggles of processing her supervisor’s unexpected passing. The manner of her supervisor’s … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Point of View: Enough

by
Enough - Deposit Photos

I usually use this column to talk about writing – things I’m working on, my approach to the craft, and other random thoughts that occur to me about stories and books and publishing in general. Every now and then, I veer off into a little hope punk – the inspirational side of things, reminding folks that there is still good in the world, even when everything seems so dark. But today, I have something heavy weighing upon my soul. A month or so ago, Pastor Casey Tinnan, a local gay pastor here in the Sacramento area and a man who … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Author Spotlight: Chloe Archer

by
Chloe Archer

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Chloe Archer writes M/M sci-fi and paranormal rom coms with laugh out loud humor because she’s all about bringing the funny-sexy back. Oh, yeah! She currently calls Minnesota home, but has lived abroad in places like Montreal, Edinburgh, and Tokyo. She’s hoping to relocate to Scotland permanently one day if the stars align.  Chloe is a fur mama to two adorable Yorkies, Jasper and Teddy, and she loves them in a crazy dog … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Point of View: Cords for Everything (or Why I hate Going Into the Garage)

by
cords from our garage

Warning: heavy-handed metaphor ahead. Nine and a half months ago, I had an accident that could have snapped my neck. My bike tires slipped on something on the pavement and sent me flying fifteen feet though the air to slam into the concrete sidewalk. As bad as it was – my orthopedic surgeon said the top of my femur looked like it “exploded” – it could have been far worse, and I am properly grateful that it wasn’t. Mark and I decided it was probably time for new bikes – something a little steadier and harder to tip over than … Read more