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POINT OF VIEW: Keeping Track of All the Details

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Series Bible

I was just a part of a great online panel on story bibles. “What’s a story bible?” you ask. It’s a great way for a writer to keep track of all the nitty-gritty details of a story or series. The longer you write in a given universe, be it sci-fi, fantasy, or a sweet magical contemporary set in the eastern end of Sacramento, the details pile up quickly: Character Details: Hair color, eye color, height, race, history, relationships and personal tics. Place Details: Stores and restaurants, real and imagined. Neighborhoods. Moon bases or starships or enchanted cities. Cultural Details: What … Read more

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ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: His Brother’s Viscount – Stephanie Lake

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His Brother's Viscount

Stephanie Lake has a new MM historical Regency romance out: His Brother’s Viscount. And there’s a giveaway! As a baron’s youngest son, Hector Somerville has no real prospects. He will not inherit, and he’s overshadowed by two perfect brothers. While searching for ways to improve his situation, Hector finds respite in an invitation to a country estate—and has a second chance at rekindling his illicit affair with Viscount Wentworth, captain of HBMS Dragon. The upcoming fortnight could be everything Hector dreamed of since their disastrous parting. Wentworth has forsaken love, and yet, memories of guilt and heartache resurface. He loved … Read more

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ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Concussion and Contentment – Liz Faraim

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Concussion and Contentment - Liz Faraim

Liz Faraim has a new ff contemporary book out, Vivian Chastain series book 3: Concussion and Contentment. And there’s a giveaway! Vivian, an adrenaline junkie and U.S. Army veteran, goes about her life as a bartender, avid runner, and polyamorous lesbian. Life in Sacramento, California is going well until she is blindsided by unforeseen financial issues which lead her to consider a new career. In an attempt to recharge and take a break, she visits her best friend, Jared, only to be sidetracked by a motorcycle trip with her other best friend, Bear. The adventure does not turn out to be … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Writing in a Time of Chaos

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chaos - deposit photos

Damn, it’s been a week. The earth is shaking, a country is falling, and a virus is surging across the land. Mark and I find ourselves trapped inside our house again, staring out the windows at the excessive heat (and sometimes the wildfire smoke) and feeling like it’s 2020 all over again. My writing is in a shambles. Or maybe it’s not. I’m in the second third of the third book in a trilogy. I’m too close to it and I just can’t tell anymore. I am actually writing, but it’s too soon to know how it’s really going. Welcome … Read more

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: SI CLARKE

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SI CLARKE

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, SI CLARKE – SI CLARKE is a Canadian misanthrope who lives in Deptford, sarf ees London. She shares her home with her partner and an assortment of waifs and strays. When not writing convoluted, inefficient stories, she spends her time telling financial services firms to behave more efficiently. When not doing either of those things, she can be found in the pub or shouting at people online – occasionally practising efficiency by doing both … Read more

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ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Windfall – Shawna Barnett

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Windfall - Shawna Barnett

Shawna Barnett has a new LGBTQ+ pirate fantasy book out: Windfall. And there’s a giveaway! Captain Liana Foley knows a thing or two about fights. She fights the King’s Navy. She fights to balance power in oppressive Vioria. She fights for respect as a female, bisexual, pirate captain. But she’s losing her biggest fight: to escape her secret past as a lost Princess.With a mysterious letter and a stranger threatening to expose her, Liana is blackmailed into attending a royal ball and protecting her counterpart, sheltered Princess Rhian. The pretenses are suspicious enough, but Liana takes the risk in hopes … Read more

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ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Ink – Queer Sci Fi’s 7th Flash Fiction Anthology

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Queer Sci Fi’s annual flash fiction anthology is finally here – and this year the theme is Ink. There’s a giveaway too! INK (NOUN) Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) A colored fluid used for writing2) The action of signing a deal3) A black liquid ejected by squid4) Publicity in the written media5) A slang word for tattoos Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi. Publisher | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Writing Alien

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Alien - Deposit Photos

I just finished reading The Bantam by RJ Theodore (review coming soon). I really enjoyed it – it’s like a crash course in writing a relatable alien. So how did the author do it? When writing truly alien characters, we have to discard everything we know: Why should they be bipedal? Why should they have hands or fingers, and why would these appendages be at the end of arms? Why would they have two genders? Why two eyes? Would they even have something we’d call eyes? Many sci-fi shows, books and films create aliens that are basically humans with different … Read more

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Andrea Lambert

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Andrea Lambert

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, Andrea Lambert – Lambert is a queer writer and artist with Schizoaffective Disorder. Themes of abjection, mental illness, transgression and the occult inhabit her work. Author of Jet Set Desolate, Scaffolding and other books. Anthologies: Impact, Golden State 2017, Haunting Muses and elsewhere. Writing in Blanket Sea, The Because Better Project, OCCULUM and elsewhere. Queer artist. Nevada recluse. She/Her. Twitter: @AndreaLamber. Site: andreaklambert.com.. Thanks so much, Andrea, for joining me! J. Scott … Read more

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REVIEW: Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake – Jonathan Fesmire

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REVIEW: Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake - Jonathan Fesmire

Genre: Steampunk, Western Sci-Fi Get It On Amazon About The Book James “Bodacious” Creed stopped a killer and helped bring peace to Santa Cruz, a coastal California city on the edge of the American frontier. Now, the undead lawman, resurrected with steam-based technology, takes on dangerous criminal cases as a private investigator. One night while riding by the wharf, Creed hears a gunshot. He and his coyote companion, Coconino, rush to the scene. In a forest clearing, he finds two dead men and a dying woman. Mechanical parts ring her neck and wrist, and as she whispers of her travails, … Read more