A POC/non-white/mixie nerd scrapbook. Because we’re awesome.
I just updated my webpage, which was 2+ years out of date, and that included updating the list of stuff I have available online for free. So y’know, link for if you’re bored and want something to read :)
A couple of them by categories people following me might like -
Genderfluid fairy tale -
Poetry on illness -
Complicated-feels poems about myself & mother (Also, illness, because that’s sort of central to everything for me) -
Just a friendly reminder that the deadline to submit your work to the Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond anthology is May 1.
Our goal is to have somewhere between 25 and 30 short stories. We’ve already accepted some works by authors like Nisi Shawl, Eden Robinson, and Junot Diaz. We hope to soon be looking at something by you (and yes, previously published material is fine).
http://mothershipconnect.com/index.html
Submissions open April 1st, but Crossed Genres folks decided to post the guidelines first!
Who can submit
We welcome stories by authors from all walks of life. We especially encourage submissions from members of marginalized groups within the speculative fiction community, including (but not limited to) people of color; people who are not from or living in the U.S.A.; QUILTBAG and GSM people; people with disabilities, chronic illness, or mental illness; and atheists, agnostics, and members of religious minorities. The protagonists of your story do not have to mirror your own heritage, identities, beliefs, or experiences.
We also especially encourage short story submissions from people who don’t usually write in this format, including poets, playwrights, essayists and authors of historical fiction and historical romance.
Submission deadline and publication schedule
All submissions are due July 31, 2013. If it’s still July 31 in your time zone, you’re good. Acceptance notices will be sent by October 1. The anthology is tentatively slated for a February 2014 release.
Pay and rights
We pay USD 5¢/word for global English first publication rights in print and digital format. The author retains copyright. Payment is upon publication.
Story criteria
- Length: 3000-7000 words (FIRM)
- Your story must be set between the years 1400 and 1920 C.E., and take place primarily in our world or an alternate historical version of our world. (Travel to other worlds, other dimensions, Fairyland, the afterlife, etc. is fine but should not be the focus.)
- Your protagonists must be people who were marginalized in their time and place. By “marginalized” we mean that they belong to one or more groups of people that were categorically, systematically deprived of rights and/or economic power. Examples in most times and places include enslaved people, indigenous people, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and people who do not share the local dominant religion, language, or ethnicity. Many people belong to multiple marginalized groups, and many are marginalized in some ways and privileged in others. Your story should acknowledge the complexity and intersectionality of marginalization.
- Your story must contain a significant element of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or the weird, without which the story would not work or would be a substantially different story.
- All submissions must be in English.
We will not accept any story containing the following:
- Gratuitous or titillating depictions of violence.
- Gratuitous descriptions of bodies or body parts, or people described only in objectifying ways.
- Horror that relies on shocking or grossing out the reader.
- Stories that are all about how someone non-marginalized became an enlightened champion of marginalized people.
- A protagonist from a societally or technologically powerful group who happens to be temporarily or situationally powerless (e.g. a peasant who’s really a prince, a representative of the British East India Company shipwrecked on Ceylon).
- Depictions of marginalized people as being doomed to hopeless misery.
- Depiction of any group, no matter how powerful, as universally, inherently, or irredeemably evil.
Handle with care
If you decide to incorporate one or more of the following elements, please do so with caution and awareness of the ways that they can be problematic or difficult to write about.
- Violence, particularly sexual violence. We recognize that sexual violence is frequently used as a weapon against marginalized people, so we are not issuing a blanket prohibition against it, but please consider very carefully whether you need to include it in your story; and if you decide that you do, please consider very very carefully whether your story needs to show the violent act itself.
- Consensual sexual encounters. We’re not averse to sexual or erotic content, but it needs to further the story and incorporate awareness of the ways real-world power relationships affect sexual behavior and decision-making.
- Stereotypes and clichés.
- Alternate history that drops magic powers or anachronistic technology into a historical setting.
- A protagonist who is the only marginalized person in the story.
- Revenge fantasies.
- A setting that’s already very commonly used in speculative fiction, especially one that’s often associated with stories featuring members of privileged/dominant/colonizing groups, e.g. Victorian England, the American “Wild West”.
What we do want
Your story doesn’t need to have all these elements, but we’re especially interested in stories that have at least some of them.
- Intersectionality.
- Accurate depictions of life on the margins.
- Thoughtful, sensitive incorporation of religion, superstition, and folklore.
- Depictions of historically accurate societal attitudes in the context of an authorial voice that does not condone or espouse bigotry. (For example, your female characters will probably have to deal with societal sexism, but your descriptions of them should not rely on sexist stereotypes.)
- An understanding of how economic, technological, political, and religious influences shape a time and place, especially in alternate historical settings.
- Research bibliographies and suggestions for further reading.
- Integration of friendships, family relationships, and community into the story.
- Protagonists who make conscious choices and take conscious action.
- Side characters who are real people.
- Personal triumphs and successes.
- Making us laugh, think, cheer, and weep.
We’ll make the submissions form available on Monday and post a link here. Again, the deadline for submissions will be July 31!
Samuel R. Delany is not only an award winning african-american SFF writer, essayist, and professor. He is also one smooth motherfucker. For real.
oh my god
Today in what in the unacceptable fuck: this is Locus Magazine’s idea of an April Fools Day joke. The article was gone in under an hour, though it was here.
No.
Just.
No.
Do I even have to explain how wrong this is?
Transcript below the cut.
Reblogging this version as it contains a transcript.
context: the author is fan of note Lawrence Person (cite, cite), who is apparently still real mad about the Elizabeth Moon thing literally two Wiscons ago. (**tl:dr;** she was a guest author, wrote something Islamophobic, got disinvited after much kerfuffle.)
Locus has apologized, explaining that they did not see it before it went up and they had the web editor pull it ASAP.
gee, I wonder why the old-school sf scene is so white and male
The Best of all Possible Worlds
Karen Lord
HOLY SHIT SHE HAS A NEW BOOK?!?!?!?!??!!?
omfgggggggggggggggg~
based on the title i thought it might have something to do with redemption in indigo but it’s straight up sci fi?!?!
aw yeah
taking a brief break from sf/f to start on zadie smith’s stuff but this is so tempting… e__e
“taking a brief break from sf/f”
that was your first mistake
(ok though my next read is going to be teilhard de chardin’s phenomenon of man. that’s basically sf right?)
well i was SUPPOSED to be reading post apocalyptic persuasion and THE SPARROW!!!!!, but the public library system not only decided to take its sweet time transferring the books to my branch but also return them to their respective branches the day before i came back from my trip, so no sf for now :(
also i feel like we should do some kind of liberation theology book club
1. postapocalyptic persuasion?!?! yes perfect
2. THE SPARROW i would love to do a co-read but let’s face it i can’t handle the feels. i think the sorrow would tear me apart lisa
3. MOTHERFUCKIN’ LIBERATION. THEOLOGY. BOOK. CLUB.AVENGERS TUMBLR LIBERATION THEOLOGY FANS ASSEMBLE.
4. I’m like 30 pages into The Phenomenon of Manand normally I read shit straight through but I had to put it aside for a bit because it’s just that trippy
The Best of all Possible Worlds
Karen Lord
ISBN 178087166X
A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever. Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies … and a force that transcends all. “This fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel breaks out of the typical conflict-centered narrative paradigm to examine adaptation, social change, and human relationships. I’ve not read anything quite like it, which it makes that rare beast: a true original.”—Kate Elliot, author of the Crown of Stars series and the Spiritwalker Trilogy.
HOLY SHIT SHE HAS A NEW BOOK?!?!?!?!??!!?
omfgggggggggggggggg~
based on the title i thought it might have something to do with redemption in indigo but it’s straight up sci fi?!?!
aw yeah
I am so pissed. The hardcover is whitewashed and the paperback, which is this cover is like $44 on amazon. wtf?!?!??!?!?!?!
oh god, i looked up the hardcover and that cover design is awful. i dunno what’s with the paperback price, but the book just came out, so maybe there isn’t really a paperback edition yet. should probably wait for the mass-market.
The Best of all Possible Worlds
Karen Lord
ISBN 178087166X
A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever. Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies … and a force that transcends all. “This fascinating and thoughtful science fiction novel breaks out of the typical conflict-centered narrative paradigm to examine adaptation, social change, and human relationships. I’ve not read anything quite like it, which it makes that rare beast: a true original.”—Kate Elliot, author of the Crown of Stars series and the Spiritwalker Trilogy.
HOLY SHIT SHE HAS A NEW BOOK?!?!?!?!??!!?
omfgggggggggggggggg~
based on the title i thought it might have something to do with redemption in indigo but it’s straight up sci fi?!?!
aw yeah
You should be reading series: Say HELLO to your newest fantasy obsession sweethearts, an awesome writer named Alaya Dawn Johnson is knocking at your door!!!
(Book and Author descriptions from Amazon.com
Who is Alaya Dawn Johnson? Alaya Johnson lives, writes, and cooks South Indian food in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures, and has lived and traveled extensively in Japan. Her debut novel, the young adult fantasy Racing the Dark, was praised by School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Her novella Shard of Glass was reprinted in the anthology The Year’s Best Fantasy #6 and was singled out for good reviews by Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Her work has also appeared in The Year’s Best Science Fiction #11 and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #18.
1. Racing The Dark: Spirit Binder Series
Like the other women of her island, Lana expected to become a diver, harvesting jewels from a native fish. But during her initiation dive, she finds a blood-red jewel that marks her as someone with power. Though she hides the jewel, the mark it represents will drive her away from her home island and into an apprenticeship with a one-armed witch. Alaya Dawn Johnson has created an unforgettable coming-of-age story set in a world where wielding the power of magic requires understanding the true meaning of sacrifice.
In The Burning City, Alaya Dawn Johnson continues the trilogy begun with her debut, Racing the Dark, delving deeper into the world of magic wielded by women who understand the dark trade-offs of power and sacrifice. Lana, the heroine, has become the black ange l —a harbinger of destruction unheard of in the islands for 500 years. Nui’ahi, the sleeping volcano of the great city Essel, has erupted. In the chaos, the city is reshaping itself and violence threatens from all corners. A rebel movement has formed in the destroyed heart of the city, determined to oust Kohaku, the mad Mo’i of Essel. Lana wants no part of the rebels’ cause — the death spirit still chases her, and the great witch Akua has kidnapped Lana’s mother. But the more Lana looks for her mother, the more she is drawn into the city’s political conflicts. As Kohaku descends deeper into madness, determined to subdue the city by any means necessary, his wife has run away to the fire temple, where she too is slowly converted to the rebel’s cause. When long-running tensions spill over into civil war, Lana must make her hardest decision yet: her mother’s life, or a city’s freedom?
3. Moonshine
Zephyr Hollis is an underfed, overzealous social activist who teaches night school to the underprivileged of the Lower East Side. Strapped for cash, Zephyr agrees to help a student, the mysterious Amir, who proposes she use her charity worker cover to bring down a notorious vampire mob boss. What he doesn’t tell her is why. Soon enough she’s tutoring a child criminal with an angelic voice, dodging vampires high on a new blood-based street drug, and trying to determine the real reason behind Amir’s request—not to mention attempting to resist his dark, inhuman charm.
4. Wicked City
In Wicked City, the page-turning follow up to Moonshine, it’s summer in the city and most vampires are drunk on the blood-based intoxicant Faust. The mayor has tied his political fortunes to legalizing the brew, but Zephyr Hollis has dedicated herself to the cause of Faust prohibition—at least when she isn’t knocking back sidecars in speakeasies.
But the game changes when dozens of vampires end up in the city morgue after drinking Faust. Are they succumbing to natural causes, or have they been deliberately poisoned? When an anonymous tip convinces the police of her guilt, Zephyr has to save her reputation, her freedom and possibly her life. Someone is after her blood—and this time it isn’t a vampire.In a New York City populated by flappers and vampires, debutantes and djinn, it’s best to watch your back. You never know what’s lurking in the shadows.The battle is on for a magic realm! Will you join the fearsome goblins or the dangerous elves? Can you escape all their tricks and traps and find your way home? Every TWISTED JOURNEYS® graphic novel lets YOU control the action by choosing which path to follow. Which twists and turns will your journey take?
Hundreds of years into the future, in a post-apocalyptic world, there’s a beautiful city in a steel-and-glass pyramid, perched on a Brazilian bay. It’s Palmares Tres, founded and run by women after men made a wreck of the world, and named for a famous 17th century city founded by escaped slaves. The city runs on a combination of futuristic technology and ancient, bloody ritual: Every five years, a Summer King is elected by the people and sacrificed at the end of the year. Alaya Dawn Johnson’s gorgeous young adult novel The Summer Prince follows two teenage Palmarinas, June Costa and her best friend, Gil, as they navigate the treacherous intersections between art, politics, technology and love. In this scene, June remembers being 8 years old and seeing her first Summer King die. The Summer Prince will be published March 1.
(Click the link for a snippet of the novel)
One of the winners of this year’s James Tipree Jr. Award is: Ancient, Ancient by Kiini Ibura Salaam
YAY
From the website:
In Ancient, Ancient, Kiini Ibura Salaam’s startling stories combine science fiction, fantasy, and mythology in a sensuous exploration of what it means to live while struggling to define self and other. Salaam’s language is poetic and sensuous — a unique and original voice. The stories are ambitious and challenging, demonstrating excellent range in both storytelling style and imagery, from the mundane to the fully fantastical. Salaam is particularly interested in agency in oppressive social realities and explores how oppression works on our gendered bodies.
You can buy the paperback and eBook versions from the Aqueduct Press website.
Looks like I have another book to read.
This will be worth it!
