Outer Alliance Spotlight #42: Sandra McDonald July 23, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 1 comment so farWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #42. Each week the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Sandra McDonald, author of Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories.
Sandra McDonald has written several short stories and novels, including “The Ghost Girls of Rumney Mill”, which was shortlisted for the Tiptree award in 2003, and the science fiction series, The Outback Stars, The Stars Down Under, and The Stars Blue Yonder. Her latest book, Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories follows the coverging paths of three people including an openly gay character and a genderqueer character.
Sandra has an MFA from the University of Southern Maine, and spent 8 years traveling the world as a Naval Officer. In addition to her personal site, she keeps a LiveJournal where she posts about writing.
Outer Alliance Meetup at Readercon July 9, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : announcements, events , add a commentNo Spotlight this week as I am busy attending Readercon in Burlington, MA. Please say hello if you see me! I’m a short white woman with long purple hair.
And the exciting thing: we’re having an Outer Alliance meetup on Sunday at 12:30. Come to the Marriott lobby and meet some of your fellow allies!
Pride Posts from June July 9, 2010
Posted by Natania in : Outer Alliance Pride Day, The Outer Alliance , 1 comment so farWe collected some pride-related posts from our members to share. Yes, it’s July, but there’s no harm in letting the pride shine all year long. That’s exactly what we’re about here at the Outer Alliance. 
Jarla Tangh – Proud of Pride in June
Chris Fletcher – Father’s Day
If you’ve written a pride-related post, and you’d like us to link from here, please just let us know in the comments. We’ll be happy to add you!
Outer Aliance Spotlight #41: John Coulthart July 3, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , add a commentWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #41. Each week the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is artist John Coulthart.
John is a gay artist and writer based in Manchester, UK. He designs and illustrates books and comics as well as creating CD and DVD cover art, and original visual art. His Psychedelic Wonderland 2010 calendar was featured on Boing Boing, and inspired his cover art for Alan Moore’s Dodgem Logic #4. He has work on display as part of the A Love Craft exhibition at Observatory in Brooklyn, New York, which will be open until the 23rd of this month.
Though he doesn’t read as much science fiction as he used to, John feels indebted to the genre for giving him queer characters he could identinfy with as a teen. He’s an Outer Alliance member because of that, and because he believes LGBTQI visibility is important. John maintains a Twitter feed and blogs on his personal site.
Help Celebrate Pride Month With The Outer Alliance! June 28, 2010
Posted by Natania in : Outer Alliance Pride Day, The Outer Alliance, announcements, events, news , 1 comment so farPride Month may be drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to make a statement! The Outer Alliance is hoping you will join us in celebrating Pride Month via your personal or organization’s blog. We’ve come up with a few suggestions for ways you can show your pride.
Press Pride – Do you have a favorite press that consistently wows you with queer content? Highlight the presses that have made a difference in your life, and link to some of the books that have been particularly inspiring. Don’t forget to let your readers know how to support the press and purchase those publications. You can do a review, an interview, or just a note of thanks.
Personal Pride – Have you experienced something amazing during the process of writing or reading? Did a particular character teach you a lesson? Have you come to any personal realizations through characterization or in the process of writing a novel? Tell us about your experiences with queer fiction; provide an excerpt or a personal story.
Pride in the Process – Write a few lines of queer flash fiction. Post it on your blog as a living acknowledgment of your pride in the genre.
Whatever you choose to do, when you post, let us know by tracking back here or linking on our Google Group. At the end of the week we’ll link back to all the posts!
Keep in mind the Mission Statement of the Outer Alliance, too:
As a member of the Outer Alliance, I advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. I make sure this is reflected in my actions and my work.
Happy Pride Month, everyone!
Outer Alliance Spotlight #40: Sacchi Green June 25, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 1 comment so farWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #40. Each Friday, the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Lambda Award winning author and editor, Sacchi Green (AKA Connie Wilkins).
Sacchi Green is the erotica writing pseudonym for Connie Wilkins, and she’s got a list of publishing credits that’s about a mile long. She identifies as a lifetime bisexual person with strong lesbian leanings, and a definitely lesbian writing muse. Most recently, she won the 2010 Lambda Award in the Lesbian Erotica category for co-editing Lesbian Cowboys with Rakelle Valencia. She also edited Girl Crazy, and the forthcoming Lesbian Lust (due out in August), and is currently taking submissions for Lesbian Cops.
As Connie Wilkins, she edited Time Well Bent, an anthology of queer alternate history stories. Her personal fiction contribution to that volume is reprinted in Bedazzled Ink’s Year’s Best Lesbian Fiction 2009 and (with slightly more erotic content) Circlet Press’s Best Fantastic Erotica. She also has a story coming out in Hellebore and Rue, an anthology of stories about lesbian magic users due otu from Drollerie Press later this year.
Sacchi blogs on LiveJournal, maintains a Facebook profile, and is active on the Lesbian Fiction Forum. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, and will be reading in various East Coast cities this fall.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #39: Rose Lemberg June 18, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews, queer-friendly publishers , 2commentsWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #39. Each Friday, the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Rose Lemberg, editor of the new LGBTQI friendly poetry zine, Stone Telling.
Rose grew up with a jumble of native and semi native languages including Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew. She began writing poetry and fiction in English as an adult after pursuing a Ph.D. in Linguistics at UC Berkeley. Her poetry has appeared in many places including Abyss & Apex (which published last year’s Rhysling nominated “Odysseus on the War Train”) and Goblin Fruit (which published this year’s Rhysling nominated “Godfather Death”), and her short fiction has appeared in G.U.D., Strange Horizons, and Fantasy Magazine.
Stone Telling is Rose’s newest project, an online magazine devoted to literary speculative poetry. The title is the name of a character from a story by Ursula K. Le Guin, and the first issue will feature a previously unpublished poem by Le Guin. The first reading period opened on the 14th of June, and will close on the 14th of August.
Rose is on LiveJournal and Twitter, and also maintains a Stone Telling LiveJournal community. She is currently a professor at a large research University in the Midwest.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #38: M. S. Corley June 11, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 1 comment so farWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #38. Each Friday, the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is M. S. Corley, cover and interior artist for The Aether Age: Helios.
M. S. Corley is a straight ally who has been creating visual art since he was a small child. Back in the day, he spent a lot of time drawing pictures of characters from Mega Man, but more recently he created a bit of an internet splash with his series of retro Harry Potter book covers. Now he’s teamed up with Brandon Bell to work on Aether Age: Helios.
M. S. is a full time freelance artist, who enjoys reading–favorite authors include H. P. Lovecraft and William Hope Hodgson–and playing video games. He is currently working on some illustrations for Dungeons & Dragons Adventure books (among other things). He lives with his wife in Kirkland, Washington. He shares his artwork on his blog, Flickr, and deviantART.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #37: Lauren P. Burka June 4, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 2commentsWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #37. Each Friday, the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Lauren P. Burka, writer and assistant editor at Circlet Press.
Lauren’s fiction debuted in 1992 with the collection, Mate: And More Stories from the Erotic Edge of SF/Fantasy. Since then she’s written several more pieces, both long and short. Most recently Torquere Books released her m/m romance, Wishbone, and her short story, “Double Edged Bomb” appeared in the collection of erotic superhero stories, Like a Mask Removed. As an editor, she works on single author projects and anthologies such as the transgendered themed Up For Grabs, the BDSM themed Kneel to Me, and the M/M SFF erotica collection, Wired Hard 4. She is currently editing the sequel to Up For Grabs, and writing a cookbook for people with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.
Lauren lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near the Circlet Press headquarters. If you’d like to catch up with her in person, she’ll be attending Readercon in July.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #36: Brandon Bell May 28, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , add a commentWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #36. Each Friday, the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Brandon Bell, Outer Alliance founding member, and co-editor of The Aether Age: Helios.
Brandon is a straight ally who is ethically opposed to any group having lesser rights than the majority. His work has appeared in several places including M-Brane SF, Byzarium, Everyday Weirdness, and Return to Luna. Together with Chris Fletcher of M-Brane, Brandon is editing an anthology, The Aether Age: Helios, which is due out this Summer.
Brandon is a Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist who lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas area with his wife and daughters. His favorite movie is The Night of the Iguana, and his favorite book is Zod Wallop by William Browning Spencer. In addition to his blog, he maintains a Twitter feed as @Nithska.