Outer Alliance Spotlight #45: Retro Spec August 27, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews, publications, queer-friendly publishers , 1 comment so farWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #45. Each week the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guests this week are Karen Romanko, CD Covington, and Leonard Richardson, the editor and two of the contributors to Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia from the 20th Century.
Karen Romanko is a poet and fantasy writer, who loves the sun of Los Angeles and Malibu. She edited the speculative fiction webzine, Raven Electrick for several years, and has edited two previous anthologies, Sporty Spec and Cinema Spec. Her poetry and fiction and have appeared in many places including Strange Horizons and Ideomancer.
CD Covington is a fantasy and science fiction writer who also enjoys tai chi, crochet, and European football (she is particularly interested in the German Bundesliga). She maintains a twitter feed in addition to her blog. “U* Alexanderplatz (1989)” is her first publication.
Leonard Richardson is a writer and computer programmer. His programming books, RESTful Web Services and The Ruby Cookbook were published by O’Reilly, and his story, “Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs” appeared in Strange Horizons. Together with his wife, Sumana Harihareswara, he edited the anthology Thoughtcrime Experiments in 2009.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #44: Debra Killeen August 6, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : events, interviews , add a commentWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #44. 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 Debra Killeen, author of the Myrridian Cycle series.
Debra Killeen turned to writing only as an adult. In her non-writing life she works in the pharmceutical industry, but her fiction remains firmly in high fantasy territory, not science fiction. The first book in her Myrridian Cycle, An Unlikely Duke, came out in 2007, and was followed by three more volumes: A Prince in Need, Legacy of the Archbishop, and Priestess Awakening. The fifth and final volume is scheduled to come out in 2011.
Debra is a straight ally, who believes that people should take love where they find it. She counts among her friends and relatives people from all across the spectrum of sexual and gender identity, and supports LGBTQI acceptance in her life and in her fiction.
If you are in Raleigh this weekend, you can find Debra at NASFiC, where she will be reading this evening at 8:00 with the Broad Universe group, as well as sitting on a few panels, and signing autographs. If you’re not near Raleigh, you might be able to catch Debra later this year or next at Darkover, OutlantaCon, StellarCon, RavenCon, or ConCarolinas.
Debra lives in North Carolina with her sister, who is also a writer. They share their home with several cats, who are all very helpful with the writing. In addition to her personal site, Debra maintains a Twitter feed.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #43: Cheryl Morgan July 30, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 3commentsWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #43. 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 Cheryl Morgan, founder of Wizard’s Tower Press.
Cheryl Morgan has been active in SF fandom for many years. She edited the Hugo winning fan magazine, Emerald City, and won the Hugo for the Best Fan Writer category in 2009. Currently she’s the non-fiction editor for Clarkesworld Magazine, and part of the team behind Science Fiction Awards Watch, Convention Reporter, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards.
Her newest project, Wizard’s Tower Press, just went live this month, and aims to publish e-books as well as a non-fiction magazine, and some print anthologies. The magazine, Salon Futura, will launch its first issue in September at WorldCon, and Wizard’s Tower Press’s first anthology, Dark Spires, will be released in November to coincide with BristolCon.
Cheryl mirrors her blog on LiveJournal, and maintains a Twitter feed. She lives near Bath, UK.
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.