Outer Alliance Spotlight #19: Barton Paul Levenson January 31, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , 3commentsWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #19. Each Friday[1], 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 physicist and author, Barton Paul Levenson.
Barton is bisexual and has been writing queer speculative fiction for 24 years. His latest novel, I Will is due out very soon from Virtual Tales. Two earlier novels, Ella the Vampire and Parole are available through Lyrical Press. Two more novels, Max and Me, and Year of the Human are slated for release later this year through Lyrical Press and Hearts on Fire Books.
As a physicist, Barton writes atmosphere models when he isn’t writing fiction, and spends a lot of time trying to raise awareness about global warming. He is a born-again Christian, a liberal Democrat, and a lover of science. He hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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OA: You’ve written female/female, male/male and male/female relationships in your currently available works. What appealed to you about each of those? Do you anticipate writing more of any one type in the future?
BPL: I’m currently working on a novel which I think will involve two teen girls falling in love with each other. But generally I don’t target the sexual relationships involved from the beginning; they just flow out of the characterization.
What is attractive about each? Hard to say. I think the hetero thing feels good because you’re exploring a cuddly, warm body different from your own and designed by evolution to mate with–also because men and women in most societies have slightly different subcultures and ways of looking at things, so it’s a chance to get close to someone with a (somewhat) different psychology. The homo thing feels good, I think, because it’s reassuring to be with a body like your own, one you know, and it’s easier to know in advance what your partner will and won’t like. And if you’re raised in a heterosupremacist culture, it can be awfully liberating to throw away the demanded gender roles and just do what feels good to you, and the hell with what society thinks. That experience will fade with time as GLBT lifestyles become more accepted, God willing.
OA: I Will was released a few days ago. If you could really visit the space adventure universe in the book, would you want to go? Why, or why not?
BPL: Heck, yeah! It’s filled with all the cool SF stuff I craved as a kid–aliens, interstellar travel, strange planets, and a very comfortable, high-tech environment. Plus Earth in this universe (it shows up in the sequel) has incorporated a lot of the policy changes I recommend. When you’re creating the world, you can make it do anything you want!
OA: Your bio on the Lyrical Press site describes you as a born-again Christian and a liberal Democrat, and says that this combination confuses people. Do you think this confusion is unwarranted, or are there times when you find your spirituality and your political beliefs in conflict?
BPL: It hasn’t been a problem so far, aside from occasional frustration with fellow Christians who embrace politics I don’t, and fellow left-liberals who reject my religion or all religions. I can get along with anybody, but I have had a few occasions when I was told I couldn’t be a “real” Christian if I supported [pick an issue--free choice, gay rights, evolution...]. Also that I couldn’t “really” understand or believe science if I believed in God, and that as a Christian I undoubtedly embraced misogyny, homophobia, racism, creationism, and despoiling the environment. Sometimes it was honest ignorance; sometimes it was just prejudice.
OA: You have two more books coming out in the next year: Max and Me, and Year of the Human. Can you tell us anything about them? When can we expect to see them?
BPL: Max and Me is an SF action-adventure novel with a little speculative philosophy thrown in. The protagonist is Gunnar “Gunner” Dahlquist, a bisexual veteran of Beast War III who now pilots a freelance spaceship out of 1 Ceres. He lives with the bioengineered talking cat Max, who is even more cynical and foul-mouthed than he is. Things get strange when, twelve years after Beast War III ended, people suddenly begin pursuing Max, one faction wanting to kidnap him, another to kill him.
Year of the Human is a young-adult SF novel. Alien teen girl Throsu ka-Hohsh is a would-be astronaut and a nationalist; her planet fought a brief, inconclusive war with Earth years earlier. She is thrown for a loop when her parents inform her they will host a human scientist and her daughter for a year–the daughter to live in Throsu’s room! And soon that’s the least of her worries.
OA: As a concerned physicist, what (if anything) do you think the global community can do to successfully end global warming? If it doesn’t work, what do you think the consequences will look like?
BPL: If we make a massive switch away from fossil fuels to solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro in the next five to ten years, and stop cutting down forests, we may just make it. Frankly, I don’t think we will. The human pattern is never to prevent a crisis; it’s to wait until the crisis happens and then react. This time that pattern is going to kill us. Global warming causes more droughts in continental interiors and more violent weather along coastlines. 12% of the Earth’s land surface was “severely dry” by the Palmer Drought Severity Index in 1970; by 2002 that figure was 30% and still climbing (Dai et al. 2004). I expect human agriculture to collapse completely some time in the next forty years, and when that goes our civilization will go with it.
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Thanks, Barton! Join us again on Friday for another Spotlight, and in the meantime, check out I Will at Virtual Tales, or other books by Barton Paul Levenson at Lyrical Press.
[1] (Back to post): My apologies for the tardiness of this week’s Spotlight. A series of international travel (mis)adventures left me without internet access on Friday and Saturday.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #18: Kyell Gold January 22, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : events, interviews, queer-friendly publishers , add a commentWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #18. 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 furry author, Kyell Gold.
Kyell has won several Ursa Major Awards for his work, and recently won two Rainbow Awards for his novel, Out of Position. His latest book, Shadow of the Father, is being released this weekend at Further ConFusion in San Jose, California. Another novella, Bridges, will be released next month at Furry Fiesta in Dallas, Texas, where Kyell will appear as the Writing Guest of Honor. Bridges is part of a new project called Cupcakes, which Kyell is launching along with some other furry authors.
Kyell has been active in furry fandom and queer speculative fiction for ten years. In addition to his fiction, he also co-produces (with K.M. Hirosaki) a furry podcast called Unsheathed. When he’s not writing and podcasting, you might find him at cons, or campaigning for gay rights in his current home state of California. He lives in the San Francisco bay are with his partner, Kit Silver.
Kyell blogs on LiveJournal as kyellgold, and maintains a personal website at www.kyellgold.com.
Outer Alliance Spotlight #17: Queer Friendly Conventions January 15, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : events , 6commentsWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #17. Usually the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction, but this week we’re going to do something a little bit different. It’s the beginning of the year, so we’re going to take a look at some of the queer friendly conventions going on in 2010.
January
*First, a convention that’s happening right now: Arisia. This Boston, Massachusetts area con is queer, pagan, poly, and kink friendly, and has a few Outer Alliance members on the guest list. If you show up, you might run into Rose Fox, Jennifer Pelland, and Cecilia Tan. Arisia’s Fan Guests of Honor this year are a queer couple, Kevin Roche and Andy Trembley, and there is even a Queer SF&F panel on Saturday at 2:00 pm.
*Coming up next weekend (22-24 January) in San Jose, California, you can catch OA member Kyell Gold at Further ConFusion, a Furry convention.
February
*In Boston, Boskone 47 is happening on 12-14 February.
*If you can’t make it to Further ConFusion, you’ll have another chance to see Kyell Gold in Dallas, Texas over the weekend of 19-21 February. He’ll be appearing at Furry Fiesta as the Writing Guest of Honor.
*On 26-28 February, Gallifrey One is happening in Los Angeles, California. This convention is devoted to Dr. Who fandom. (Thanks to LJC for the tip!)
March
*OA member Catherine Lundoff will appear at MarsCon 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the weekend of 5-7 March.
*Last week’s Spotlight subject, Angelia Sparrow will be a guest at MidSouthCon during the weekend of 12-14 March.
May
*OutLantaCon is an LGBTQ SF convention in Atlanta, Georgia happening on 1-3 May. Nicola Griffith and Cecilia Tan will both be guests there. (Thanks to Catherine Lundoff for the tip!)
*WisCon is a feminist SF convention that takes place in Madison, Wisconsin. This year it will happen on the weekend of 27-31 May.
*That same weekend in Baltimore, Maryland, Tanya Huff (whose books have been recommended by multiple OA members in Spotlights past) will be the Guest of Honor at Balticon.
*Imaginales is a book and original illustration fair in Epinal, France, which will also take place on 27-30 May. The chair, Stéphanie Nicot, is one of France’s leading trans rights campaigners. (Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for this tip!)
June
*Angelia Sparrow will be appearing at Hypericon in Nashville Tennessee on the weekend of 4-6 June.
*That same weekend in Dallas, Texas, Catherine Lundoff will be a guest at A-Kon.
July
*CONvergence is happening on 1-4 July in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Catherine Lundoff will be there, too!
*ReaderCon is yet another Boston Area convention, but this one eschews media other than books. Jennifer Pelland usually turns up at this one, and Cecilia Tan has in the past as well.
*Finncon is happening 16-18 July in Finnland, and will feature Ellen Kushner and Pat Cadigan. (Thanks again to Cheryl Morgan for the tip!)
August
*Diversicon hasn’t put up its 2010 dates yet, but this Minneapolis, Minnesota convention exists to celebrate diversity in SF fandom.
*Au Contraire is the New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention for 2010. It’s happening the weekend before this year’s WorldCon, so that people can go to both in one trip. 27-29 August in Wellington, New Zealand. (Thanks to Anna for the tip!)
September
*Memphit Fur Meet 2010 will be happening on the weekend of 3-5 September in Memphis, Tennessee. This is another small, Furry convention, and Angelia Sparrow may attend it if she isn’t traveling to Atlanta, Georgia.
*Dragon*Con (3-5 September in Atlanta, Georgia) is one of the larger convention in the US, and full of elaborate costumes.
*That same weekend, but on another continent, the 68th WorldCon, AussieCon 4 is happening in Melbourne, Australia.
October
*Gaylaxicon, a con devoted entirely to queer speculative fiction, will take place in October in Montreal, Canada.
November
*OA member Elizabeth Bear will be the Guest of Honor at Darkover XXXIII in Timonium, Maryland on the weekend of 26-28 November.
This is just the tip of the convention iceberg, so please tell us about your favorite queer friendly conventions in the comments, and about which ones you plan to attend (I’m personally planning to attend Boskone and ReaderCon). I’ll be sure to update this page with more convention links if you tell me about them. With any luck, maybe we can all meet some of our fellow allies in person this calendar year!
Michael Griffith’s novel published! January 12, 2010
Posted by mbranesf in : publications , add a commentBefore I get to Mike’s great news, which many of you may have also heard by way the mailing list, I wanted to apologize for my recent virtual absence from this page and also to reiterate something: if any members of the Alliance have news of new publications, please feel free to send me some sort of “press release” about it (email to mbranesf at gmail dot com), and I will be way happy to post it to the Outer Alliance blog for you. Also, my offer of free ad space for Alliance writers and publishers to promote their stuff in M-Brane SF still stands for at least a while.
The Chronicles Of Jack Primus by Michael D. Griffiths is set in a contemporary world, but one far different than ours. Evil is not a concept for philosophical debate, but rather a strong force, made tangible and real, when it Darkens and corrupts killers and madmen. These Chronicles document Jack’s attempt to not only keep his life, but also his sanity as he delves deep into the realm of the foul Xemmoni who seek to increase their own ends by draining the life force of their Human victims.
Jack discovers far more than how stay alive. His journey exposes him to terrors no man should be forced to witness, but unlike some poor victim in a traditional horror story, Jack not only fights back, but also takes the battle to his enemy. Armed with only the small weapons he can fit on his motorcycle, what was once a man fleeing for his life transforms into a hero out to save whomever he can from these foul creatures that few ever realize exist. Travel with Jack as he embarks, not only on the road to
survival, but also struggles to unravel the foul mysterious of the evil race know as the Xemmoni. Just released by Living Dead Press, this is Michael D. Griffith’s first published novel. http://livingdeadpress.com/
Outer Alliance Spotlight #16: Angelia Sparrow January 8, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : interviews , add a commentWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #16. Each Friday (except for last Friday, when your correspondent was busy welcoming the new year), 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 erotic writer, Angelia Sparrow.
Since 2004, Angelia since written seven novels, ten novellas, and many more short stories both on her own and together with her writing partner, Naomi Brooks. Their latest novel, Alive on the Inside, came out in December. An erotic horror novel about a traveling circus, Alive on the Inside has been nominated as a candidate for Best Horror Novel in the Preditors and Editors Readers’ Poll for works published in 2009.
Angelia and Naomi are planning to release a Western in 2010. Showdown at Yellowstone River will feature a drag king gunslinger and a bisexual sheriff. In addition to that novel, a couple of collections of previously published short stories are on the horizon. Angelia will be making appearances at several cons and events including MidSouthCon in March, Southern Delta Church of Wicca’s Beltane, Hypericon in June, Either Memphit FurMeet or Dragon*Con in September, MidSouth Pride, Summerland Grove’s Festival of Souls in October, and ConTraception in November.
Angelia is a truck driver and mother of four, who identifies as a bisexual, Butch Earth Mother. She grew up in Peculiar, Missouri, but has lived in the greater Memphis area for the past twelve years. She blogs about her writing at http://angelsparrow.blogspot.com/ (syndicated on LiveJournal here), and maintains a personal blog at http://valarltd.livejournal.com/. Angelia enjoys crochet and old movies, and donates both time and money to Memphis Area Gay Youth.