Queer Sci-Fi – Andrew Q. Gordon

Facets of the Nether: by William C. Tracy ~ Blog Tour and Excerpt

Please welcome William C. Tracy to the Land of Make Believe as he shares his adventures in world building in celebration of his new Queer/MMF sci fi/fantasy/steampunk tale, book two in the Dissolution Cycle: “Facets of the Nether!”

Ficlets – Little Extra Story Bits

Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things when writing a story, and the more I write in the Dissolutionverse, the more I get to do. The Dissolutionverse now includes Facets of the Nether, along with the first book, The Seeds of Dissolution, the upcoming third book, Fall of the Imperium, four novellas, a novelette, and several short stories. While putting too much worldbuilding in one place can turn off readers and clutter up the story, having so many different little stories means I can keep worldbuilding and making my universe more complex and real. One of the ways I do this is my adding little tidbits of information at the start of all my chapters. They tie into the chapter in some way, but also give pieces of a wider story, and even reference characters and places that are in other stories. So here I’m going to share a few of the most interesting tidbits that run through the Dissolutionverse:

The Timeline: Most of the stories I’ve written take place between 979 and 1004 A.A.W. (After Aridori War). One novella takes place in 953, one short story happens in 632, and one (as yet unreleased!) short story occurs just before the Aridori War (B.A.W.). Here are some other interesting dates that I’ve written down over the years…
- 224 B.A.W.: Treatise on the six Houses
- 203 A.A.W.: The founding of Gloomlight prison in the midst of a Lobath city
- 483 A.A.W.: Call for offensive use of the Symphony
- 726 A.A.W.: The Pixies species enter the Great Assembly of Species
- 856 A.A.W.: A study on relations between the ten species
- 883 A.A.W.: Slithen has a dream of the Dissolution
- 919 A.A.W.: The first formation of the Life Coalition
- 939 A.A.W.: Origon Cyrysi born
- 952 A.A.W.: The Lobhl species enter Great Assembly of Species
- 962 A.A.W.: Rilan Ayama born
- 972 A.A.W.: The Methiemum-Sathssn war of trading rights
- 979 A.A.W.: Ket discovers how to mechanically hear the Symphony
- 1003 A.A.W.: Origon Cyrysi pilots the first space capsule
- 1004 A.A.W.: Present day
On the Festuour homeworld: – Festuour is almost an anomaly among the ten homeworlds with its dense air and crushing weight. Where one would feel light and graceful on Etan, that same person would drag their feet on the Festuour homeworld. Perhaps this is why it is inhabited by such fearsome predators. In contrast, the folk of this homeworld tend to be lighthearted, inquisitive, and jovial.

Excerpt from “A Dissertation on the Ten Species, Book IV: Festuour”

On the relationship between maji and merchants: – In recent cycles, some merchants have cried foul against the maji raising prices on portal creation. While the portals are the only way to link our homeworlds together, they are also a drain on the already overworked houses of the maji. But I feel passing this cost on may have a worse result. By driving away the traveling merchants who connect our different cultures, I believe we may generate much more contention and even war among the ten species that make up our coalition of worlds.

From a travelogue of Morvu Francita Januti, Etanela explorer and big game hunter

On the creation of System Beasts:– System Beasts will form a new type of service to the members of the Great Assembly of Species. They can be geared in a number of roles, from laborer or draftbeast, to social secretary or aide for those with disabilities, or even items of luxury. The possibilities are nearly limitless, as the constructs can be quite intelligent and take orders well. I look forward to seeing how the people of the Nether receive and apply System Beasts to make their lives easier.

From a proposal by Mandamon Feldo, majus of the Houses of Healing and Potential

On the geology of the Nether: – People commonly wonder how the floor of the Nether is made of dirt, instead of the substance of the columns. By the influx of inhabitants, flora, and fauna through portals, and over thousands of cycles, soil accumulated. I have visited deep windswept gullies, far away from any habitation, where the true Nether floor gleams like crystal in the light from the walls.

Morvu Francita Januti, Etanela explorer and big game hunter

You can see how much I like dropping little things like this throughout my stories. Morvu, from the last quote, got so many little notes written about her I decided to make her the mother of the viewpoint character in Journey to the Top of the Nether, where the heroes climb the miles-high wall of the Nether to see what’s at the top. I already know there’s going to be a follow-up adventure to that one!

I’ve got loads more little tidbits hidden away. You’ll have to read through all the books to find them all!

The Dissolution approaches.

Sam has saved the Assembly of Species, but at a terrible cost. Locked in his apartment, his memories gone and his best friend abducted, he is once again crippled with anxiety. Meanwhile, Enos struggles to free her brother from imprisonment, alone for the first time in her life. Her true species has been revealed, and there are hints the deadliest of her kind survived an ancient war.

But the Nether contains more secrets. A musical chime disrupts daily life, signaling changes to its very fabric. To solve this mystery, Sam must face his anxiety and confront truths about his memories and unique abilities. Only then can he save his friends from the machinations of the Life Coalition, by understanding the reality behind the Facets of the Nether.

Where to Find Facets of the Nether

Amazon | Bookbub | Goodreads

Giveaway

William is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour. Enter via Rafflecopter for a chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47129/?

Excerpt

– The appearance of a new house of the maji is not to be as surprising as its origin. My apprentice, who firmly appeared to be of the House of Communication, is the one who is showing me these new things, at my age. Truly, the Nether is changing.

Journal of Origon Cyrysi, Kirian majus of the Houses of Communication and Power

A chime erupted through the Imperium, as if all the crystal plates in the world rang and shattered at once. Samuel van Oen held his ears and, through the window of his mentor’s apartment, watched a flight of alien birds split and scatter at the noise.

“What was that?” Sam dropped his hands from his ears as the sound stabilized into a deep, clear tone he felt in his gut. It was loud, but not as unbearable as it had been. Deep in the back of his mind, the Grand Symphony responded to the noise like a tuning fork against a plate of metal. The different rhythms fractured and multiplied at the chime, like the whole world was vibrating.

No one answered his question, as Majus Cyrysi was out again. The Kirian had spent more time in the libraries of the Spire than in teaching Sam, not that he was ever particularly good at teaching.

The tower of the House of Communication vibrated beneath Sam’s feet as the sound lessened to a background hum. The music normally playing in its halls had ceased during the explosion of sound, but now picked up fitfully, warring with the chime’s resonance. The flock of birds—with crests of orange, and three scaly wings down each side of their body—swooped in an irregular pattern, disrupted by the noise.

Sam went to the window and looked down. To one side, dust fell from the strange stone bridge that ran from the middle height of the House of Communication to the immense wall of the Nether. He’d been out on it before, as it was a curiosity of this House, and maji occasionally used it to take in the view. There were a few maji on it now—a tall Etanela and two Methiemum—looking up at the immense wall of the Nether, bathed in blues and purples like a titanic sheet of ice.

On the ground far below, people milled around in confusion. Sam guessed the bell-like sound wasn’t normal, but he’d only been in this place a little under two months. Before that, things became blurred and hazy in his mind. The presence that had rooted through his head took many of his memories. He remembered Earth, and that he had stayed with his aunt after something happened to his parents. Their faces refused to come to mind. Thinking about what happened at the Dome of the Assembly made him seek the silence of Majus Cyrysi’s apartment, and he couldn’t stop. He was obsessing about what he could have—should have—done differently. He was slowly spiraling down to a place of solitude and loneliness, and his body wouldn’t obey his deeper wish to break the cycle.

Sam jumped back from the window as someone banged on the door. A spike like an icicle in his gut went through him. Sweat pricked his forehead.

Don’t be someone new.

It could only be one of a few people, but his throat threatened to close at the thought of explaining why he was sitting here alone, staring out a window. How long ago had Majus Cyrysi left?

Sam put one eye to the peephole in the door, then sagged in relief. It was Enos. He could ask her about the sound digging its way into his head.

He opened the door and let his friend in, looking her over. There were bags under her eyes and she hadn’t combed her long black hair.

“You haven’t slept either, have you?” said Enos.

Sam let out a burst of air. It wasn’t quite a laugh. “That’s what I was going to say.” He pulled her into the room by her hand, quickly closing the door. The hall should be familiar, but it didn’t feel like the right day to go outside. Again.

“You hear that too, right? Do you know what—”

Enos shook her head. “No idea. I was about to ask you. People are running around like mad. I don’t think anyone knows.”

Then why would she think I knew? He stared at the closed door.

Enos followed his gaze, then took his other hand. “It’s been a ten-day since you left Majus Cyrysi’s apartment.” She winced as if she had a headache. Probably that irritating chime. It was like a dull drill, pressing against the back of his head.

Sam frowned. Now wasn’t the time to talk about going out. Couldn’t Enos see he had other things on his mind?

“Before this noise started I was trying to remember…remember—” He bit his lip and focused over her shoulder. It was something about Earth. He’d almost had it.

“Remember what?’ Enos asked, bringing his focus back. “Is it connected with the attack on the Assembly? Or about the new themes you hear in the Symphony? Can they help us find Inas?”

Sam shook his head. He was letting Enos down.

She won’t want to be with me anymore.

He knew it wasn’t true, but the fact beat against the inside of his head. Inas had been the other side of a scale, balancing him. Without him, everything was harder.

Author Bio

William C. Tracy is a North Carolina native and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. He self-published his Dissolutionverse space opera books and has one epic fantasy published with a small press.

He also has a master’s in mechanical engineering, and has designed and operated heavy construction machinery. He’s trained in Wado-Ryu karate since 2003, and runs his own dojo in Raleigh. He is an avid video and board gamer, a reader, and a writer.

In his spare time, he cosplays with his wife such combinations as Steampunk Agent Carter and Jarvis, Jafar and Maleficent, and Doctor Strange and the Ancient One. They also enjoy putting their pets in handmade costumes and making them cosplay for the annual Christmas card. Get a novelette by signing up for William’s mailing list at http://williamctracy.com, or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wctracy for writing updates, cat pictures, and martial arts.

Where to Find William C. Tracy

Guest Author—J. Scott Coatsworth—Fuzzing the Line with The Great North

Please welcome to the Land of Make Believe, J Scott Coatsworth. I’ve mentioned before, Scott is trying to single handedly bring Queer Sci-fi (and Fantasy) to the masses. He stops by today to give talk about blurring the lines between genres in his writing. Did we mention he has a new release? He does! The Great North is now available everywhere. With that, the blog is yours, Scott.

J. Scott Coatsworth: Fuzzing the Line

I’m notorious for coloring outside the line in my stories. I especially like mixing my fantasy and sci fi hues – see “The Autumn Lands”, “Skythane”, “Through the Veil”, “Wonderland”, and “Homecoming” for examples.

For my latest story, “The Great North”, I was asked to choose a myth to recast as an MM story. I could have chosen to place it in any time period – ancient Greece, present day Boston, or the eve the rings of Saturn in 2743.

For my subject matter, I picked a story I’d never heard of before – the Welsh tale of Dwynwen. It’s about the woman who inspired Dwynwen’s Day, the Welsh Valentine’s Day, and her doomed lover Maelon.

I decided to set it on a future Earth, after the worst effects of climate change and mankind’s own greed have destroyed much of the planet. In that sense, it clearly has sci fi roots. But the world is much reduced for my characters, and the village of Manicouga bears much more of a resemblance to a town from the middle ages than to the sci-fi Capitol in the Hunger games.

Arthur C. Clarke once posited that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I’d suggest a corollary – “any sufficiently devolved society begins to approach fantasy.” At some point, we give up our rules and logic and scientific inquiry, and once again begin to assign the ways of the universe to the whims of gods and monsters.

With “The Great North”, I got to play around with the idea that these supernatural beings are real, and when we begin to believe in them, they begin to have more power in our own world.

In any great “future Earth” story, there are bits of the old Earth we can still recognize – think the Statue of Liberty in the pivotal scene of the original “Planet of the Apes.” And that’s true here. Bits of the old world still litter the world of Manicouga and its environs, and bits of old world ideas too.

So is it sci fi? Or is it fantasy?

I’ll let you decide.

About the Book:

Dwyn is a young man in the small, isolated town of Manicouga, son of the Minstor, who is betrothed to marry Kessa in a few weeks’ time.

Mael is shepherding the remains of his own village from the north, chased out by a terrible storm that destroyed Land’s End.

Both are trying to find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. When the two meet, their love and attraction may change the course of history.

—————

The Great North was inspired by St. Dwynwen’s Day, also known as Welsh Valentines Day:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwynwen

Publisher: Mischief Corner Books

Cover Artist: Freddy MacKay

Release Date: 6/14/17

Genre: MM, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Myths, Legends, Gods, Post-Apocalyptic

Excerpt:

“We celebrate Dwyn’s Day as a testament to true love and sacrifice. It’s a remembrance of the way things were and the way they’ve come to be. In the end, let it be a reminder that every one of us has the power to change the course of events through love.”

—Dillon Cooper, New Gods and Monsters, Twenty years After Dwyn

The gray clouds scudded by overhead, blowing in quickly from the east.

Dwyn shivered and pulled on his woolen cap. It was cold out, unusual for so early in the fall. The rains had been heavy this season, the wettest in a generation, and Circle Lake was close to overflowing its banks. If he stretched to look over the rows of corn plants, he could see the waters lapping at the shore far below, as if hungry to consume his village of Manicouga.

His father had consulted the elders, some of whom had seen more than fifty summers, and everyone agreed things were changing. Whether that augured good or ill was anyone’s guess.

He shrugged and moved along the row of plants, breaking off ears of corn and throwing them into the jute sack that hung from his shoulder.

Ahead of him, two of his age-mates, Declan and Baia, were working their way down the next two rows.

Dwyn frowned. He got distracted easily, and he’d let the two of them get a jump on him. That wouldn’t do.

He redoubled his pace. He moved with focus and purpose, and soon he was closing the gap with his friends.

“Someone’s being chased by a lion,” Baia said with a laugh.

“Or a tiger.” Declan grinned, his nice smile only missing one tooth, lost to a fight with one of the Beckham brothers the year before.

Dwyn grinned. “Or a bear?” Dwyn only knew lions and tigers from the fairy tale his mother used to tell them, “The Girl and the Aus.” He had no idea what an Aus was, either.

Bears he knew. The hunters occasionally brought one home, and old Alesser had a five-line scar across his wrinkled face that he claimed came from one of the beasts.

A shout went up from ahead of them. Dwyn craned his neck to see what the ruckus was, but he couldn’t make out anything. “What’s going on?”

Declan, who was half a head taller, looked toward the commotion. “Hard to tell. Something down by the road.”

Dwyn laid down his sack carefully and ran up the hill to one of the old elms that dotted the field. He climbed into the tree, scurrying up through the leaves and branches until he had a clear view of the Old Road. It ran from up north to somewhere down south, maybe near the ruins of old Quebec if the merchant tales held any truth. Hardly anyone from Manicouga ever followed it, but occasionally traders would follow it to town, bringing exotic wares and news from the other villages that were scattered up and down its length.

They swore it went all the way down to the Heat, the great desert that had consumed much of the world after the Reckoning.

“What’s going on down there?” Baia called from below.

Dwyn tried to make sense of it. “There are three wagons coming down the pass. They’re loaded up with all sorts of things. They don’t look like traders though.”

The first of the horse-drawn wagons had just reached the field above the main township. It stopped, and someone hopped off to talk with the villagers who had gathered from the fields.

“We need to get down there,” Dwyn said, scrambling down the tree trunk. “Something’s happening.” Nothing new ever happened in Manicouga, and he wasn’t going to miss it.

He grabbed his sack and sprinted toward the Old Road, not waiting to see if Declan and Baia followed.

Buy Links Etc:

Publisher:

Amazon:

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Kobo:

iBooks:

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About the Author:

Scott spends his time between the here and now and the what could be. Enticed into fantasy and sci fi by his mom at the tender age of nine, he devoured her Science Fiction Book Club library. But as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were in the books he was reading.

He decided that it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at his local bookstore. If there weren’t gay characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

His friends say Scott’s mind works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He loves to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.

He runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring queer people together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own lives.

Find The Author:

Website:

Facebook (personal):

Facebook (author page):

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Amazon:

Flight Blog Tour: How To Write Contest-Winning Flash Fiction – by Aidee Ladnier

flight-full-cover

This is a first for the blog – a judge from a writing contest. Aides Ladnier is here today to talk about how to write contest-winning flash fiction. And she would know a thing or two about this as her story came in 3rd out of 117 stories in Queer Sci-fi’s 2015 flash fiction contest. So please welcome Aidee and then go find out more about the book. The proceeds go to support the Queer Sci-fi site and help give a voice to LGBTQA authors.

How to Write Contest Winning Flash Fiction; by Aidee Ladnier

aideeladnier To my great delight, one of the prizes for placing third in the QSF 2^nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest was a chance to judge the entries for the 3^rd Annual Flash Fiction Contest. It was tons of fun reading all the entries and took more time than I would have thought, since each of the stories were only 300 words.

Make no mistake—writing a 300-word piece of flash fiction is as much an art as writing a 300-page novel. When you have word restrictions, your writing tends to be more spare. Your concepts become visceral and simple, akin to basic necessities. I love the challenge of flash fiction. I’ve written stories ranging from 1500 words to 200. And I have to admit, it can be frustrating trying to fit a complex story idea into a tiny tale. But good flash fiction reaches right to the heart of the matter, succinctly and with a fist clutching at your throat. A lot of writers think that flash fiction is just a snippet or a scene. Sure, you can fit that into a small word count and it might be relevant. This is easy to do when you’re writing about characters that already exist in a longer piece. But really good flash fiction stands on its own as a whole story, complete in itself. All the elements of a longer novel are in flash fiction: genre, setting, characterization, dialogue, theme—it’s just compacted down into a bit-sized shock of prose.

So I’ve compiled a list of tips in case you’d like to write some of your own contest-winning flash fiction:

You need a rock solid beginning. A beginning has to establish a sympathetic character, setting, and conflict. This should all take place in the first paragraph or paragraphs.
Characters must be passionate about something. Often, my best stories present an object or idea that my character wants in the first few lines only to reveal later in the story what they truly, passionately need.
All stories short or long must have conflict. Something very real must stand in your character’s way. It is easiest to choose something concrete that the character has to face but existential crisis is also effective.
Your conflict should get worse.Just like in a novel, you have to raise the stakes in a flash fiction story. Due to the short nature of the form, raising the stakes in flash fiction can be encapsulated in just one sentence or one paragraph. Readers want characters to earn their ending.
In order to be memorable, include a reverse that takes your reader’s breath away. My flash fiction is often based on the same structure as a joke–Setup then Punchline. The beginning and middle of the story is the setup, but then a twist occurs, giving the ending a punch. The ending will show the reader that what they perceived in the first part was either erroneous or did not explain fully the environment of the story.

And most importantly—trust your audience. I took a class with Holly Lisle (a world-class flash fiction writer) who emphasized that in all good reading experiences, there is a bond between the reader and the writer. This is especially true of flash fiction. There are so few words in this type of fiction that it is essential to cut out every extraneous piece of narration, pare down characterization to the nub, and only hint at the theme of your story. You, the author, must know and trust your reader to remember the details from earlier in the story, realize what your story is saying, and understand the meaning behind the ending of the story.

So there you have it. You now have the tools to write a great story in just a few words. I hope you’ll enter it in the 4^th Annual Flash Fiction Contest!

Blurb:

front-cover A 300-word story should be easy, right? Many of our entrants say it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever written.

Queer Sci Fi’s Annual Flash Fiction Contest challenges authors to write a complete LGBTQ speculative fiction micro-story on a specific theme. “Flight” leaves much for the authors to interpret—winged creatures, flight and space vehicles, or fleeing from dire circumstances.

Some astonishing stories were submitted—from horrific, bloodcurdling pieces to sweet, contemplative ones—and all LGBTQ speculative fiction. The stories in this anthology include AI’s and angels, winged lions and wayward aliens. Smart, snappy slice of life pieces written for entertainment or for social commentary. Join us for brief and often surprising trips into 110 speculative fiction authors’ minds.

Publisher: Mischief Corner Books

Author: Various

Cover & Illustrations Artist: Mila May

Release Date: General release 9/21/16

Price: $4.99 eBook, $12.99 print b/w*, TBD print color*

*Book contains 5 illustrations inside.

Excerpt:

Smoke, by Zev de Valera

teaser5 He rubbed his temples and squinted at the soft light of his surroundings through the fans of his thick eyelashes. The last drink had been a mistake.

Was that a shaker he’d felt, or the onset of a hangover?

He clutched a silken pillow and waited.

Suddenly, he felt his home tremble; a few pieces of glass

and ceramic ware teetered and then fell to their demise.

Shit. This is the real thing.

With an effort, he hauled himself from his bed.

How many years had it been since the last one?

Sixty? Seventy?

The shaking ceased, and he looked around his small dwelling. A model unit when he’d purchased it. Now filled with the result of years of collecting: a gramophone, a first generation television set, a water clock. And much more. All of it all had sentimental value—as did the photos of the various men that sat atop or alongside the items in his collection. Some of these men had loved him. All of them had once owned him. Now he owned their memories. That was the bargain.

Another shake. Followed by several unnerving tilts. He willed his cherished possessions to remain in place and willed himself into sobriety and a more becoming appearance as he prepared himself for work.

What to wear?

He selected a red brocade tunic and pants. A classic look always worked best for the initial consultation.

A resounding thud.

He peered up into the small shaftway at the center of the ceiling.

A pop.

Then a small circle of light at the end of the shaft.

He sighed, folded his arms, and transformed into a cloud of red smoke.

Up and away to meet his new master.

Judge’s Choice — J. Scott Coatsworth

Buy Links Etc:

Publisher (info only, no buy link yet): https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/the-pill-bugs-of-time

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L0R0JRK

Apple: Coming soon

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-flightqueerscifisthirdannualflashfictioncontest-2091592-341.html

Barnes & Noble: Coming soon

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/flight-49

Smashwords: Coming soon

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31686600-flight

Goodreads Series Page: https://www.goodreads.com/series/187509-qsf-flash-fiction

Author Bio:

In the first year of the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest, we received about 15 entries for the theme “Endings”. In the second year, it was 115 for “Discovery”.

This year, we had more than 170 entries from people around the world, and from all parts of the LGBTIQA rainbow. “Flight” represents 110 of those people and their stories.

The Homecoming; by J. Scott Coatsworth—Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

Today I’m fortunate to have a new friend stop by the Land of Make Believe. For those who don’t know J. Scott Coatsworth (Scott to most everyone) he is the driving force behind the Hoard’s effort to take over the world. 😉 In more layman’s term, the “Hoard” is the affectionate name for the authors in the Queer Sci-Fi group that Scott created and has shepherded along for some time. I was lucky to meet Scott at Rainbow Con in July and he is every bit as energetic and visionary as he appears on line.

So with that, I’m pleased to be able to present an exclusive excerpt from his latest release The Homecoming. Make sure to read through to the end of the post for details on the giveaway.

-AQG

Title: The Homecoming

Author: J. Scott Coatsworth

Publisher: Less Than Three Press

Cover Artist: London Burden

Length: 20,000 words

Release Date: July 29, 2015

Blurb: When his own world is destroyed, Aldiss and his crew barely manage to escape, leaving friends and lovers behind. What was meant to be an exploratory trip back to the home world turns into a mad dash for survival.

When they awaken from stasis on Earth, which was abandoned by humanity five centuries before, they must quickly learn about their new home. While exploring the region around the ship, Aldiss meets Hari, a shape-changer, whose people harbor secrets that might cost the crew their lives.

Hari reached the edge of the woods just in time to see Neru crouching to leap at the two-legs. Young fool.

He gathered himself and jumped after Neru, knocking him aside as his teeth reached for the two-legs’ throat.

Neru turned and snarled at him, backing away toward the woods.

Hari stood firm, ears back, hackles raised, and drew the corners of his mouth back to reveal his teeth. Back off, Neru.

The whelp shook his head and grinned with the brashness of youth, until Hari leaped at him and nipped his ear. With a surprised yelp, Neru turned his head, deferring to Hari’s strength. As you say, brother. There was a cockiness to Neru’s look that unsettled him.

The other wolf backed up slowly then turned to disappear into the woods.

Hari caught a glimpse of Mavi watching from the shadows. The old wolf snarled, and slunk off after her son.

What do you seek, old mother? Hari wondered, watching Mavi’s silver-tipped tail flicker into the darkness. It was clear where Neru’s courage and cunning had come from.

Hari turned back toward the two-legs. He was holding a strange stick, not unlike the one that Hari’s grandmother had shown him in the wolf dream.

But it was his face that caught Hari’s eye. He knew that face. The two-legs’ eyes were white-gray, and his jet-black hair was swept to the side.

Despite the danger, he shifted in the manner only a few of the clan are able to do in the cold. He grew quickly taller and less hairy but no less muscled, and stood naked before the two-legs.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Hari felt an immense attraction washing over him. He saw in his summer form that this two-legs was beautiful. His own body responded to this… man… in an unexpected way, seeing and feeling things his winter form could not. Hari leaned forward and sniffed the stranger, drinking in his musk. It smelled enticing. Strangely familiar.

He sensed the two-legs stiffen, and to reassure, him, Hari licked the man’s neck.

The two-legs was trembling now like a young whelp, so he tried something else. He took the stranger’s face in his hands and kissed him.

The shaking slowed, and then the man was kissing him back. Hari was hungry for him, like a starving wolf at the end of a long, hard winter.

It is not the time for this, the keh whispered in his ear.

He broke contact and turned away, ashamed that he was betraying his Clan, and for lust. An emotion of his summer form.

“I’m sorry,” he said to the two-legs, without looking back. “It won’t happen again.” Even he was not sure if he meant Neru’s attack, or the kiss.

He shifted back into his winter form and loped off into the woods after his pack mates.

Less Than Three Press

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All Romance eBooks

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Scott has been writing since elementary school, when he and won a University of Arizona writing contest in 4th grade for his first sci-fi story (with illustrations!). He finished his first novel in his mid-twenties, but after seeing it rejected by ten publishers, he gave up on writing for a while.

Over the ensuing years, he came back to it periodically, but it never stuck. Then one day, he was complaining to Mark, his husband, early last year about how he had been derailed yet again by the death of a family member, and Mark said to him “the only one stopping you from writing is you.

Since then, Scott has gone back to writing in a big way, finishing more than a dozen short stories – some new, some that he had started years before – and seeing his first sale. He’s embarking on a new trilogy, and also runs the Queer Sci Fi (http://www.queerscifi.com) site, a support group for writers of gay sci fi, fantasy, and supernatural fiction.

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Susan Mac Nicol

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Wicked Faeries Tales And Reviews

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The Land of Make Believe

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Nephy’s World

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Man2ManTastic

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Loving Without Limits

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Divine Magazine

World of Diversity Fiction

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Evelyn Shepherd

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Eyes on Books

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Molly Lolly: Reader, Reviewer, Lover of Words

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Sci-Fi/Fantasy News

As many readers of mine know, I’ve a big Sci-fi/Fantasy bias. Well, Queer Sci-Fi held a flash fiction contest this May and the winners are announced today. I entered, and didn’t win, but that isn’t important. QSF is going to compile all the entries and create an eBook for sale to help fund QSF and their efforts to bring LGBTQ Sci-Fi/Fantasy to a wider market. Click the QSF logo below to see the winning entry and after you read it, I hope you’ll sign up for news updates so you’ll know when you can buy the book. 🙂