2013 Bent-con Adds Qweirdos Panel

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I’ll be speaking on a panel next Saturday, November 9th 5pm at Bent-con in Los Angeles, along with authors Diane Anderson-Mitchell, Jess Faraday, Daniel W. Kelly, and Felice Picano.

The title of our program is: Qweirdos! LGBT Voices for a Generation of Gay Geeks and Freaks.

I never considered myself a geek before, at least not with a capital G, until I got into researching Atlantis. Now that I can happily hold my own in conversations about the origins of Aquaman, the Bimini theory versus the Thera theory, and Lewis Spence’s concept of the Atlantean Culture Complex, I think I have qualified for that title.

Here’s a description of our program from the Bent-con website:

Forget circuit parties and lesbian golf events. The Qweirdo is a fresh gay subculture obsessed with comic conventions, the SyFy Network, Harry Potter, True Blood, and drag queen midnight movies. A panel of Bold Strokes Books authors considers why an LGBTQ community is emerging so strongly in genres usually dominated by straight geeks who can’t get dates, why general horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fiction aren’t enough and we need LGBTQ voices in the genres, finding our audience, and more.

Sound like your idea of a good time? Come join us, and while you’re at the con, stop by the Bold Strokes Books table to get an autographed copy of The Seventh Pleiade.

 

The Number of LGBT YA Titles Increasing at a Turtle’s Pace According to Malinda Lo

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This is a lazy blog post. It really is.

I basically just wanted to share a very sharp, well-reasoned analysis of the status of LGBT YA written by author Malinda Lo earlier this week (“LGBT Young Adult Books 2003-2013: A Decade of Slow But Steady Change”).

You might find the title to be a bit charitable after you read the article and see her pie charts and graphs. (Yay for Pie Charts and Graphs!) In an industry that publishes thousands of young adult books every year, on average only fifteen of those books portray LGBT teens and/or “LGBT issues” such as growing up with same-sex parents or bullying in school.

Yuck.

Anyway, as always, Lo is thoughtful and precise in her consideration of the dilemma. Part of that precision is focusing on big publishers only. The number of LGBT titles from small presses, or those self-published by authors, is very challenging to count and analyze. Including those titles could skew perceptions. It’s important that LGBT books are published, but it’s also important that they have a wide distribution so that they get to teen readers. That’s not to say that LGBT titles at big publishers are better. I like the way that Lo addresses this issue:

“In some ways, I see the largest YA publishers as analogous to the broadcast networks on television. Broadcast networks have historically had the widest reach, even though much quality programming happens these days on cable channels that have smaller distribution in the television marketplace. An analysis of the broadcast networks — or the major publishers — doesn’t negate the contributions that smaller networks (or publishers) can and do make, especially in representation of minorities, but I do think the major networks (and publishers) have a greater responsibility due to their greater reach.”

Shifters and Weres at Paranormal Cravings

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ParanormalCravings.comOctober is Shifters & Weres Month at ParanormalCravings.com. Surf over to check out book trailers, free reads, author interviews, character interviews, book giveaways and more.

I’ll be headed there myself this Friday, October 25th for a fun interview with Jackson Dowd, the main character from Werecat: The Rearing.

Yes Werecats!

Are You Going to Bent-con?

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Bent-con 2013I booked my flight to Los Angeles, and I’ll be packing up early release copies of The Seventh Pleiade to head to Bent-con 2013.

This will be my first time at a ‘con’ of any type, and I’m incredibly excited. While cons are known for comics and superhero fanaticism, this LGBT event will also feature authors and film-makers in the varied genres of fantasy, sci-fi and romance. And I’m told there’s a pool party with real, live, actual Mermen. 🙂

If you will be passing through, please stop by Bold Strokes Books’ exhibition booth. I’ll be signing copies of The Seventh Pleiade and giving away swag.

 

Postcard to Putin

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A friend of mine, artist and author Stephen Mead brought to my attention this important campaign.

Postcard collage by Stephen Mead

Postcard collage by Stephen Mead

You are probably aware of the vulnerable status of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Russia due in great part by the government enacting a law prohibiting the “promotion” of homosexuality. With the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Russian officials even went so far as to warn international athletes that they will be banned from the games if there is evidence that they are spreading “gay propaganda.”

Some human rights activists have demanded that fair-minded countries pull out of the Sochi Olympics. Others have organized boycotts of Russian products like vodka. I think both of these strategies have their merits and their limitations, e.g. who really suffers from a boycott in a global economy?

Mead’s Postcard to Putin, which ties in with Change.org’s Love Letters to Russia campaign, is a straight forward approach to raising awareness of the government’s wrong-mindedness while putting pressure on Russia’s leaders. Whether or not the messages penetrate the hearts and minds of politicians, they give global visibility to the outrage so many of us feel. They’re also a great example of how anyone can be an activist.

Here’s Stephen’s page from the International Society and Assemblage of Collage Artists with information on how you can get involved.