My monthly column “Dispatches from Hogwarts G.S.A.” is up at Queer Sci Fi. The topic this month: Tropes We’d Like to See.

“Every genre has them [tropes], and while the term has a negative connotation, we wouldn’t say that tropes are always an indication of bad storytelling. One measure of good storytelling is that it reveals to the reader something true about the world, which when you think about it, is impossibly subjective, thus one reader’s hackneyed trope is probably another reader’s warm and fuzzy truth.

We’d say a bad trope is one that reinforces stereotypes that are already problematic in real life, and minority characters like queer people are particularly vulnerable to them.”

The article goes on to suggest some tropes–partially tongue in cheek–that might freshen up the gay fantasy genre. You can check out the full article here.