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Literary Community: SFF with Queer Women 2015
So first I said, “I got this blog idea at Worldcon” and then I said, “But I don’t need a new hobby” and then I said, “I think I’m going to do this” and then I said, “What am I crazy?” But in the last couple weeks it’s seemed like everyone’s talking about how SFF with queer women either gets overlooked, or not promoted, or is full of tired old Queer Tragedy tropes. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catherineldf talks about the Tragic Queer Narrative problem as does @LindsayRibar and Danielle at theradicalnotion.com (h/t @KaylaBashe) and that’s only in the past week. And, as Lundoff points out, it isn’t that non-tragic, non-exploitive queer stories aren’t out there. It’s that they don’t get the promotion (especially if the authors are queer), or that you get a token reference to The Token Queer Story/Author Of The Moment and get assured it means everything’s ok.
I’m not going to claim that no one has ever previously tried to provide reading lists or databases or link-pages or the like. Not in the least. Though many are focused on broader categories (such as the thematically searchable All Our Worlds: Diverse Fantastic Fiction site which covers both ethnic and sexual/gender axes of diversity, or the many sites focusing on sexual/gender diversity in YA books), and most are broadly cumulative (such as all the various thematic lists in Goodreads), and all too many begin ambitiously and fizzle out (such as the promising-looking GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resources) which, to be frank, is likely to be the fate of my own little thing here. And I’m not going to claim that any effort I try to make will be anything but incomplete, incoherent, and—as I noted in a previous blog—amounting to little more than “a heap of all I have found”. But I figure what the heck, I might as well do something.
So here’s my new Heap: a tiny little start on a list of SFF (all lengths), featuring queer female characters (either primary or significant secondary) by a fairly broad interpretation of both those features, published in 2015. Why 2015? Because I’ve always found that it helps to start with a manageable focus. The intent of this list will be to help readers identify stories they want to read, so the meta-data that I provide will try to focus on aspects that help people prioritize their reading: significance of the characters, what types of relationships are involved, any potentially problematic aspects (e.g., the presence of Tragic Queerness), how the author identifies if it is public knowledge, and what reading/writing community the story exists in. (To retain my sanity, I’m not likely to prioritize adding fan-fic, simply because the field is so open-ended.) I’ll do my best to provide links to Goodreads (for novels) and online presences (for short fiction). The general intent is to make this item part of my regular blogging cycle and simply add to it as I go along.
To compete my Apologia: it’s unlikely that I will personally have read even a small fraction of these works. And the coverage is going to be peculiarly spotty, skewed, and biased based on what I’m aware of, what is brought to my attention, and what I have the search skills to track down. I don’t expect anyone else to do the work for me, but contributions and suggestions are always encouraged. So, to get started I’m going to list 2015 books I’ve either read or purchased, and all the books from the SF & Fantasy category of the Golden Crown Literary Awards for this year. Since I’m throwing this together on my lunch hour (which is almost up), There are going to be a bunch of place-holders at the moment. But better something that nothing, right? Stay tuned for further developments.
ETA: Needless to say, suggestions, additions, annotations, and corrections are extremely welcome in the comments. The list will be updated and re-posted periodically.
* * *
Note: unspecified references to “characters” or “same-sex” can be assumed to refer to women.
Bear, Elizabeth - Karen Memory – Mainstream publisher (Tor), steam-punk western. A same-sex romance features prominently between the protagonist and a significant secondary character.
Berman, Steve (ed.) – Daughters of Frankenstein – Queer press (Lethe), anthology of stories on the theme “lesbian mad scientists”. I will break this out into individual stories when time allows.
Cannon, Geonn – Sojourn – Queer(?) press (Supposed Crimes), *. **
Cannon, Geonn – The Virtuous Feats of the Indomitable Miss Trafalgar and the Erudite Lady
Boone - Queer(?) press (Supposed Crimes), *. **
Cronin, Pat – Reflections of Fate – Queer press (Regal Crest Enterprises), *. **
de Bodard, Aliette – House of Shattered Wings – Mainstream publisher (Roc), post-magical-apocalypse Paris. The gender in pair-bonds does not appear to be a marked feature in this society. At least one prominent pair of secondary female characters are paired.
French, Sophia – The Diplomat – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
Jones, Heather Rose – The Mystic Marriage – April 2015 – Lesbian press (Bella Books), fantasy of manners, second book in a series. All four primary characters are in same-sex relationships.
Leach, Marlene – Slow Burn – Lesbian press (Spinsters Ink), *. **
Leigh, D. Jackson – Dragon Horse War: The Calling – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), *. **
Logan, M.E. – Tempered Steele – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
MacTague, Lise – Depths of Blue – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
McGuire, Seanan (ed.) – Queers Destroy Science Fiction – June 2015 - Magazine (Lightspeed), special-theme issue. I haven’t had time to break this out into individual stories and to identify which fit the criteria of the list, but it appears that this would include: Stufflebeam, Bonnie Jo, “Trickier with Each Translation” (bi secondary character) – Davin, Felicia, “The Tip of the Tongue” (same-sex interaction by primary character) – El-Mohtar, Amal “Madeleine” (same-sex interaction by primary character)
Pon, Cindy – Serpentine – September 2015 – Mainstream publisher (Month9Books), Chinese-inspired fantasy, first in a duology(?). As reported to me, a significant secondary character is involved in a same-sex romance.
Redhawk, D. Jordan – Lady Dragon – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
Shannon, Merry – Prayer of the Handmaiden – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world fantasy. Primary characters are in a same-sex romance.
Vaun, Missouri – The Time Before Now – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), *. **
Wright, Barbara Ann – The Fiend Queen – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world fantasy, final book in a series. **
Wright, Barbara Ann – Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world sword and sorcery. Primary and major secondary characters are involved in same-sex relationships, a significant character is trans.
Wymore, Teresa – Darklaw – Small press (Strange Flesh Press), *. **
catherineldf talks about the Tragic Queer Narrative problem as does @LindsayRibar and Danielle at theradicalnotion.com (h/t @KaylaBashe) and that’s only in the past week. And, as Lundoff points out, it isn’t that non-tragic, non-exploitive queer stories aren’t out there. It’s that they don’t get the promotion (especially if the authors are queer), or that you get a token reference to The Token Queer Story/Author Of The Moment and get assured it means everything’s ok.I’m not going to claim that no one has ever previously tried to provide reading lists or databases or link-pages or the like. Not in the least. Though many are focused on broader categories (such as the thematically searchable All Our Worlds: Diverse Fantastic Fiction site which covers both ethnic and sexual/gender axes of diversity, or the many sites focusing on sexual/gender diversity in YA books), and most are broadly cumulative (such as all the various thematic lists in Goodreads), and all too many begin ambitiously and fizzle out (such as the promising-looking GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resources) which, to be frank, is likely to be the fate of my own little thing here. And I’m not going to claim that any effort I try to make will be anything but incomplete, incoherent, and—as I noted in a previous blog—amounting to little more than “a heap of all I have found”. But I figure what the heck, I might as well do something.
So here’s my new Heap: a tiny little start on a list of SFF (all lengths), featuring queer female characters (either primary or significant secondary) by a fairly broad interpretation of both those features, published in 2015. Why 2015? Because I’ve always found that it helps to start with a manageable focus. The intent of this list will be to help readers identify stories they want to read, so the meta-data that I provide will try to focus on aspects that help people prioritize their reading: significance of the characters, what types of relationships are involved, any potentially problematic aspects (e.g., the presence of Tragic Queerness), how the author identifies if it is public knowledge, and what reading/writing community the story exists in. (To retain my sanity, I’m not likely to prioritize adding fan-fic, simply because the field is so open-ended.) I’ll do my best to provide links to Goodreads (for novels) and online presences (for short fiction). The general intent is to make this item part of my regular blogging cycle and simply add to it as I go along.
To compete my Apologia: it’s unlikely that I will personally have read even a small fraction of these works. And the coverage is going to be peculiarly spotty, skewed, and biased based on what I’m aware of, what is brought to my attention, and what I have the search skills to track down. I don’t expect anyone else to do the work for me, but contributions and suggestions are always encouraged. So, to get started I’m going to list 2015 books I’ve either read or purchased, and all the books from the SF & Fantasy category of the Golden Crown Literary Awards for this year. Since I’m throwing this together on my lunch hour (which is almost up), There are going to be a bunch of place-holders at the moment. But better something that nothing, right? Stay tuned for further developments.
ETA: Needless to say, suggestions, additions, annotations, and corrections are extremely welcome in the comments. The list will be updated and re-posted periodically.
* * *
Note: unspecified references to “characters” or “same-sex” can be assumed to refer to women.
Bear, Elizabeth - Karen Memory – Mainstream publisher (Tor), steam-punk western. A same-sex romance features prominently between the protagonist and a significant secondary character.
Berman, Steve (ed.) – Daughters of Frankenstein – Queer press (Lethe), anthology of stories on the theme “lesbian mad scientists”. I will break this out into individual stories when time allows.
Cannon, Geonn – Sojourn – Queer(?) press (Supposed Crimes), *. **
Cannon, Geonn – The Virtuous Feats of the Indomitable Miss Trafalgar and the Erudite Lady
Boone - Queer(?) press (Supposed Crimes), *. **
Cronin, Pat – Reflections of Fate – Queer press (Regal Crest Enterprises), *. **
de Bodard, Aliette – House of Shattered Wings – Mainstream publisher (Roc), post-magical-apocalypse Paris. The gender in pair-bonds does not appear to be a marked feature in this society. At least one prominent pair of secondary female characters are paired.
French, Sophia – The Diplomat – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
Jones, Heather Rose – The Mystic Marriage – April 2015 – Lesbian press (Bella Books), fantasy of manners, second book in a series. All four primary characters are in same-sex relationships.
Leach, Marlene – Slow Burn – Lesbian press (Spinsters Ink), *. **
Leigh, D. Jackson – Dragon Horse War: The Calling – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), *. **
Logan, M.E. – Tempered Steele – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
MacTague, Lise – Depths of Blue – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
McGuire, Seanan (ed.) – Queers Destroy Science Fiction – June 2015 - Magazine (Lightspeed), special-theme issue. I haven’t had time to break this out into individual stories and to identify which fit the criteria of the list, but it appears that this would include: Stufflebeam, Bonnie Jo, “Trickier with Each Translation” (bi secondary character) – Davin, Felicia, “The Tip of the Tongue” (same-sex interaction by primary character) – El-Mohtar, Amal “Madeleine” (same-sex interaction by primary character)
Pon, Cindy – Serpentine – September 2015 – Mainstream publisher (Month9Books), Chinese-inspired fantasy, first in a duology(?). As reported to me, a significant secondary character is involved in a same-sex romance.
Redhawk, D. Jordan – Lady Dragon – Lesbian press (Bella Books), *. **
Shannon, Merry – Prayer of the Handmaiden – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world fantasy. Primary characters are in a same-sex romance.
Vaun, Missouri – The Time Before Now – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), *. **
Wright, Barbara Ann – The Fiend Queen – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world fantasy, final book in a series. **
Wright, Barbara Ann – Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory – Queer press (Bold Strokes Books), secondary-world sword and sorcery. Primary and major secondary characters are involved in same-sex relationships, a significant character is trans.
Wymore, Teresa – Darklaw – Small press (Strange Flesh Press), *. **
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Thank you for this Heap! It is highly relevant to my interests.
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