The Queer Writer: November 2024

**FREE!** Transcestors Series: Weimar Berlin

• Saturday, December 14th, 2024 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm ET
• Virtual via Zoom
• FREE!

Want to learn more about the history related to my upcoming debut, THE LILAC PEOPLE? (Well, the happy parts, anyway.) This is the session! During the Weimar Republic (1919 to 1933), Berlin was considered the queerest city in the entire world, as well as a trailblazer of transgender healthcare and culture. In this session, we'll look at the era’s vibrant trans community and its endless series of documented firsts, including terminology, surgeries, rights, memoirs, and music.

Transcestors is a series of free 1-hour sessions focused on trans and queer (but mostly trans) history based on Milo Todd's research for his historical fiction. Those interested must have any subscription tier of The Queer Writer, paid or free, and must use their subscriber email to register for sessions. For safety reasons, sessions will NOT be recorded. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees ~15 minutes before a session starts.

*Sessions are open to all identities, but please know Transcestors centers trans and/or nonbinary attendees.

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar

Meghna Rahman is tired of constantly being compared to her infuriatingly perfect ex best friend now rival. Everyone, except, at least, her boyfriend Zak, seems to think that Rani Choudhury can do no wrong--even her own parents! It doesn't help that Rani is always accepted into the Young Scientist Exhibition, while Meghna's projects never make it. But this year, she finally has a chance at defeating Rani in something. Rani Choudhury is tired of feeling like she doesn't have much say in her life--not when it comes to how her mom wants her to look and act or how her parents encourage her to date incredibly charming close family friend Zak. She would much rather focus on her coding, especially once she places high enough at the Young Scientist Exhibition to go on to the European Young Scientist Exhibition. When Meghna and Rani figure out that Zak has been playing them both, they decide to do something no one would see coming: they team up. They'll compete in the EYSE as partners, creating an app that exposes cheaters and a project that exposes Zak. But with years of silence and pressure between them, working together will prove difficult. Especially once each girl starts to realize that the feelings they had for the other may have been more than platonic...Hey, no one ever said science was easy!

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Star investigator Kembral Thorne has a few hours away from her newborn, and she just wants to relax and enjoy the year-turning party. But when people start dropping dead, she's got to get to work. Especially when she finds that mysterious forces are plunging the whole party down through layers of reality and into nightmare. One layer down: It's no big deal. Stay alert, and you'll be fine. Two, three layers down: Natural laws are negotiable, and things get very strange. Four layers down: There are creatures with eyes in their teeth and walls that drip blood. Most people who fall this far never return. Luckily, Kem isn't most people. But as cosmic powers align and the hour grows late, she'll have to work with her awfully compelling nemesis, notorious cat burglar Rika Nonesuch, for a chance to save her city--though not her night off.

Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane

Cut from the U.S. women's hockey team right before her third chance at gold, Natalie Carpenter is scrambling for a plan that'll help her avoid moving back home. The answer: a guest hosting gig on Wake Up, USA's winter games coverage. Her co-host: Darcy LaCroix, Nat's ex-girlfriend, one-time college teammate turned adversary. Since leaving Team Canada, Darcy has worked hard to make a name in broadcasting. If her big break requires sharing screen time with the former cocky freshman who turned her world upside down, so be it. At this point, there's nothing between them except history. But audiences disagree. #PuckingHotties is trending hard, and Nat and Darcy agree to lean into it...for ratings, obviously. It's not like Nat can forget the way Darcy broke her heart or their bitter team rivalry. Between working, traveling together, and that irresistible spark, it's getting hard to separate what's real and what's for the camera. Because somewhere underneath everything that went wrong is the sneaking suspicion that nothing will ever feel quite this right again.

Leap by Simina Popescu

Ana has been studying contemporary dance since she was little, but her heart isn't in it anymore. Instead her focus is on Carina--a beautiful, ambitious ballerina whose fear of being outed keeps Ana in the closet and their fragile relationship from seeing the light of day. Risking her own career, Ana gives up more and more in order to fit into the shadows of Carina's life. Sara, on the other hand, is fielding whispers she may be the best dancer their school has produced in years. Much of that is thanks to her mentor and instructor, Marlena, who plucked Sara from the classical track and encouraged her to blossom as a contemporary dancer. Sara has always been in awe of Marlena, but recently, that admiration has sparked into something more, and Sara's not sure what to do about it. As junior year at their performing arts school begins, Ana and Sara are assigned as roommates. What starts off as a tentative friendship soon becomes a much-needed anchor.

All the Painted Stars by Emma Denny

When Lily Barden discovers her best friend Johanna's hand in marriage is being awarded as the main prize at a tournament, she is determined to stop it. Disguised as a knight, she infiltrates the contest, preparing to fight for Jo's hand. But her conduct ruffles feathers, and when a dangerous incident escalates out of Lily's control, Jo must help her escape. Finding safety with a local brewster, Lily and Jo soon settle into their new freedom, and amongst blackberry bushes and lakeside walks an unexpected relationship blossoms. But when Jo's past catches up with her and Lily's reckless behaviour threatens their newfound happiness, both women realise that choices must always come at a cost. The question they need to ask is if the cost is worth the price of love...

Here Goes Nothing by Emma K. Ohland

Eighteen-year-old Beatrice has never been a fan of her neighbor Bennie, but when Beatrice's beloved younger sister starts dating one of Bennie's closest friends, Beatrice is drawn into their social circle. As Beatrice wrestles with increasingly confusing feelings for Bennie, her usually close relationship with her sister is fraying, her grief over their mother's death is simmering in the background, and she's overwhelmed by looming senior-year decisions about what she wants to do with her life. But after a crisis arises, Beatrice must figure out how to process past traumas and open up to the possibilities of the future.

Want a previously published book showcased? Let me know! The given work must: 1) be written by a self-identified member of the LGBTQ+ community, 2) be published within the last five years, 3) has not yet appeared on the ICYMI list, and 4) wasn't included in the Anticipated Books section within the last three months. All genres and independently-published works welcome.

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

Cubs & Campfires by Dylan Drakes

Luca Torres, struggling journalism graduate, never meant to take a vow of celibacy. It was just a dumb idea from a job interview gone wrong. He never thought they'd approve the article. Or make his future career conditional on delivering it. Now, with no choice but to steer clear of temptation for the summer, he takes the most isolated job he can find: a fire lookout in the picturesque mountains of Washington State. However, his goal becomes much harder with the arrival of the husky and flirtatious Artair Osmond, a musician and wilderness enthusiast who takes up camp nearby. Now he must decide what he really desires: the career at the prestigious newspaper, or the big, bearded bear he can't get out of his head.

Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar

As the contentious 2017 presidential election looms and protests rage across every corner of the city, life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, churns louder and faster. For her part, high school senior Libertad (Libi) Morazán takes heart in writing political poetry for her anonymous Instagram account and a budding romance with someone new. But things come to a head when Mami sees texts on her phone mentioning a kiss with a girl and Libi discovers her beloved older brother, Maynor, playing a major role in the protests. As Libertad faces the political and social corruption around her, stifling homophobia at home and school, and ramped up threats to her poetry online, she begins dreaming of a future in which she doesn't have to hide who she is or worry about someone she loves losing their life just for speaking up. Then the ultimate tragedy strikes, and leaving her family and friends--plus the only home she's ever known--might be her only option.

Fate, Coincidence, and Other Curse Words by Kenneth Creech

Seventeen-year-old Jonathan Daniels is a high-school junior in small-town Illinois, where being openly gay is a one-way ticket to single life until college. So when he catches the eye of the new kid, Chance, Jonathan doesn’t know whether to flee or be flattered. Yet unbeknownst to Jonathan, Chance isn’t just another high-school hottie. He has a history with Jonathan’s best friend, Destiny, and his arrival has consequences. Destiny and Chance are reincarnated gods with a tangled history of divine drama: an endless debate over which is more powerful, Fate or Coincidence. To test their abilities, Chance suggests Jonathan as the ideal candidate for their unique brand of “help.” However, their new mortality and limited powers make this challenge harder than they imagined. With prom on the horizon and Jonathan’s happiness on the line, their struggle over eternal bragging rights might just cause everyone to lose. When the last song of the night draws to a close, will Jonathan’s romantic future be in the hands of Destiny or left up to Chance?

Quill (Queer) Prose Award

• What: "The Quill Prose Award is for a work of previously unpublished (including self-published works) prose with a minimum of 150 pages by a queer (LGBTQIA+) writer. The awarded manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors."
• Fee: $10
• Pay: $1,000 and publication
• Deadline: December 1st, 2024

2025 Publishing Triangle Awards

• What: "We present nine awards for the best books of the year. They are The Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction; The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction; The Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry; The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry; The Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction; The Leslie Feinberg Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature; The Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ Crime Writing; The Jacqueline Woodson Award for LGBTQ+ Children’s/YA Literature; and, in conjunction our longtime partner the Ferro-Grumley Foundation, The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction."
• Fee: $40
• Pay: $1,000
• Deadline: December 6th, 2024

Watermelon Grant for Palestinian Creators

• What: "The Watermelon Grant offers $2000 USD in unrestricted funds to an emerging Palestinian creator in the field of speculative arts. A panel of three judges with expertise in a given year’s accepted format review in full all applications entered through an electronic submissions portal. Applications are judged on a criteria which considers artistic merit and potential impact. Thanks to the success of the inaugural Match Me campaign, we are able to offer two grants this year."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $2,000
• Deadline: December 6th, 2024

2024 Otherwise Fellowship

• What: "The Otherwise Fellowship (formerly Tiptree Fellowship) was established in 2015 to support and recognize new voices who are creating work that is changing our view of gender today. The Fellowship program seeks out creators who are striving to complete new works, particularly creators from communities that have been historically underrepresented in the science fiction and fantasy genre and those who are working in media other than traditional fiction! Each Fellow receives USD $500 in support of a new or ongoing project."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $500
• Deadline: December 15th, 2024

manywor(l)ds

• What: "We welcome submissions by those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. This is a space for the words, works, and worlds of and by those whose bodyminds defy social expectations and invite new ways of thinking and knowing."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $10
• Deadline: December 31st, 2024

Sinister Wisdom: Barbie: the Movie

• What: "In this special issue, Sinister Wisdom will explore lesbians' reactions to Barbie: The Movie. How do we voice the joy and gratitude of this cultural moment where lesbian lives and lesbian culture is expressed in the movie with a major musical plotline from the Indigo Girls and two out dykes with major roles in this movie, now the highest grossing movie in Warner Brothers' history? What else do we think and feel about this cultural moment? Were you expecting to feel deeply personally touched by Barbie? What was a special scene that reflects your dyke life? Were you surprised or shocked by your reaction to the film? How do we understand Barbie's continuing life and its relationship to lesbians and lesbian culture?"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: TBD

The Bitchin' Kitsch

• What: "The B’K is a quarterly art and lit, online and printed magazine prioritizing traditionally marginalized creators, but open to all."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $10
• Deadline: rolling

Bella Books Call for Submissions

• What: "At Bella Books, we believe stories about women-loving-women are essential to our lives—and so do our readers. We are interested in acquiring manuscripts that tell captivating and unique stories across all genres—including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc. We want our books to reflect and celebrate the diversity of our lesbian, sapphic, queer, bisexual, and gender non-conforming community—in all our glorious shapes, sizes and colors. Our desire to publish diverse voices is perennial. We don’t want to tell your stories for you—we want to amplify your voices....We publish romance, mystery, action/thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, erotica and general fiction. At this time, we are particularly interested in acquiring romance manuscripts."
• Fee: N/A
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

Rebel Satori Press: LGBTQIA+ Speculative Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Manuscripts

• What: "Rebel Satori Press is pleased to announce the start of our new imprint for LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, Queer Space. The new imprint is now open to submissions of queer positive science fiction right on the bleeding edge of what is possible. We’re looking for all subgenres of speculative fiction involving LGBTQ+ characters written by LGBTQ+ authors, including but not limited to: sci-fi, interstitial, slipstream, horror, and supernatural fictional manuscripts."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

Prismatica: Summer 2024

• What: "Prismatica Magazine is a quarterly LGBTQ fantasy & science fiction magazine. Prismatica features short fiction and poetry from emerging and established LGBTQ authors. In the magazine’s stories and poems, readers can find fantasy and science-fiction of all sub-genres and cross-genres. We happily include magical realism, contemporary science-fiction, urban fantasy, and more."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

Baest Journal

• What: Baest Journal, "a journal of queer forms and affects," seeks to publish work by queer writers and artists.
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

What Lasts and (Mostly) Doesn't Last

by Lincoln Michel

I could go on and on with examples of how art fades. Perhaps the most interesting question is what makes something endure. What makes a work speak through time to multiple eras and contexts? There are certainly works from 1924—100 years ago—that are read today: A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka, Billy Budd by Herman Melville, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda, multiple books by Agatha Christie, etc. I would like to think that quality helps determine what lasts yet it is obviously more than that. Melville and Kafka, for example, both went through long periods of obscurity before being “rediscovered” decades after their deaths. They are two of my favorite writers, but I have to sadly admit it is possible they will lapse into obscurity again in the future (and perhaps be rediscovered yet again and then forgotten again and so on).

To offer a theory though, I think what lasts is almost always what has a dedicated following among one or more of the following: artists, geeks, academics, critics, and editors. “Gatekeepers” of various types, if you like. Artists play the most important role in what art endures because artists are the ones making new art. Indirectly, they popularize styles and genres and make new fans seek out older influences. Directly, artists tend to tout their influences and encourage their fans to explore them. In literature that takes the form of essays, introductions to reissues, and so forth. In music, it might be something like cover albums as in the way Nirvana’s Unplugged introduced a new generation to older bands and musicians. Academics is pretty obvious. The older books with the best sales are mostly ones that appear on syllabi. And geeks and critics are the ones who extensively explore a genre or category’s history and proselytize their favorites. Editors are the ones who actually chose the older books to republish and can champion obscure books back into the public eye.

The Latest Fake Literary Agencies

by Victoria Strauss

Not too long ago, I published a post with tips and techniques to help writers spot a fake literary agency. This is a skill set it’s important to have, because overseas scammers are increasingly posing as literary agents, and some are going to elaborate lengths to create websites that, at least at first glance, look pretty convincing.

…The aim of this post isn’t to encourage you to mistrust all literary agencies…just those that contact you out of the blue, rather than in response to your own query or submission. As I’ve said ad nauseam, and apparently can’t say too often judging by the volume of questions I receive, solicitation is one of the first and most common signs of a scam these days.

Is out-of-the-blue contact always fraudulent? No. Literary agents do sometimes reach out to authors to express interest in their work. But that’s rare. And solicitation scams are so overwhelmingly prevalent that you really are safest if you proceed from a standpoint of extreme skepticism.

I hope this post will help with that, by giving you a sense of what to investigate, and how, in order to unveil a potential deception.