The last stage before we start commissioning work from authors (and before we open submissions to the public, etc.) is to come up with a name for the anthology. That's where you come in. We want your suggestions for a title. Use the comments below to toss out some names; we'll take your suggestions seriously and see if we can find a fit.
To help you with your name suggestions, here are the tentative guidelines for the anthology:
[ANTHOLOGY NAME] seeks to explore , through Science fiction, fantasy and horror, the political, social, and spiritual difficulties lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and asexual [LGBTQA] people experience in worlds that are designed to exclude them.
While stories featuring protagonists who experience homophobia/transphobia are welcome, we are most interested in stories that explore how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and asexual people navigate societies, cultures, religions, and political movements that are either geared towards heterosexuality (for example: courtship, marriage, reproduction), that aren’t built with much thought to their needs and experiences, or that are open to LGBTQA people, but imperfectly so. These societies can range from alternate history to high fantasy, utopias to dystopias, religious societies to far-off planets. In other words, we are open to science fiction, horror, fantasy, and all permutations and combinations thereof. As Shaun Duke wrote, in the blog post where this project was conceived, “Homophobia plays a role in a variety of situations beyond the most obvious, and I would like to see stories that play with these more subtle boundaries.”
We are especially interested in receiving stories by and about people in the LGBTQA community who are often overlooked in all forms of media, including bisexuals, transgender people, genderqueer people, asexuals, and LGBTQA people of color, who live in non-Western societies, or who live with disabilities.
We are not interested in the following:
* Stories that exoticize, misrepresent, or demonize LGBTQ people, people of color, people with disabilities, or any culture or religion. (look up “cultural appropriation” for an idea of what we mean here).
* Anti-gay, anti-asexual, or anti-transgender clichés (such as the lesbian who really enjoy heterosexual sex when she meets the right man, the asexual person who just doesn’t know what she’s missing, or the transgender person who is “just confused,”). This should, of course, go without saying. However, we are not adverse to stories that carefully satirize these or other stereotypes.
* Stories with villains whose sole motivation for being bad is a mental illness or “being crazy.” And on that front, dismissing societies or organizations that make life difficult on LGBTQ people as wholly evil. While there are, indeed, some very evil groups and political structures out there that harm LGBTQA people, things are not usually that simple.
* Poetry
* Fan fiction (stories featuring characters that are not owned by the author)
Please send a query describing your story to [email address that we’ll all have access to]. If your query is accepted, you will be asked to send your story. Please send your story in standard manuscript format [insert a link to an example of this].
Submission Period: Dec. 15, 2011 – Feb. 30, 2012.
Word Count: 3,000 – 8,000 words (though shorter stories may be considered). **PLEASE query with your story idea first to save both you and the editor time.
Payment: (TBD)
I have to say this gave me a laugh - especially when I read about the 'queer military' (sf) anthology.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the first thought that popped into my head was some kind of bizarre 'combat chess' image where everyone in a unit was some kind of alien freak, each, of course, with their own special talents.
'The Grakens have invaded! There only one way to handle this - get QM on it right now'.
But of course that's not the 'queer' being addressed.
I have no really good suggestions for the homophobia title; the only thing I can offer is the first title that popped into my head: "Phobo Homo"
I'm sure you'll get better.
Your comment perhaps explains why we don't want to give it a title with "Queer" in it (unless there's a really good name that I haven't thought of yet). A lot of people don't associate "queer" with LGBTetc. issues. :P
ReplyDeleteHow about "We Who Are Denied"
ReplyDeleteI clearly need to subscribe to your blog feed, because when this call goes out, I'm going to want to write something. As for title ideas...
ReplyDeleteVariations
Science Friction
Outside the Lines
Difference Engine
Fear of the Unknown
Worlds Apart? Queers Boldly Go? Jar of Rainbow Tang? Gay Time Slip? Exclusion My Destination? Lovers In a Strange Land? Parable of The Queerest?
ReplyDeleteI can think up stupid names all day, just not any good ones.
Seeing that this is the story of people who defy the cis heteronormative what about: Anomalies?
ReplyDeleteGayliens
ReplyDeleteQueersar
Star Gayt
Out of the closet back into space
dark matter
beyond milky way
Homosphere
ha , thats fun.
Dysphobic Threads
ReplyDeleteDysphobic Threads
ReplyDelete