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XENIA’S RANT: Thoughts on Gifts

book gift - pixabay

Hello, it’s me again. Originally, I had planned to write about romance writers this time and how they’re ‘real’ writers, and not just mass producers of cheap stories. (Yes, there’s people out there who accuse us of that). I was so ready to do a long rant about it and then send us all off into the final weeks of the holiday season with a friendly pat on the shoulder and a cookie in hand. Maybe two. But then something happened. Something that has me writing about an entirely different topic and I would very much love to hear your thoughts about it. I know a midwife who looks after … Read more

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NEW FROM QRI: Beloved Local Author Merch

Beloved Local Author Rainbow

Know any struggling author friends? QRI has the perfect gift for them this Christmas – our new “Beloved Local Author” merchandise. Get them a shirt or a mug or even a writing journal. It’s a great way for us normally shy authors to let the world know what we do without saying a word. Available in rainbow and purple versions. 🙂 See them here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/queerscifi/works/29278768-beloved-local-author-rainbow-version SaveSave

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Queer in Color

Queer in Color

“We need more diverse books!” Books with queer characters have become more popular these days. People are fascinated with the stories about queer people’s lives because, perhaps they finally realized the world isn’t completely hetero. More importantly, they wanted something different than the hero and the heroine or the assumed “straight” characters that dominate fiction. They wanted different, which means more diversity. However, diversity doesn’t just cover queer versus hetero, it also means race, age, culture differences, religion, and able-bodied. That cry should mean we want more stories that represent all kinds of people, not just the majority. As an author of color, I also wanted to see that change. … Read more

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The First Time I Witnessed True Romantic Love

Sarah Hadley Brook blog

Love is amazing. It’s powerful and all-encompassing. As a child, your understanding of love is formed by the relationships of those around you. Your parents, your siblings, your grandparents. You learn there are different types of love—familial, romantic, universal. I never once doubted my mom’s unconditional love for my brother or me. My father? I’ll skip on by him. As for romantic love? I will never forget the first time I witnessed it—in all its beauty, and then again, even among the ugliness life can bring. My mom’s older brother was the coolest uncle on the planet. I adored him. He was always interested in what was going on in … Read more

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Make a Plan Part 2:Tips for Managing Multiple Writing Projects

It is not uncommon for me to have four or five writing projects in progress. The gift of ADHD means that I always have projects. Some are large, long term projects such as developing my editorial calendar, manuscript drafts and edits, others are short such as website content and blog posts, and some fall in between, think short stories and journal articles. Although I love the reminder feature on my Google calendar, as a visual person I have difficulty conceptualizing time when it is represented by little boxes on a computer screen. I need to see it all, the whole year all at once.  My solution is a twelve month … Read more

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Thorns & Ink: Romance and Attraction

I bet some of you know me, and some of you don’t. I read A LOT. I will read anything. But I think in most circles I am known for my love of kink, erotica, BDSM, shifters, and science fiction. Today, I want to talk about the romance and attraction. I love when authors get under my skin. Good or bad. It lets me know I am still human. Authors create such beautiful characters, I run out of space on my love list. In books we can be attracted to anyone we please. The beauty of it, we can keep it a secret if we want. The interesting thing about romance, … Read more

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Writing Outside My Spectrum

Anasa's Awakening - Michael Mandrake - Immortals

I apologize for being late with this month’s post. *sighs* I was ill earlier in the week, and then Nano and day job and… *sighs* Well, here it is! I’ve wanted to write this blog for a while, and I finally decided why not? You see, other than my Facebook personality, along with the muses, I’m really a shy person. I hide behind the computer screen and most of the time my social media profiles don’t feature a personal picture. It’s not because I don’t think I’m beautiful. *smiles and twists black locks of hair around my fingers* it’s because my writing shows so many different sides of myself. I … Read more

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Women and Gay Fiction

Note: the views in this post are those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of the QRI site or its owners. We strive to provide a safe place where various opinions can be expressed, and ask that all posts and comments be kept civil and on-point. As of late the discussion about heterosexual women writing gay fiction has gathered some heat – again – and even though I tried to avoid the topic until now, I feel like I should throw in my two pennies… One of the main – if not THE main – objection some people have is that a heterosexual woman is not … Read more

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Pressing Pause:Taking Time to Make a Plan

You’ve done it. You’ve accomplished your dream and are published. Now what? The first answer is to keep writing. But what? Another book? A short story for an anthology? Promotional materials? Everyone who offers career advice has different opinions. My suggestion is to pause, take some time to write up a plan. Notice I said write a plan. Put it on paper. Take some time to think about it. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to be next year? How many books a year do you want to submit, or if you are an independent author do you want to produce? It doesn’t have to be … Read more

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Release Blitz including Excerpt and 5 Star Review – Our Reason by Jessie G

Our Reason meme - Jessie G.

  AUTHOR: Jessie G TITLE: Our Reason SERIES: Sizzling Miami #8 (Red & Bull #3) COVER ARTIST: Andrew Reyna PHOTOGRAPHER: Randy RLS Images COVER MODEL: Alfie Gordillo CATEGORIES: Gay Romance, Contemporary Romance RELEASE DATE: October 24, 2017 FORMATS: eBook and print (printed version will contain both Their Reason & Our Reason)         COVER MODEL: Alfie Gordillo PHOTOGRAPHER: Randy Rls Sewell COVER ARTIST: Andrew Reyna BLURB Married life is everything Bull and Red could have hoped for. It’s not something they’d ever take for granted and the need to pay it forward is a trait the husbands happily share. When the new director of the Bennett House asks … Read more