Podcast appearances and mentions of catherine lundoff

The Queen of Swords Press is “an independent small press specializing in swashbuckling tales of derring-do, bold new adventures in time and space, mysterious stories of the occult and arcane and fantastical tales of people and lands far and near.” Which really sums up why we love all the books they've put out, without even mentioning their wide variety of protagonists that increase representation for all of us. But how does an indie press work? Constantly, as this interview with Catherine Lundoff demonstrates! … Continue...Episode 206 – Indie Publisher focus – The Queen of Swords Press

Catherine Ludoff of Queen of Swords Press returns to share her latest Wolves of Wolf's Point series updates, as well as some of the latest offerings from Queen of Swords Press authors Michael Merriam, Melissa Scott, Amy Griswold, and others! https://queenofswordspress.com/  https://catherinelundoff.net/  http://www.wrotepodcast.com/catherine-lundoff-qosp/ 

When most of us think about publishing we tend to think of one of the Big Five (Four? How many are we down to now?), but there is a whole world of smaller, independent publishers to explore! Wanting to learn more about that world, Oliver spoke with Catherine Lundoff about her own experiences launching and running Queen of Swords Press. https://queenofswordspress.com (Twitter, Facebook, Patreon) PATREON: www.patreon.com/soimwritinganovel BUY OLIVER'S BOOKS: https://www.oliverbrackenbury.com/store SO I'M WRITING A NOVEL... TWITTER: https://twitter.com/so_writing OLIVER'S TWITTER: https://twitter.com/obrackenbury Oliver's Link Tree (For everything else): https://linktr.ee/obrackenbury

On the Shelf for May 2023 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 258 with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction. In this episode we talk about: Teaser for a potential upcoming guest Recent book shoppingBoag, Peter. 2011. Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 978-0-520-27062-6 Bullough, Vern L. & Bonnie Bullough. 1993. Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-8122-1431-5 New and forthcoming fictionA Wound Like Lapis Lazuli by Melody Wiklund The Disenchantment by Celia Bell The Accidental Bride (The Spinsters of Inverley #1) by Jane Walsh A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger They Ain't Proper by M.B. Guel An Island Princess Starts a Scandal (Las Leonas #2) by Adriana Herrera House of Longing by Tara Calaby Showing Mercy by Kim Pritekel What I've been consumingA Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock 7) by Sherry Thomas The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue This month we interview Catherine Lundoff and talk about: ”The Letter of Marque” on Catherine's Patreon The Four Musketeers: The True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis & Athos by Kari L. Maund (aka Kari Sperring) and Phil Nanson The Secret Life of Aphra Behn by Janet Todd ”Born with Teeth” by Liz Duffy Adams (play about Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare) The historic Jacquotte de la Haye The historic inspirations for the series Media mentioned: A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: catherinelundoff.net Website: queenofswordspress.com/ Mastodon: @Clundoff@wandering.shop Twitter: @clundoff Facebook: Clundoff

The Pirate in the Mirror by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 257 with Heather Rose Jones This quarter's fiction episode presents “The Pirate in the Mirror” by Catherine Lundoff, narrated by Heather Rose Jones. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website (Queen of Swords Press): https://queenofswordspress.com/ Twitter: @clundoff Instagram (Queen of Swords Press): @qospress Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clundoff

In this episode, Diane and Alan chat with author Matthew Kressel and Author/Editor/Publisher Catherine Lundoff. They discuss Matt's new novel Queen of Static, expectations when marketing books, and greening your office. They also announce that audio columns will be released seperately as their own mini-episodes for future episodes.  

Catherine Lundoff is a writer, editor and publisher of Queen of Swords press, and joins us today to talk about all three! How she researches and writes, what she writes about, how she works as an editor, teacher, and publisher, and how to do all three in the middle of a plague. … Continue...Episode 123 – Interview with Catherine Lundoff

Catherine Lundoff from Queen of Swords Press joins us to talk about their upcoming releases, what they look for in a submission, and touch on author involvement in marketing!

The Adventuress by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 202 with Heather Rose Jones This quarter's fiction episode presents “The Adventuress” by Catherine Lundoff, narrated by Heather Rose Jones. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Catherine Lundoff Website: Queen of Swords Press Twitter: @clundoff Facebook: Catherine Lundoff

Cardinal's Gambit by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 160 with Heather Rose Jones The second story in our 2020 fiction series. Written by Catherine Lundoff, narrated by Cherae Clark. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Catherine Lundoff Website: Queen of Swords Press Links to Cherae Clark Online Website: Clark Writes Twitter: @C_L_Clark

On the Shelf for March 2020 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 148 with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing. In this episode we talk about: In the spring, a historian's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of...historic gardening. Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blogAndreadis, Harriette. 1989. “The Sapphic-Platonics of Katherine Philips, 1632-1664” in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 15(1):34-60. Gubar, Susan. 1984. "Sapphistries" in Signs vol. 10, no. 1 43-62. Hallett, Judith. 1979. “Sappho and Her Social Context: Sense and Sensuality. in Signs 4: 447-464. Stigers, Eva Stehle. 1979. “Romantic Sensuality, Poetic Sense: A Response to Hallett on Sappho” in SIgns vol 4, no 3: 465-471. Katz, Marilyn A. 2000. "Sappho and Her Sisters: Women in Ancient Greece" in Signs vol. 25, no. 2 505-531. Bray, Alan. 2003. The Friend. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-07181-7 Verini, Alexandra. 2016. "Medieval Models of Female Friendship in Cristine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies and Margery Kempe's The Book of Margery Kempe" in Feminist Studies vol. 42, no. 2 365-391. Lasser, Carol. 1988. "'Let Us Be Sisters Forever': The Sororal Model of Nineteenth-Century Female Friendship" in Signs vol. 14, no. 1 158-181. Moore, Lisa. 1992. "'Something More Tender Still than Friendship': Romantic Friendship in Early-Nineteenth-Century England" in Feminist Studies vol. 18, no. 3 499-520. Announcing this month's guest, Catherine Lundoff talking about Queen of Swords Press New and forthcoming fictionTooth and Blade by Julian Barr The Flowers of Time (Lost in Time Book 3) by A.L. Lester Red Kate: a tale of lesbian piracy by Sarah Tighe-Ford Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn Never Anyone But You: A Novel by Rupert Thomson The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey Behind the Bandstand by Theresa J. Everlove Music from Another World by Robin Talley The Mail Order Bride by R. Kent A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Interview with Catherine Lundoff of Queen of Swords Press The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 149 with Heather Rose Jones An interview with the founder of Queen of Swords Press about the process of starting a publishing company. In this episode we talk about: Moving from being published to being a publisher Schedules and timelines Finding the balance in content What to tackle by yourself and when to bring in experts Making the finances work How success can trip you up The surprising cross-market potential of dapper lesbian capybara pirates Books mentioned - you are encouraged to buy through the Queen of Swords websiteSilver Moon by Catherine Lundoff Out of This World by Catherine Lundoff Murder on the Titania by Alex Acks Medusa's Touch by Emily L. Byrne Scourge of the Seas of Time and Space edited by Catherine Lundoff Wireless by Alex Acks Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic by Catherine Lundoff The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater A transcript of this podcast may be available here. (Transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Queen of Swords Press and Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Queen of Swords Press Twitter: @QoSPress Facebook: Queen of Swords Press Website: Catherine Lundoff Twitter: @clundoff Facebook: Catherine Lundoff (author page)

By Her Pen She Conquers by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 112 with Heather Rose Jones The second story in our 2019 fiction series: "By Her Pen" by previous LHMP author Catherine Lundoff. Catherine is an award-winning writer, editor, and publisher from Minneapolis. She is the author of the queer werewolf novel Silver Moon and the collection Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and is the editor of the fantastical pirate anthology Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space), as well as having a number of published short stories in many genres. She is also the publisher of Queen of Swords Press, a genre fiction publisher specializing in fiction from out of this world. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Catherine Lundoff Website: Queen of Swords Press Twitter: @clundoff Twitter: @qospress Facebook: Catherine Lundoff

Book Appreciation with Heather Rose Jones - Reading Outside Your Comfort Zone The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 80 with Heather Rose Jones In the Book Appreciation segments, our featured authors (or your host) will talk about one or more favorite books with queer female characters in a historic setting. In this episode Heather Rose Jones recommends some favorite historical novels with queer characters that may challenge your usual reading habits: Goddess by Kelly Gardiner The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue Everfair by Nisi Shawl Also mentioned: “The Mazarinette and the Musketeer” by Heather Rose Jones “M. de Maupin” by Catherine Lundoff in A Day at the Inn, A Night at the Palace and Other Stories (likely to be reprinted in a new collection, but no details yet) A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

One Night in Saint-Martin by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 47 The debut story in our 2018 fiction series. Written by Catherine Lundoff and narrated by Tiana Hanson. A transcript of this podcast may be available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: www.catherinelundoff.net Twitter: @clundoff Queen of Swords Press

Ever wondered who Polidori wrote "The Vampyre" about? Have you ever noticed LGBTQ+ coding (positive or negative) in your favorite science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories? What do the past and future look like for LGBTQ+ genre writers? We talk about it with author & publisher at Queen of Swords Press, Catherine Lundoff. There's a LOT to unpack here, but we got a good start! Might need a part 2 on this one... or part 3... check the notes below for contact info & links to Catherine Lundoff's excellent articles on the history of LGBTQ+ speculative fiction.CATHERINE LUNDOFF: https://catherinelundoff.net/ QUEEN OF SWORDS PRESS: https://queenofswordspress.com/ + @QoSPress on TwitterCatherine's article on Queer SFF/F/H pre-1970: https://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/11/guest-post-catherine-lundoff-on-lgbt-science-fiction-and-fantasy-before-1970/Catherine's article on Queer SFF/F/H 1970-2010: https://www.queerscifi.com/tag/out-of-the-past/Catherine's piece on Queer Horror from Nightmare Magazine: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Nightmare_37_October_2015.pdfFollow GlitchyPancakes on Twitter @GlitchyPancakes. Send email suggestions to CakesPod@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

Interview with Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 14 with Heather Rose Jones A series of interviews with authors of historically-based fiction featuring queer women. In this episode we talk about: How Alexandre Dumas and quitting law school started Catherine's writing career Sources of historic inspiration Her favorite genres Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare's fictional sister Her aspiration to blend Regency romance and pirates Catherine's academic background in history and feminist anthropology Queen of Swords Press and other projects Plans for publishing historical fiction with fantastic elements under Queen of Swords Press Books mentionedOut of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories by Catherine Lundoff. "M. Le Maupin" in Lesbian Short Fiction, edited by Jinx Beers. Vol 3, Fall, 1997. Tantra Publications. The Encyclopedia of Amazons by Jessica Amanda Salmonson Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era by Autumn Stephens “A Splash of Crimson” by Catherine Lundoff in Respectable Horror, ed. Ian Burdon. Fox Spirit Books, 2017. “Shakespeare's Sister” in A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. 1929. A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess. 1995. “Great Reckonings, Little Rooms” by Catherine Lundoff (in Out of This World) "Regency Masquerade" by Catherine Lundoff, reprinted in Kissed By Venus, May, 2008. Originally published in the Harrington Park Lesbian Fiction Quarterly. Vol. 3 (1), Alice Street Editions, 2002. (Historical Romance). (Mentioned in the interview as “Bath Masquerade”) The Four Musketeers: The True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis & Athos by Kari Maund and Phil Nanson. Tempus, 2005. Aphra Behn: A Secret Life by Janet Todd. Fentum Press, 2017. (reprint of the 1997 edition The Secret Life of Aphra Behn) Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff A transcript of this podcast may be available here. (Transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Queen of Swords Press, Catherine's newsletter, and the History of LGBTQ Speculative Fiction column “Out of the Past” Twitter: @clundoff Twitter - Queen of Swords Press: @qospress Twitter - Emily L. Byrne (pen name for erotica): @emilylbyrne Facebook: Catherine Lundoff Facebook: Queen of Swords Press Facebook: Emily L. Byrne

Book Appreciation with Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 15 with Heather Rose Jones In the Book Appreciation segments, our featured authors (or your host) will talk about one or more favorite books with queer female characters in a historic setting. In this episode Catherine Lundoff recommends some favorite queer historical novels: Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue Kissing the Witch (collection) by Emma Donoghue Affinity by Sarah Waters Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Also a nod to The Armor of Light by Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett (queer authors, but queer male protagonists) A transcript of this podcast may be available here. (Transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Queen of Swords Press, Catherine's newsletter, and the History of LGBTQ Speculative Fiction column “Out of the Past” Twitter: @clundoff Twitter - Queen of Swords Press: @qospress Twitter - Emily L. Byrne (pen name for erotica): @emilylbyrne Facebook: Catherine Lundoff Facebook: Queen of Swords Press Facebook: Emily L. Byrne

About:This anthology lists unique stories written for the Dark Ages 20th anniversary update. Insights into your favorite clans written by the creators of the content you love. We have our favorites and fight to not ruin the stories in the review but do speak to them.All of these short stories are good and tackle some hard to understand concepts of Dark ages vampire world and write them into a story that puts it into perspective.Need an idea of how not all Children of Haqim are Banu Haqim? "Ghosts of Chorazin" short story will sort you out.Ventrue are boring? read "Young , Gifted and Ventrue".Insight into Tzimisce culture? read "Acts of Cruelty". This is just a few of the stories and all are worth a night of reading before a weekend session of Vampire. Authors:Maurice Broaddus, Renee Ritchie, Justin Achilli, RussellZimmerman, Andrew Peregrine, Catherine Lundoff, Eddy Webb, Jacob Klünder, Ree Soesbee, David A. Hill, Jr., Alan Alexander, Richard Dansky, Danielle Lauzon, Neall Raemonn PricePublished:© 2016 White Wolf Publishing. Buy this book here:The Cainite Conspiracies Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/25yearsofvampirethemasquerade/posts)

Welcome back to Letters to Yesterday, a podcast of messages to the past. Here we read letters from our listeners to their past selves, sharing advice and guidance. Hopefully we’ll inspire each other. Thank you again to everyone who left us a review and everyone who’s listened so far. Today’s letter comes from Catherine Lundoff. Catherine is an award-winning writer, editor and publisher from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her books include Silver Moon, Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic. She is the editor of Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space), as well as several other anthologies, and a wide array of fiction in multiple genres. In addition, she is also the publisher at Queen of Swords Press, a small press specializing in fiction from out of this world. www.catherinelundoff.net     Dear Me That Was: I am looking at a picture of you on your senior field trip, the one where you went with your class to take yearbook pictures outside Lincoln Center. You’re trying to look tough and bored, but really you look tired and tense. You’re leaning on the guy that you’re seeing in secret because high school is complicated and yours is a bit more complicated than a lot of others, for its time. It’s a group picture and most of your classmates aren’t looking at the camera. Some are watching each other or something beyond the photographer that I can’t remember now or just plain staring off into space. Most look the way you do, tired, bored and unhappy. I remember why you felt that way. You’re a scholarship student at a high school where you are genteelly poor but most of your classmates have families much better off than yours, you’re under lots of pressure to keep your grades up, you’ve got an alcoholic parent waiting for you at home, you’ve got a secret not-quite boyfriend with his own baggage and you’ve got an all weekend/every weekend job as a cashier at a local supermarket. And, of course, you’re the yearbook editor and you’re trying to maintain your status as 3rd or 4th (depending on the day) in line for being valedictorian because that’s what you were told colleges would look for. It is a lot. And I’d tell that it won’t always be like this, but that would be a lie and as a rule, I don’t lie to anyone, and certainly not to you. What it will be is training and conditioning for the years to come. You will find things that you love and that you love doing and you will learn to juggle what needs to be done with what you really want to do. You will learn to compartmentalize, to tune out and focus. A lot of this will be amazingly useful. Some of it, on the other hand, will be bad for you and you’ll spend years figuring out the difference. But you’ll do it. And that’s when the adventures will begin, all of them, including things you never imagined would happen. Not the you in this picture, anyway. Wait, that’s not true. The adventures start long before then, it’s just that you won’t always recognize them as such. You’re going to go off to college in a different state and create a whole new you, one that goes from hippy to New Wave in two semesters. You’ll find your people, start playing D&D and discover science fiction and fantasy. You’re going to do everything from joining the Society for Creative Anachronism to doing performance art in St. Louis. Why? Because it’s the 1980s and it’s part of you trying out things that your friends like to do to see if you like them too. Did I mention that you’ll have friends? Lots of friends, although it will take a while to be able to pick out the ones worth keeping. And lovers. You feel like no one is ever going to really love you now, but it’s not true. It isn’t even true for you right now, me in this picture, but sometimes, it’s hard to recognize that. Oh, and by the way, some of that unresolved emotional turmoil? You’re bisexual or queer or whatever you want to call it, but definitely not straight. Figuring that out is going to be messy and huge, but you’ll be a lot happier once you realize it’s a good thing. And all the baggage that you carried through high school, all the coping skills and dependencies you developed to keep yourself going, all the while ignoring a lot of what you wanted and what you needed, will fall apart and you’ll need to rebuild them, modify them, change them so they work for you. That last year, that photo, that field trip? That’s part of you figuring some of it out. That’s you with your friends and the clothes you bought with your own job, your own money. That’s also you standing around with a bunch of other bored teens posing for a picture in front of one of the great cultural landmarks of New York City. You’re kind of a mess now, but you’ve got the building blocks for a future you’re going to want. So the number one thing I want to tell you is: hang in there. It’s a total cliché, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Roll your eyes all you like. You’ll be doing that a lot anyway. Eventually, you’re going to find more people who get your sense of humor so you might as well start now.  You’re not crazy, not really. And the second thing is that you need to read. Read a bunch. The day will come when you’re going to sit down at a computer (yes, you. They get easier to use than the one that codes in binary that they’re trying to get you to learn right now.) and you’re going to write stories. You’re going to draw on all the things you’ve imagined and some of the things you’ve done and you’re going to make stories that people like to read. Some of them will even find those stories pretty life changing, but that will come later. Learn to get lost in your imagination now, the way you always have when home and school got to be too much to handle, when you needed a shield or an escape. Do that until it gets easier. Finally, believe people when you don’t have a good reason to doubt them. Believe them when they tell you that you’re worth loving, that you write good stories, that you do some good in the world and that you should stick around. It’s hard to realize now, but those people care and they want your way forward to get easier. Try to let people in when you can. Follow the path through the woods, the one that goes through the wardrobe or under hill. Ride the eagle, fight the battles, learn the true names of things, ride with Eowyn.  Above all, try to be honorable and brave when you can. Open the door and step forward…   P.S. Thank you to Les Hayden for the use of their song Ophelia. Thank you to everyone who has submitted wonderful letters. If you’d like to write a letter, we’d love to read it. You can submit letters to Letters To Yes, that’s Y E S at gmail. The letter should be between 1000 and 2000 words and can be on any topic. What did you need to hear a year ago? Ten years ago? You can also join on us facebook and twitter at letterstoyes. Letters to Yesterday is Produced by Leslie J. Anderson. Stay safe out there.  

Cardinal’s Gambit by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 46e with Heather Rose Jones The second story in our 2020 fiction series. Written by Catherine Lundoff, narrated by Cherae Clark. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Catherine Lundoff Website: Queen of Swords Press Links to Cherae Clark Online Website: Clark Writes Twitter: @C_L_Clark PATREON If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: The Lesbian Talk Show Patreon The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Interview with Catherine Lundoff of Queen of Swords Press The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 44b with Heather Rose Jones An interview with the founder of Queen of Swords Press about the process of starting a publishing company. In this episode we talk about: Schedules and timelines Finding the balance in content What to tackle by yourself and when to bring in experts Making the finances work How success can trip you up The surprising cross-market potential of dapper lesbian capybara pirates Books mentioned - you are encouraged to buy through the Queen of Swords website Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff Out of This World by Catherine Lundoff Murder on the Titania by Alex Acks Medusa’s Touch by Emily L. Byrne Scourge of the Seas of Time and Space edited by Catherine Lundoff Wireless by Alex Acks Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic by Catherine Lundoff The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater A transcript of this podcast is pending. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Queen of Swords Press and Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Queen of Swords Press Twitter: @QoSPress Facebook: Queen of Swords Press Website: Catherine Lundoff Twitter: @clundoff Facebook: Catherine Lundoff (author page) If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: The Lesbian Talk Show Patreon The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

On the Shelf for March 2020 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 44a with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing. In this episode we talk about: In the spring, a historian’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of...historic gardening. Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blogAndreadis, Harriette. 1989. “The Sapphic-Platonics of Katherine Philips, 1632-1664” in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 15(1):34-60. Gubar, Susan. 1984. "Sapphistries" in Signs vol. 10, no. 1 43-62. Hallett, Judith. 1979. “Sappho and Her Social Context: Sense and Sensuality. in Signs 4: 447-464. Stigers, Eva Stehle. 1979. “Romantic Sensuality, Poetic Sense: A Response to Hallett on Sappho” in Signs vol 4, no 3: 465-471. Katz, Marilyn A. 2000. "Sappho and Her Sisters: Women in Ancient Greece" in Signs vol. 25, no. 2 505-531. Bray, Alan. 2003. The Friend. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-07181-7 Verini, Alexandra. 2016. "Medieval Models of Female Friendship in Cristine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies and Margery Kempe's The Book of Margery Kempe" in Feminist Studies vol. 42, no. 2 365-391. Lasser, Carol. 1988. "'Let Us Be Sisters Forever': The Sororal Model of Nineteenth-Century Female Friendship" in Signs vol. 14, no. 1 158-181. Moore, Lisa. 1992. "'Something More Tender Still than Friendship': Romantic Friendship in Early-Nineteenth-Century England" in Feminist Studies vol. 18, no. 3 499-520. Announcing this month’s guest, Catherine Lundoff talking about Queen of Swords Press New and forthcoming fictionTooth and Blade by Julian Barr The Flowers of Time (Lost in Time Book 3) by A.L. Lester Red Kate: a tale of lesbian piracy by Sarah Tighe-Ford Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn Never Anyone But You: A Novel by Rupert Thomson The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey Behind the Bandstand by Theresa J. Everlove Music from Another World by Robin Talley The Mail Order Bride by R. Kent A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: The Lesbian Talk Show Patreon The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Wayne Goodman in conversation with Catherine Lundoff, writer, editor, fan, and self-proclaimed geek

By Her Pen She Conquers by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 35e with Heather Rose Jones The second story in our 2019 fiction series: "By Her Pen She Conquers" by previous LHMP author Catherine Lundoff. Catherine is an award-winning writer, editor, and publisher from Minneapolis. She is the author of the queer werewolf novel Silver Moon and the collection Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and is the editor of the fantastical pirate anthology Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space), as well as having a number of published short stories in many genres. She is also the publisher of Queen of Swords Press, a genre fiction publisher specializing in fiction from out of this world. Update Note: I unintentionally truncated the title to "By Her Pen" in the original post and recording. I apologize deeply to Catherine Lundoff for this mistake and have corrected it in all the places I have access to, but the audio version retains the shorter title. A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page) Links to Catherine Lundoff Online Website: Catherine Lundoff Website: Queen of Swords Press Twitter: @clundoff Twitter: @qospress Facebook: Catherine Lundoff If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: The Lesbian Talk Show Patreon The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Book Appreciation with Heather Rose Jones - Reading Outside Your Comfort Zone The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 28c with Heather Rose Jones  In the Book Appreciation segments, our featured authors (or your host) will talk about one or more favorite books with queer female characters in a historic setting. In this episode Heather Rose Jones recommends some favorite historical novels with queer characters that may challenge your usual reading habits: Goddess by Kelly Gardiner The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue Everfair by Nisi Shawl Also mentioned: “The Mazarinette and the Musketeer” by Heather Rose Jones “M. de Maupin” by Catherine Lundoff in A Day at the Inn, A Night at the Palace and Other Stories (likely to be reprinted in a new collection, but no details yet) A transcript of this episode can be found here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: contact@alpennia.com Twitter: @heatherosejones Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Heather-Rose-Jones-490950014312292/ If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLesbianTalkShow

One Night in Saint-Martin by Catherine Lundoff The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 20e Every month when there is a fifth show, we’ll be presenting new original lesbian historical fiction.  In this episode we present “One Night in Saint Martin” by Catherine Lundoff Catherine was featured in the very first Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast author interview, in August 2017 and I’m delighted to be able to offer you this tale of spies and pirates in the mid-17th century Carribbean. Catherine lives in Minneapolis with her wife and two cats. She is an award-winning writer and editor whose stories and articles have appeared, or are forthcoming, in venues such as Respectable Horror, My Wandering Uterus, Tales of the Unanticipated, The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Professor Moriarty, Renewal, Callisto, The Cainite Conspiracies: A Vampire the Masquerade V20 Anthology and Nightmare Magazine: Queers Destroy Horror. Her recent books include Silver Moon and Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories. Catherine is also the publisher at Queen of Swords Press, a new genre fiction publisher of tales from out of this world. When not writing or working on Queen of Swords, Catherine is a professional computer geek and former archeologist who enjoys science fiction and fantasy, good books and local theater. Our narrator for this episode is Tiana Hanson. Tiana was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, and came to the Bay Are to chase her lifelong dream of being a professional actress. She has narrated fifteen audiobooks (available on Audible), mostly lesbian romances, and is delighted to find a new creative outlet that allows her queer light to shine. This recording is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License. You may share it in the full original form but you may not sell it, you may not transcribe it, and you may not adapt it. More info The Lesbian Historic Motif Project lives at: http://alpennia.com/lhmp You can follow the blog on my website (http://alpennia.com/blog) or subscribe to the RSS feed (http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/) If you have questions or comments about the LHMP or these podcasts, send them to: contact@alpennia.com A text version of the story and transcript of this podcast is available here. If you enjoy this podcast and others at The Lesbian Talk Show, please consider supporting the show through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLesbianTalkShow

Book Appreciation with Catherine Lundoff  In the Book Appreciation segments, our featured authors (or your host) will talk about one or more favorite books with queer female characters in a historic setting.  In this episode Catherine Lundoff recommends some favorite queer historical novels:   Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  Kissing the Witch (collection) by Emma Donoghue Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  Affinity by Sarah Waters Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  also a nod to The Armor of Light by Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett (queer authors, but queer male protagonists) Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca  A transcript of this show can be found here. More info The Lesbian Historic Motif Project lives here  For further information on Catherine Lundoff’s fiction, see the website for Queen of Swords Press or the show notes for the previous episode of the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast when she was interviewed.  If you have questions or comments about the LHMP or these podcasts, send them to: contact@alpennia.com 

Interview with Catherine Lundoff  A series of interviews with authors of historically-based fiction featuring queer women.  In this episode we talk about  How Alexandre Dumas and quitting law school started Catherine’s writing career  Sources of historic inspiration  Her favorite genres  Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare’s fictional sister  Her aspiration to blend Regency romance and pirates  Catherine’s academic background in history and feminist anthropology  Queen of Swords Press and other projects  Plans for publishing historical fiction with fantastic elements under Queen of Swords Press  A transcript of this show can be found here. Publications mentioned:  Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories by Catherine Lundoff. Queen of Swords Press, 2017. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca "M. Le Maupin" in Lesbian Short Fiction, edited by Jinx Beers. Vol 3, Fall, 1997. Tantra Publications. The Encyclopedia of Amazons by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. 1992.  Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era by Autumn Stephens. Conari Press, 1992. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca “A Splash of Crimson” by Catherine Lundoff in Respectable Horror, ed. Ian Burdon. Fox Spirit Books, 2017. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca “Shakespeare’s Sister” in A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. 1929. (https://www.amazon.com/Room-Ones-Own-Virginia-Woolf/dp/1614279934) A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess. 1995. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca “Great Reckonings, Little Rooms” by Catherine Lundoff (in Out of This World) Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca "Regency Masquerade" by Catherine Lundoff, reprinted in Kissed By Venus, May, 2008. Originally published in the Harrington Park Lesbian Fiction Quarterly. Vol. 3 (1), Alice Street Editions, 2002. (Historical Romance). (Mentioned in the interview as “Bath Masquerade”)  The Four Musketeers: The True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis & Athos by Kari Maund and Phil Nanson. Tempus, 2005. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca Aphra Behn: A Secret Life by Janet Todd. Fentum Press, 2017. (reprint of the 1997 edition The Secret Life of Aphra Behn) Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff. Queen of Swords Press, 2017. (contemporary fantasy, not historical) Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca More info  The Lesbian Historic Motif Project lives here  Website:  Queen of Swords Press, Catherine’s newsletter, and the History of LBBTQ Speculative Fiction column “Out of the Past”  Twitter:  Catherine Lundoff   Queen of Swords Press  Emily L. Byrne (pen name for erotica)  Facebook:  Author page  Queen of Swords Press  Emily L. Byrne  If you have questions or comments about the LHMP or these podcasts, send them to: contact@alpennia.com 

Shakespeare, queer noir, and vampire yaoi, oh my! Catherine Lundoff joins Jen and Paul to talk about her new collection of short stories, Out of this World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories, which is also the first release from her new independent publishing house, Queen of Swords Press. We travel through genre and history as we discuss the […]

AND OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH SWEETNESSby Lisa Nohealani MortonAfter the Collapse and the Great Reboot, Lila moved into the city and opened a barbershop.Great things were happening in the city: spaceports and condominiums and public works projects outlined their soon-to-be-erected monuments to great men and women and superior city living in holographic glows. Angels patrolled the sky, resplendent with metal wings that sparkled in the sun when they banked for a turn. Everyone seemed to be full of exciting plans for the future, but Lila came from a long line of barbers and her humble shop only seemed fitting. She called the shop The Lion’s Mane, because there were lions, once. A full transcript appears under the cut.----more----[Intro music]Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode Six for May 14th, 2015. I’m your host, Keffy, and I’m super excited to be sharing this story with you.Not a lot of news to give you this time. I’ve prioritized getting the podcast running so that you all have something to listen to each week, but there’s a lot of odds and ends that I hope I’ll be able to pick up soon.Our story this week is “And Out of the Strong Came Forth Sweetness” by Lisa Nohealani Morton.Born and raised in Honolulu, Lisa Nohealani Morton lives in Washington, DC. By day she is a mild-mannered database wrangler, computer programmer, and all-around data geek, and by night she writes science fiction, fantasy, and combinations of the two. Her short fiction has appeared in publications such as Lightspeed, Daily Science Fiction, and Fireside. She can be found on Twitter as @lnmorton.And our reader this week is Marguerite Kenner, who is the host and editor at Cast of Wonders, a YA audio fiction podcast, which you can find at www.castofwonders.org. AND OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH SWEETNESSby Lisa Nohealani Morton After the Collapse and the Great Reboot, Lila moved into the city and opened a barbershop.Great things were happening in the city: spaceports and condominiums and public works projects outlined their soon-to-be-erected monuments to great men and women and superior city living in holographic glows. Angels patrolled the sky, resplendent with metal wings that sparkled in the sun when they banked for a turn. Everyone seemed to be full of exciting plans for the future, but Lila came from a long line of barbers and her humble shop only seemed fitting. She called the shop The Lion’s Mane, because there were lions, once.At first she only had a trickle of customers. After all, they had machines for what she did, now – cunning booths that let you try a hundred different cuts and styles on their screens until you settled on just the one for you, then produced it on your head in a flurry of laser-precise snicking. The booths even had presets for a wide selection of celebrities, for when you cared enough to imitate the very best. Only those too wealthy or old-fashioned to submit to the booths’ impersonality, or too poor to live in a neighborhood that had them, bothered with the time and expense of a human barber.Soon enough, though, as she cut and styled the neighborhood’s tradesmen and women, her hands began to regain a little of the strength she had lost in her years of hiding and fleeing from one place after another, and she could feel the old magic returning. Word then spread, and her appointment app began to fill up with trims and foils and updos. If any of her customers noticed a certain lassitude filling them as she chattered and clipped, they chalked it up to the relaxing sensation of having their hair washed for them. And at any rate, it all grew back.“It’s so much more tiring than the booth,” a middle-aged woman said to her companion, as she wrote a check for a modest amount (plus tip). She patted her hair with limp satisfaction. “But it’s worth every minute.”“Come back soon,” Lila said cheerily.When closing time came (early, because it was Sunday, and she had obligatory services to attend like everyone else), she swept the day’s clippings into black garbage bags and carried them into the cellar, where they joined the modest pile at the back. She smiled at the sight of them, lifting up onto her toes and bouncing, experimentally. Then she went out to do her errands before services. On the way home, she made sure to stop and say hello to Wylie. Wylie was a homeless man who slept in the stoop three doors down from her own. He had been there as long as anyone could remember, and it was rumored that he’d had some kind of run-in with the Angels. Lila could feel the strength in him, both like and unlike her own, and knew him for a sorcerer or a magus of some sort. The Angels didn’t suffer witches; they made the witches suffer instead, and something had brought Wylie to their attention. Whatever they’d done to him, it hadn’t cut away his strength, but it had left him too little mind to do anything with it. Lila tried to make sure he had enough to eat and a warm place to sleep, because of that near-family feeling as much as her own fear of the Angels.This morning Wylie was more active than usual, rocking back and forth and muttering to himself. She bent and placed a few coins in his cup.He straightened suddenly at the rattle. “Witch-woman!” he shouted, and she flinched, looking around to see who might have heard before remembering that no one took any notice of Wylie.“I’m not a witch,” she told him for the third or fourth time. None of her line were, even if the Angels wouldn’t appreciate the differences.He glared at her with yellow-hazel eyes. “Flashes in the sky,” he muttered. Then he looked up and seemed to see her for the first time. “Lions around you,” he offered, in an almost conciliatory tone.Lila gasped. She dreamed of lions, sometimes, but she’d never told anyone. “Lions? Do they…” Her voice dropped as she realized she was questioning a madman about her own dreams. “Do they…lie down for me?”Wylie didn’t answer for a long time. “Lasers,” he said at last, looking sadly at her feet. He looked up at her face again, and his own face contorted with pain. “Laser eyes!” he shrieked, pedaling backwards with his feet until he hit the wall, then scrabbling on the ground with his hands. “Laser eyes! Laser – ”Lila backed away slowly and hurried down the street. As she rounded the corner, she could still hear Wylie screaming, “Witch-woman! Laser eyes!” A woman stood outside when she came up from stowing away the results of her errands in the cellar.“I was hoping to get a haircut,” the woman said, her hand stealing up to pat at her shoulder-length red hair. She looked strong and uncertain in a pretty sort of way that left Lila completely tongue-tied. “Are you Lila?”Lila came up the last few steps and closed the cellar doors, glancing behind herself nervously. “Yes,” she said, “but we closed at -” Her throat closed at the disappointed look the woman gave her, and she couldn’t continue.A hand rested on her arm; she stared at it mutely, and swallowed. The woman smiled. “My name is Rebecca,” she said. “I’d like to cut it short, if you can help me.”With an effort, Lila tore her eyes away from the hand on her wrist. It hadn’t budged. She cleared her throat and her gaze locked with amused brown eyes. “Why don’t I make some coffee and we’ll talk about it,” she said. Coffee became regular and turned into brunch on Sundays. Lila started jumping at shadows, found herself distracted at key moments by mental images of the two of them necking on a bench in the park, and generally couldn’t get thoughts of Rebecca out of her head. Rebecca drove her mad with little touches – a hand brushing the hair out of Lila’s face, a head resting momentarily on her shoulder – but never quite crossed the line, and Lila didn’t know how to cross it herself. In the meantime she cut hair and grew strong. She never did cut Rebecca’s hair, though, no matter how many times Rebecca asked.“Not now,” she said, glancing up at the skies. A glint of metal answered her look. “Your hair is so beautiful like this, why do you want to cut it?” Daring greatly, she reached out and stroked it, letting the ends run through her fingertips.She closed her eyes when Rebecca said, yet again, “I just want to know when you’re going to work your magic on me.”Never, she thought, and felt her lips smile, falsely.“Sometime soon,” she said. “You haven’t been here that long, have you? In the city.” Rebecca eyed her.“What gave me away?” Lila kept her tone light, but questions about her past always made her tense. It wasn’t that far from “where did you…?” to “what did you…?” and “how are you able to…?” And not long after that usually came the pitchforks. She didn’t understand what got them so upset. It all grew back, after all, unlike what some of her other family members did. But in the end, it always came back to pitchforks.Rebecca didn’t give any sign that she noticed Lila’s sudden tension. “Little things, mostly…like the way you flinched when I mentioned the Angels just now.”She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from flinching again. Thou shalt not suffer a witch… She forced a little laugh. “City people don’t find them a little frightening? The wings, the laser eyes, and, well, everything?”“Why should we? The Angels protect our city,” Rebecca said, her chin coming up stubbornly.“But what if they decide you’re what the city needs protecting against?”Rebecca frowned. “What do you mean? The Angels defend against intruders.”“I’ve heard things,” Lila said, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. “People rounded up, dragged out of their homes in the dead of night, things like that.”“We defend the city from all threats,” Rebecca said steadily.Lila, for her part, choked on her coffee.Rebecca leapt to her feet and came around the kitchen table to pound on Lila’s back as she coughed. Her hand stayed on Lila’s back, warm and heavy, as Lila managed to get enough breath to wheeze out, “We?”“I’m one.” Rebecca’s tone was casual, but there was an undercurrent of worry just beneath the surface of the words. Her hand lifted off Lila’s back for a moment, leaving the spot where it had lain cold. After a second it dropped down again, stroking almost defiantly over her shoulders.Lila shivered and closed her eyes, desire and fear warring inside her. After a long moment, she felt in control enough of her voice to say, with false cheer, “So you don’t suffer witches, then?”“Don’t be silly,” Rebecca laughed. “There’s no such thing as witches. It’s just an old superstition, from back before the Collapse, even. Besides,” her voice dropped, becoming something more intimate, caressing, “you must have cast some sort of spell on me, and I haven’t arrested you yet.” Her fingertips traced up the side of Lila’s neck and into her hair, making Lila shiver again.Lila swallowed, hard. “Are you making a pass at me?” she managed to ask at last.Rebecca laughed again, a sound that tinkled like the door to Lila’s shop. “Only because you didn’t make one about, oh, three weeks ago,” she said, bending to whisper the last words in Lila’s ear before dipping her head to kiss along Lila’s jawline to the corner of her mouth. She hovered there, nearly but not quite touching her lips to Lila’s, as if waiting for permission.Lila turned her head sharply, bringing their mouths together. She heard Rebecca give a small, muffled chuckle before they were too busy kissing for anything else. “Good morning,” Lila said to Wylie. He ignored her. She dropped some money in his cup, as usual.“Flashy in the sunlight. Flash like wings.” He looked up at her. “You be careful, girl. She’s a flashy one.”“What do you mean?” Lila asked.He shook his head irritably. “Blood will out,” he said. “Her kind will be coming for me soon, mark my words.”“Whose kind? Wylie, who’s coming for you?” Lila asked, knowing the answer.“I give you my power willingly.” He gave her an oddly proud look, and then lapsed back into muttering. Lila backed away before he could start screaming again. That night Lila dreamed of lions and Rebecca. She was surrounded by the beasts in a little clearing, and Rebecca was looking on, terrified. “Lila, come away,” she called. “You’ll get hurt.”Lila ignored her and went on shearing the lions’ manes. Golden hair piled up in her lap as lion after lion lay down before her to be shorn, and she felt herself fill up with power until she was shifting in her seat, barely able to contain it all. As she finished with each lion, he moved a short distance away and went to sleep. Rebecca began to weep, quietly, but Lila went on ignoring her, although inside she was screaming with the need to go and comfort Rebecca.The last lion approached, but instead of lying down to be shorn, he roared in Lila’s face. Rebecca screamed and the lion turned around, saw her, and crouched to spring. “No!” Lila screamed as it pounced, and lasers began spearing down out of the sky. “Laser eyes and all, huh?” They were lying in Lila’s bed above the shop, letting the afternoon breeze dry the slickness of their lovemaking.Rebecca snorted. “They’re not actually our eyes,” she said. “Though we do control them that way. They’re attached to our helmets, like this” – she wiggled her fingers at the sides of her head like antennae – “and the helmet tracks where we’re looking and fires if we squeeze our eyes the right way. Tons better than aiming by hand.”“Plus it’s really scary, right?” Lila teased.Rebecca nodded matter-of-factly. “Plus it scares people.” When her basement was nearly full, she took to flying around the city at night. She took care to keep low and out of restricted airspaces. There were Angels everywhere in the skies these days, with metal wings that glinted in the moonlight. If you were a descendant of Lila’s line you did best to stay beneath their notice.She flew over the zoo nearly every time, buzzing low over the empty lion habitat. She thought she’d like to try her hand at trimming a lion’s mane, and remembered the feel of it in her dreams, rough and strong under her scissors. She pictured the awe on the onlooker’s faces as she finished, and the lion went to sleep at her feet. But she never saw any lions. “What did you want to be when you grew up?”“An Angel,” Rebecca said promptly. “What about you?”Lila thought for a long time. She supposed she could have been nearly anything. Her aunt Maxine cut off people’s destinies with their hair. She was the Queen of Las Vegas these days, and while she didn’t see many clients anymore, she would have had a spare dream or three tucked away for a favorite niece. But Lila had never wanted to be a princess, or rich, or famous. She just wanted to fly. “A barber,” she said at last. At least she didn’t have to keep each client’s hair separate, like Maxine did. What a bother.Rebecca laughed delightedly, a tinkling sound that Lila thought she could listen to forever. “So we’re both living the dream, aren’t we?”“For now,” Lila said pensively. That morning, when she’d gone past his usual corner, Wylie had been gone. Only his cup lay there on its side, the sole testament to the fact that he’d existed at all. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” Rebecca said, pulling away from their comfortable Sunday afternoon embrace on the park bench. Not nearly so many old ladies sniffed as they passed as Lila had imagined. “You’ve been tense for days. What’s going on?”Lila considered her words carefully before she spoke. She hadn’t been able to fly for a week now, because patrols of Angels had been over her house every time she considered it. The feeds didn’t suggest any reason why they might be in her neighborhood, other than the obvious, so she was lying low, not taking more than her hands absolutely demanded of her when she cut hair.It hurt to give up flight, though, when she’d been so long grounded, and she resented the need. If only the Angels would see that she was essentially harmless. Her ultimate grandmother’s traits had bred true, and everything she cut grew back. But the city had its rules, and under them she was a witch, and not to be suffered.“It’s nothing, really,” she said at last, when Rebecca gave her a quizzical look. “It’s just – my rent went up last week, and I’m not sure how everything will shake out.”“That’s terrible!” Rebecca exclaimed. She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped, an odd expression on her face. Lila could hear a faint buzzing as Rebecca dug a phone out of her purse. “Dammit – I wasn’t supposed to have to go in today -” she muttered.Lila laughed bitterly. So today was the day that they’d come for her.“Lila…?” Rebecca said uncertainly.She forced herself to give a smile that she knew looked false. “It’s nothing. Go ahead – if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.” She bared her teeth even wider in a parody of cheer. “We’ll catch up another time.”Rebecca gave her a haunted look. “I never – I have to go,” she said urgently, holding up the phone. “They’ll be wondering -”Lila barely had an instant to register Rebecca’s weight shifting and then her arms were full of her, warm mouth soft and slightly open on her lips. She kissed back, desperately, hardly able to believe that this was happening. Not so soon, she thought.“I love you,” Rebecca said, slightly muffled against her mouth. “I’m sorry, I have to -” and then she was pulling back, and then she was gone, sprinting towards the nearest transit stop.A few minutes later, Lila realized she was standing outside her own front door in a daze, one hand on her lips. She gave herself a shake and hurried into the shop. She saw them coming an hour before they got to her shop. She had that much strength and more, these days. She didn’t run, though. She was done with running. She sat in her kitchen and waited for the Angels and their laser eyes.A sudden banging came at her door, and she started. The Angels wouldn’t knock – they’d just come in. Thinking it was an unexpected customer, she went to warn them off. The words died on her lips when she saw Rebecca standing there.It was the first time she’d ever seen Rebecca in her Angel suit. Her wings were resplendent in the sunlight, nearly blinding as they caught and reflected the beams. Lila could see at the sides of her helmet where the lasers would emerge to burn their way through obstacles – or wrongdoers. Lila supposed she was a wrongdoer. She took a deep breath, although she didn’t know what to say.“We have to go,” Rebecca said. Her face was white and drawn. “Lila, they’re coming, we have to -”It only took a second to regain her equilibrium. Not a wrongdoer after all. She smiled, and felt as though she might burst. “I’m staying here,” she said gently. “I’m tired of running.”Rebecca stared at her. “But it’s not true,” she said. “You’re not a witch, they’ve just got it wrong. We have to run, until we can prove to them that you’re not.”Gingerly, she reached out and took Rebecca’s hand. “Do you even know how much I love you?” she asked. Rebecca just looked confused. Lila could see the Angel formation approaching in the distance. “Follow me, if you can,” she said, and took off.For a moment she flew alone; then she heard Rebecca’s burners kick in, and she caught up, calling Lila’s name.They flew alongside each other in silence for a while, leaving the residential neighborhoods for the park. “It’s true, isn’t it,” Rebecca said after a few minutes. “You are a witch.” She didn’t peel away, though, and Lila took that as a good sign.“We don’t call ourselves that,” she said. “It isn’t magic, exactly. It’s just a family tradition.”She felt the air underneath her grow less supporting, and she dipped alarmingly. “Lila!” Rebecca shouted as she fell.At the last second Lila managed to pull herself out of the dive, and she knew the Angels had found her basement, were dragging the garbage bags out and into the light, setting them afire with lasers that weren’t their eyes. “We have to land soon,” she called. Rebecca had pulled ahead, but somehow Lila knew that her dip was agreement and not fatigue. Soon they were landing in a clearing.The first thing Lila did was take stock of her surroundings. The high fences gave her pause at first, but then she realized where they were – it was the empty lion cage at the zoo.Only it wasn’t empty. A lion paced the confines of the cage, watching them with his yellow-hazel eyes.“Lila,” Rebecca said with alarm. “I don’t have much more power -”Lila bounced on her toes a little, catching the lion’s attention for a moment. Nothing happened. “I’ve got none,” Lila said, stepping forward to stand in front of Rebecca. She dipped one hand into her apron pocket, gripping her shears tightly, although she didn’t take them out. At least she’d make the beast pay for their lives.The lion stalked closer, and then did something inconceivable: he lay down in front of her, quiescent.Rebecca gasped behind her. Unbelieving, Lila bent slowly to run a hand through his mane. She felt a strength in the lion that was both unexpected and familiar. “Wylie?” she breathed. The lion turned his head slightly, rubbing his mane against her hand.Was it even possible? Lila didn’t know. Wylie had had power, but this was unlike anything she’d ever heard of. No time, she thought. She turned back to Rebecca. “It’s OK,” she said. “I think it’s OK.”The lion made a strange groaning sound in his throat, and nudged his nose at her apron pocket. Only long practice at hiding her emotions kept Lila still. The lion nosed her insistently until she removed the shears from her pocket, then nuzzled them.She cast a wary eye at the sky. The glint of Angels’ wings was closing in. “Do you want a haircut?” she asked the lion, feeling inane. She ran her hand through his mane again. He was so strong…At her words, the lion lay quiet again, turning his head so that she could easily reach his mane. Scarcely daring to breathe, she grasped the coarse hair in one hand, brought the shears forward, and began to clip.Strength like nothing she had ever felt flooded her as the golden locks fell around the great head. She knew she could fly again, suddenly, but she kept on snipping until the mane lay on the ground and she hummed with strength.“Lila,” Rebecca said again, uncertainly.“Sssh,” Lila hushed her. “Come here.” She held out her hand, peremptorily, not paying any attention to the propriety of it. The glints of metal in the sky were getting closer. Rebecca took her hand, but still stood apart, so she drew her closer. “Come on, love.” She took Rebecca’s hand, placed it on the lion’s head. Rebecca gasped, but stroked the shorn head gently. “You poor thing,” she breathed.“He gave me his power willingly,” Lila said softly, still awed by the lion’s gift. “It’s even stronger for that.” Holding tight to Rebecca’s hand, she summoned all her strength. “It’s time to go, love – are you ready?”Rebecca smiled, and it nearly broke Lila’s heart. “Of course I am,” she said.Together, they sprang into the air. Rebecca folded her useless wings with a shrug of her shoulders as they cleared the cage and headed west. Lila blinked and used her free hand to shade her eyes as they flew into the late afternoon sun. The first of the lasers speared the air just behind them.“Stop immediately or you will be brought down,” a man’s voice called out behind them. “Rebecca Clifton, you are wanted for aiding and abetting the flight of a witch from God’s justice.”“We’re not going fast enough,” Rebecca said.“Stop immediately,” the voice repeated. “This is your final warning.”Lila reached deep, pulling power for a new burst of speed. She wasn’t used to carrying two, and it took more than she thought it would.“Hold on,” she shouted to Rebecca over the wind. She felt Rebecca squeeze her hand in response.Behind them, the voice called, “Fire at will.” The lasers ripped through the air.The most uncanny thing about the chase was its near-complete silence. Lila could hear her own harsh breathing over the howl of air rushing past them, but the lasers made no sound. Only the occasional flash of light betrayed their existence.Suddenly, Rebecca gave a cry, and her hand slipped slightly in Lila’s.“Rebecca!” Lila shouted. She clutched at Rebecca’s hand, but it continued to slip. Twisting desperately, she brought her other hand around, locking it on Rebecca’s wrist, holding her up.They listed wildly in the air, losing speed with every second, and Lila fought to right them. She had no idea how badly Rebecca was hurt. Her chest ached with the need to stop and find out. Instead, she screwed her eyes shut, reaching as far as she could into her reserves. Energy coursed through her and they flew even faster. At last, Lila felt Rebecca flex her fingers against her own, in the first sign of life since she’d been hit.Lila risked a glance over her shoulder. The Angels were falling behind, their lasers no longer in range. It wasn’t a moment too soon – she felt herself burning through the power the lion had gifted her too fast.At last, they came to the outskirts of the city, and the Angels gave up the chase. Lila didn’t stop flying, although she did slow down a little.“Rebecca,” she called over the wind. “Are you all right? Do you need to stop?”“It’s OK,” Rebecca gasped after a second. “My armor deflected it, but it scared me.”Lila felt a smile spread over her face. They were going to make it. “Where to, love?” she asked. After the chase, and the flight, Lila and Rebecca settled in a new city, where there were no Angels, and opened a barbershop. Soon they had built up Lila’s  clientele, and Lila’s strength grew again.They called the shop The Lion’s Mane, and when anyone asked why, Rebecca smiled and said, “There was a lion, once.”END Outro:Marguerite: I really love this story, I’m really curious where the mythology comes from. The only hair-related strength thing I know is Sampson and it was hair on his head, not other people’s hair. You know, the idea of stealing power from someone’s physical self, hair, fingernails, etcetera, etcetera, is a classic witch trope, but I’ve never heard this take on it. Or the lions, either. Well done, Keffy. Talk to you soon.Keffy: And thank you for your reading, Marguerite, and thanks to Lisa for allowing me to run this story on GlitterShip“And Out of the Strong Came Forth Sweetness” was first published inHellebore & Rue, Tales of Queer Women and Magic edited by Catherine Lundoff and JoSelle Vanderhooft, and was reprinted in Heiresses of Russ 2012: The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction.This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library.Thanks for listening, and I’ll have another story for you on May 21st.[Music plays out]This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith talk to me about their YA novels (Stranger and Hostage), and C.S.E. Cooney talks to me about her music project, Brimstone Rhine.First, a congratulatory note to all the Nebula nominees this year! Many OA members on that list, which is full of awesome people and awesome stories! Special congratulations to Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette), Ann Leckie, Ken Liu, Richard Bowes, Rachel Swirsky, Sarah Pinsker, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Aliette de Bodard, Alyssa Wong, Sam J. Miller, Usman T. Malik, Carmen Maria Machado, Ursula Vernon, and Eugie Foster (who passed just after her last story was published). Hugo nominations are open until the 10th of March. If you are an attending or supporting member of Sasquan, or if you attended or supported LonCon last year, you should be eligible to nominate! I (Julia Rios) personally am eligible in Best Editor Short Form for my work with Strange Horizons, and on Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories. I'm also eligible in Best Fancast for this very podcast as well as for The Skiffy and Fanty Show, and Strange Horizons is eligible in Best Semiprozine. There are a bunch of other super worthy OA member projects, but I wanted to give another special shoutout to Catherine Lundoff's series on LGBT SF History over at SF Signal. I believe she's eligible for best fan writer for that series. Stranger and Hostage are the first two books in the Change quartet, set in a post apocalyptic LA. Rebel and Traitor (books 3 and 4) should be out later this year and early next year respectively.Prisoner, Partner, and Laura's Wolf are Rachel's three books featuring werewolf marines, hot sex, and PTSD. You can download Prisoner for free.Angel in the Attic is Rachel's lesbian werewolf romantic comedy.Brimstone Rhine is C.S.E. Cooney's made up rockstar alter ego, who is crowdfunding two EPs right now on indiegogo. Rewards include things like Claire's books (in addition to the music of course). For a free taste of Claire's Witch's Garden world, you can read "Witch, Beast, Saint" in Strange Horizons. The books that are part of the Brimstone Rhine campaign rewards include The Witch In the Almond Tree, The Breaker Queen, The Two Paupers, and Bone Swans. The Banjo Apocalypse Crinoline Troubadors are one of C.S.E. Cooney's other music  and storytelling projects, which, if Brimstone Rhine ends up hitting far beyond the initial funding goal, might also produce an album of Distant Star Ballads.

SFWA Vice President Cat Rambo joins me to talk about SFWA, her work, and more.SFWA is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Cat is currently Vice President, and is running for President. Her presidential platform statement is here. SFWA members can nominate and vote for the Nebula Awards, which are presented at the Nebula Awards Weekend each year. 2015 is the 50th year!Cat talked a bit about her forthcoming novel, The Beasts of Tabat, and her forthcoming collection, Neither Here Nor There. You can find out more about those and all her other work on the fiction section of her website. If you'd like a free taste with some QUILTBAG content, Cat Recommends starting with "Miss Liberty Gets a Haircut" in Strange Horizons. A good starter collection to purchase is Near + Far, which contains her Nebula-nominated story, "Five Ways to Fall in Love on the Planet Porcelain". Cat Also recommended Catherine Lundoff’s SF Signal series on LGBT SF.

The Unheard Voices of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror panel from Arisia. Catherine Lundoff moderated this panel, with K. Tempest Bradford (standing in for Nisi Shawl), Julia Rios, Trisha Wooldridge, Andrea Hairston, and Victor Raymond. Listening to this doesn't give you the visual cues that people in the room had, so a note up front: Nisi was in the audience, but wasn't up for sitting on the panel. There was an ongoing joke about Tempest being Nisi, and about Nisi being Nalo Hopkinson, who was not at the convention. Awards season!*Lambda finalists include lots of OA members like Nicola Griffith, Sacchi Green, Mary Ann Mohanraj, Alex Jeffers, Alaya Dawn Johnson, The editors and contributors to Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam Gay City: Volume 5, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, Richard Bowes, Lee Thomas, and more. Full list here: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/news/03/06/26th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-announced/*The Nebula nominee list is also out, and lots of OA types are there too, including Sofia Samatar, Nicola Griffith, Ellen Klages and Andy Duncan, Vylar Kaftan, Catherynne Valente, Christopher Barzak, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Sarah Pinsker, Rachel Swirsky, Karen Healey, and Nalo Hopkinson. Full nominee list here: http://www.sfwa.org/2014/02/2013-nebula-nominees-announced/The Galactic Suburbia Award and Honor List is out now, and the joint winners are N.K. Jemisin and Elise Matthesen. Full Honor List here: http://galactisuburbia.podbean.com/2014/03/23/episode-96-19-march-2014/*Carl Brandon Society is a group for fans and writers of color. They give out the Kindred and Parallax Awards for fiction by and/or about people of colors, and also administer scholarships for students of color to attend Clarion.*Broad Universe is a group for women who write and publish science fiction and fantasy. They have a website, a podcast, and many promotional and support networking opportunities for members, including organizing group readings and book sale tables at conventions. *WisCon is a feminist science fiction convention held each year at the end of May in Madison, Wisconsin. The Carl Brandon Society and Broad Universe both have strong presences there. *Con or Bust is an organization that raises money to send fans of color to conventions. The Carl Brandon Society administers the funds. *Gaylaxicon and Outlantacon are conventions specifically for the QUILTBAG SF fandom community. Gaylaxicon is a roving con (like WorldCon), and Outlantacon happens each year in May in Atlanta. This year's Gaylaxicon will be hosted by Outlantacon.Work by people on the panel:*Filter House is Nisi Shawl's Tiptree Award Winning short story collection (Tempest joked that her collection would be called Filter House 2).*Redwood and Wildfire is Andrea Hairston's Tiptree Award Winning novel (for which she had also just received a Carl Brandon Award on the day of this panel).*Silver Moon is Catherine Lundoff's novel about menopausal werewolves*Catherine writes a series about LGBT SFF for SF Signal.*Julia is an editor for Strange Horizons, which is always interested in publishing diverse voices.*Kaleidoscope is an anthology of diverse YA SF and Fantasy stories Julia is co-editing with Alisa Krasnostein, which is scheduled to launch in August of 2014.*In Other Words is an anthology of poetry and flash by writers of color Julia is co-editing with Saira Ali, which is scheduled to launch at WisCon in May, and which will benefit Con or Bust.Other things mentioned: *Lorraine Hansberry was an African American lesbian playwright, best known for Raisin in the Sun, but Andrea pointed out that she also wrote a lot of science fiction plays. *The SFWA Bulletin incited a lot of pushback in 2013. Here is a timeline: http://www.slhuang.com/blog/2013/07/02/a-timeline-of-the-2013-sfwa-controversies/. It has since changed editorial staff and has just put out the first of the new team's issues, which seems to be a lot more favorably received, as evidenced here: http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/2014/03/the-new-sfwa-bulletin-is-blowing-my-mind.html.*"The Serial Killer's Astronaut Daughter" by Damien Angelica Walters was written partly in response to the SFWA bulletin's sexism. *A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar came up as an example of a novel by a person of color put out through an independent (not one of the big New York houses--Andrea argued for calling these sorts of publishers independent rather than small) publisher, Small Beer Press. Since the panel, A Stranger in Olondria has won the Crawford Award and been nominated for the Nebula. *Crossed Genres, Twelfth Planet Press, and Papaveria Press are independent presses that publish diverse voices.*Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Apex are magazines Tempest sees publishing diverse stories. Tor.com is also publishing more diverse stories now, like "The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere" by John Chu. *The Tiptree Award celebrates work that expands our notions of gender.*Dark Matter is an anthology exploring a century of SF by black writers. *Blood Children was an anthology put out by the Carl Brandon Society in 213 to benefit the Octavia Butler Scholarship, which sends students of color to Clarion. *Bending the Landscape, Kindred Spirits, and Worlds Apart were brought up as examples of QUILTBAG anthologies from more than just a few years back. All of these were mentioned as early examples, but the panel agreed we need more. *Daughters of Earth is a collection of stories by women from the early 1900s to 2000 with accompanying critical essays. This collection is edited by Justine Larbalestier. Andrea wrote a critical essay about an Octavia Butler story in this book. *The Cascadia Subduction Zone has a feature where an established writer recommends and reviews an older work that might be obscure. Andrea and Nisi have both done this. *Lethe Press publishes best gay SF stories each year in Wilde Stories, and best lesbian SF stories each year in Heiresses of Russ. Nisi and Julia are both in Heiresses of Russ 2013.*From the audience, Saira Ali recommends Goblin Fruit and Stone Telling as diverse poetry magazines, and Aliens: Recent Encounters (edited by Alex Dally MacFarlane) as a good anthology.

This week's episode is sponsored by Circlet Press. Listen through to the end for coupon codes you can use for discounts on the Circlet Press website. "El Tigre" was written by Catherine Lundoff, which originally appeared in "Cherished Blood" from Circlet Press. It's read for us by Audrey Lusk, with background music by Yvalain. If you don't want to use the coupon codes you can Buy Cherished Blood on Amazon or Buy Cherished Blood on Smashwords

Michael Damian Thomas and Shira Lipkin join me to talk about Flying Higher, an anthology of superhero poetry, which you can get for free on Smashwords. Michael is @michaeldthomas on Twitter and Shira is @shadesong. Shira has also recently had a poem in Apex Magazine and a story in Clockwork Phoenix 4. Michael is also the co-editor of Queers Dig Time Lords and Glitter and Mayhem. Recent conventions with awesome looking program items included Diversicon and Nine Worlds. Catherine Lundoff has two different Diversicon posts! I don't have any Nine Worlds posts to share, but if you were there and want to write in about your experience, I'd love to hear all about it.I also wanted to say congratulations to all the World Fantasy Award nominees! Awesome to see N.K. Jemisin, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karin Tidbeck, Charles Tan, Kaaron Warren, Meghan McCarron, and L. Timmel Duchamp on the ballot.Finally, Circlet Press is having a Summer Reading Sale! Send feedback to julia@juliarios.com, mention @outeralliance on Twitter, or say hello in person at WorldCon!

In this episode, accomplished author and editor Catherine Lundoff, whose collection, Night's Kiss: Lesbian Erotica, has just been released by Lethe Press, talks with me about her vampire stories. Catherine's anthology, Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories (also from Lethe Press, 2008) is a nominee in the Lambda Literary Award, Science Fiction/Fantasy/and Horror category. Visit Catherine's MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/clundoff