Today’s guest is Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow! She reviews both speculative fiction books and short fiction on her blog, which also features bookish news, interviews, and guests posts. Those who enjoy in-depth discussions about books might also want to check out some of the read-along posts since she frequently participates in these with others. Earlier this week, she posted her responses to the first part of a read-along discussion of Max Gladstone’s Two Serpents Rise.
So You Think Women Don’t Like SF/F…
When I got an email from Kristen inviting me to write a blog post for this site, my very first reaction was an excited one. See, I am a fan of what Fantasy Book Cafe have done with their site as a platform. Women in SF/F? Hey. I’m a woman. I read SF/F. I do this blogging thing too. Right up my street! Then came her explanation of the whole thing, and why it’s a thing at all. Cue an eye-roll so severe I nearly hurt myself:
Pardon me while I use these eye drops.
I mean, really? We’re all over the place, you know. With that thought waving its sarcastic little arms wildly in my mind, I started looking at the blogs and review sites I tend to frequent for examples, and there are plenty to pick from. Writers, reviewers, bloggers, even my favourite podcast – women, women, women, and you guessed it, women. Here, I’ve narrowed down the list to give a few shining examples, where you can find them and why you should…
Sarah Chorn (http://www.bookwormblues.net/)
Sarah has been high on my list of SFF bloggers to pay attention to ever since she began running a regular column, ‘Special Needs in Strange Worlds’, to focus on representation of disabilities in SF&F. That spectrum is far broader than I’d imagined, both in fiction and in reality, and it’s clearly an exploration that Sarah takes seriously. It’s done well enough that the column has since been picked up by SF Signal, and it’s a signal boost that this column, and Sarah herself, thoroughly deserves.
Rinn (http://rinnreads.co.uk/)
Rinn is one of my favourite British bloggers, and one that I got to know in the last couple of years thanks to her handling of the hugely enjoyable Sci-Fi Month event in November. I’ve featured reviews of SF books as a contributor both in 2013 and 2014, and if this online community event returns this year you can bet your buttons I’ll be looking at what else I can throw into the mix. The name of this game, as far as I’m concerned, is fun, variety, fun, enthusiasm and fun – and Rinn Reads’ Sci-Fi Month has it all.
Andrea Johnson (https://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/)
You know, I’m fairly certain my foray proper into the online SF/F community is Andrea’s fault. Her annual celebration of vintage science fiction (happens in January, do check it out if you haven’t) both got me properly hooked on SF, and opened that door into the world of People Like Me. Nowadays she still runs her own blog, but you can also find her between the digital pages of Apex Magazine as one of their interviewers. On a related note, my discovery of and subsequent love for Apex is probably also Andrea’s fault. She is a truly world-class geek, and does what she does very well. She didn’t even pay me to say any of that. (I don’t mind. Much.)
Emma Newman (http://www.enewman.co.uk/)
Emma Newman is a British writer with an urban fantasy trilogy, The Split Worlds, already under her belt and a new venture into science fiction on the horizon, with her next novel, Planetfall, due out later this year. Her books are marvellous, but I’m featuring Emma on this list thanks to her podcasting efforts. Tea And Jeopardy is basically a bi-monthly podcast interview with a different guest every episode, but what makes it really special is the comedy/”peril” element. It’s well worth checking out for yourself if you’re not familiar with it – it never fails to brighten my day. And all that’s before I even mention the singing chickens…
Kameron Hurley (http://www.kameronhurley.com/)
I’m tempted to end this list right here with a simple “’nuff said”. Kameron Hurley is currently one of the hardest-working writers in SF&F that there is, and with last year’s fierce victory at the Hugo Awards (she won the awards for Best Fan Writer and Best Related Work) to prove it, not to mention her epic (and epically diverse) efforts in her books, it certainly looks like it’s starting to pay off for her. In short, there was no way she wasn’t making it onto this list, and if you want proof that women’s voices are not only being raised but being heard, look no further*.
* Well, you should, really. Like I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of us out there. Go. Find. Listen.
Lisa McCurrach is 31 and lives in Glasgow, Scotland. She’s been blogging and reviewing SF/F since 2012, and reading since she learned how to. (Her optician can probably back that up.) Tea and cake is her fuel of choice, and also how she survives most encounters with reality. You can find her at her blog (http://overtheeffingrainbow.
