Steve Berman
Steve Berman is an American editor, novelist and short story writer. He writes in the field of queer speculative fiction. Early life and education Berman was born in Philadelphia, and raised in South Jersey. Berman says he realized in junior high school he was gay. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where he earning a bachelor's degree in English Literature. He then studied history at Rutgers University–Camden in Camden, New Jersey, where he obtained a master's degree in Liberal Studies in 2006. Career He began his publishing career working in pharmaceutical and medical publishing, then worked as a senior book buyer for wholesaler Bookazine, and served in the marketing department of a small Jewish press. He spent a decade as an employee engagement survey analyst for a human resources consulting firm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Berman attended the Clarion Workshop in 2006, the last year that workshop was held in East Lansing, Michigan. Though raised Jewish, Berman ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to support themselves in this way or write as an avocation. Most novelists struggle to have their debut novel published, but once published they often continue to be published, although very few become literary celebrities, thus gaining prestige or a considerable income from their work. Description Novelists come from a variety of backgrounds and social classes, and frequently this shapes the content of their works. Audience reception, Public reception of a novelist's work, the literary criticism commenting on it, and the novelists' incorporation of their own experiences into works and characters can lead to the author's personal life and identity being associated with a novel's fictional content. For this reason, the environment ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Science Fiction And Fantasy Writers Of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While SFWA is based in the United States, its membership is open to writers worldwide. The organization was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America. SFWA has about 2,500 members worldwide. Active SFWA members may vote for the Nebula Awards, one of the principal English-language science fiction awards. Mission SFWA informs, supports, promotes, defends and advocates for its members. SFWA activities include informing science fiction and fantasy writers on professional matters, protecting their interests, 26 (4): 40. and helping them deal effectively with agents, editors, anthologists, and producers in print and non-print media; 26 (4): 43. encouraging public interest in and appreciation for scienc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexuality or same-sex attraction. Relatively little in history was documented to describe female homosexuality, though the earliest mentions date to at least the 500s BC. When early sexologists in the late 19th century began to categorize and describe homosexual behavior, hampered by a lack of knowledge about homosexuality or women's sexuality, they distinguished lesbians as women who did not adhere to female gender roles. They classified them as mentally ill—a designation which has been reversed since the late 20th century in the global scientific community. Women in homosexual relationships in Europe and the United States responded to the discrimination and repression either by hiding their personal lives, or accepting the label of outcast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Interstitial Art
Interstitial art is any work of art the basic nature of which falls between, rather than within, the familiar boundaries of accepted genres or media, thus making the work difficult to categorize or describe within a single artistic discipline. Concept of interstitiality The word ''interstitial'' means "between spaces", and is commonly used to denote "in-betweenness" in several different cultural contexts. Architects refer to the leftover gaps between building walls as "interstitial space", being neither inside any room nor outside the building. Medical doctors have used the term for hundreds of years to refer to a space within the human body that lies in between blood vessels and organs, or in between individual cells. Television station programmers refer to any short piece of content that is neither a show nor a commercial, but is sandwiched between them, as "an interstitial". Interstitial arts movement In the mid-1990s, Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Terri Windling, Heinz In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Young Adult Fiction
Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world building than adult literature as it seeks to highlight the experiences of adolescents in a variety of ways. There are various genres within young adult literature. The earliest known use of term ''young adult'' occurred in 1942. Prior to the 1930s teenagers, adolescents and young adults were still considered children in society. Following the recognition of teenagers as a distinct group of people, the designation of young adult literature was developed by librarians to help teenagers make the transition between children's literature and adult literature. According to a study conducted in 2023, 55% of young adult literature consumers were over 18 years of age. 78% of adult consumers purchased with the intent to read themselves. Of these adult ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Faeries
A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic mythology, Celtic, Slavic paganism, Slavic, Germanic folklore, Germanic, and French folklore, French folklore), a form of Supernatural#Spirit, spirit, often with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian mythology, Christian tradition, as deities in Paganism, Pagan belief systems, as Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits of the dead, as Prehistory, prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature. The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific Magic (su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is generally conceived as broadly encompassing all individuals who are part of a sexual or gender minority, including all sexual orientations, romantic orientations, gender identities, and sex characteristics that are not heterosexual, heteroromantic, cisgender, or endosex, respectively. Scope and terminology A broad array of sexual and gender minority identities are usually included in who is considered LGBTQ. The term ''gender, sexual, and romantic minorities'' is sometimes used as an alternative umbrella term for this group. Groups that make up the larger group of LGBTQ people include: * People with a sexual orientation that is non-heterosexual, including lesbians, gay men, bisexual people, and asexual people * People ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andre Norton Award
The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to the author of the best young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy book published in the United States in the preceding year. It is named to honor prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton (1912–2005), and it was established by then SFWA president Catherine Asaro and the SFWA Young Adult Fiction committee and announced on February 20, 2005. Any published young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy novel is eligible for the prize, including graphic novels. There is no limit on word count. The award was originally not a Nebula Award, despite being presented along with them and following the same rules for nominations and voting, but in 2019 SFWA announced that the award was considered a Nebula category. An ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literature. The awards were instituted in 1989. The program has grown from 14 awards in early years to 24 awards today. Early categories such as HIV/AIDS literature were dropped as the prominence of the AIDS crisis within the gay community waned, and categories for bisexual and transgender literature were added as the community became more inclusive. In addition to the primary literary awards, Lambda Literary also presents a number of special awards. Award categories Current Notes 1 In both the bisexual and transgender categories, presentation may vary according to the number of eligible titles submitted in any given year. If the number of titles warrants, then separate awards are presented in either two (Fiction and Nonfiction, with the Ficti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gaylactic Spectrum Awards
The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) topics in a positive way. Established in 1998, the awards were initially presented by the Gaylactic Network, with awards first awarded in 1999. In 2002 the awards were given their own organization, the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation. The major award categories are for best novel, short fiction, and other works. The winners and short list of recommended nominees are decided by a jury. One of the most recognized authors, Melissa Scott has received the most awards overall, with five wins. She also holds the record for most nominations. Works of any format produced before the awards were first given were eligible to be inducted into the "Hall of Fame", although no work has been inducted since 2003. The list of award winners and Hall of Fame inductees has been called a "who's who of science fiction" by the GLBTQ Encyclopedia Projec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as "western Mass," is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and universities including UMass in Amherst, MA, with approximately 100,000 students; and such institutions as Tanglewood, the Springfield Armory, and Jacob's Pillow. The western part of western Massachusetts includes the Berkshire Mountains, where there are several vacation resorts. The eastern part of the region includes the Connecticut River Valley, which has a number of university towns, the major city Springfield, and numerous agricultural hamlets. In the eastern part of the area, the Quabbin region is a place of outdoor recreation. History Native inhabitants Archeological efforts in the Connecticut River Valley have revealed traces of human life dating back at least 9,000 years. Pocumtuck tradition describes the creation of L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Toby Johnson
Toby Johnson (born 1945 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American novelist and writer in the field of gay spirituality. Life After leaving seminary in 1970, Johnson moved to San Francisco and lived in the Bay Area throughout the 1970s. While a student at the California Institute of Asian Studies (later renamed the California Institute of Integral Studies), from which he received a graduate degree in Comparative Religion and a doctorate in Counseling Psychology, Johnson was on staff at the Mann Ranch Seminars, a Jungian-oriented summer retreat program. There he befriended religion scholar Joseph Campbell. Johnson authored three novels: ''Plague: A Novel About Healing'', ''Secret Matter'', and ''Getting Life in Perspective''. ''Plague'', produced by small gay-interest publisher Alyson Publications, was one of the first novels to treat AIDS through fiction. ''Secret Matter'', a speculative, romantic comedy about truth-telling and gay identity featuring a retelling of the Genesis m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |