I can’t celebrate Women in Genre without Lauren Beukes - a true powerhouse from South Africa with experience as a journalist in some of the most dangerous cities in the world. I first heard of Beukes through Angry Robot, who published Beukes’ “Moxyland” as one of their first titles and have since published her second novel “Zoo City”. In both novels Beukes proves her an insanely talented storyteller with edge and a gift to include social critique in her genre.
Oddly, I didn’t fall in love with Beukes with “Moxyland”, though to be fair I’m don’t read sci-fi enough to appreciate all the novel had to offer. I took issue with the execution rather than what it said about our society and its potential evolution in the near future. Beukes creates a very bleak, painfully realistic rendition of a society in worship of brands – a frightful, possible outcome from the aggressive branding big corporations have embarked on. The events in “Moxyland” hint as to the eventual devaluation of human life. It’s scary to think, let alone read it, but faulty pacing and vacant characters prevented the novel from becoming a true landmark. In short, it wasn’t raw and it needed to be.
I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d read Beukes again, until I read “Zoo City” – an urban fantasy tale I hoped someone would write. In short, Beukes slayed the story. It’s what urban fantasy needs as a genre and Lauren Beukes seized the genre potential to bring forth a living, breathing portrait of South Africa in her portrayal of Johannesburg as a dangerous and unforgiving place. Even in her first novel, “Moxyland”, I hailed Beukes as an author capable of bringing cities to life and urban fantasy needs its urban settings to rise as entities. Beukes prose excels at this task and the results are incredible. Continue reading
I appreciate beauty, prose and darkness in my fiction. The authors I have highlighted prove this, but I have another love – humor. Humor, sarcasm and witty banter have been integral in my life as I consider myself a pretty funny guy with some chops for improvisation. I have a drag queen’s tongue, so I appreciate a mind with an asinine sense of humor and unsavory jokes. R.J. Astruc is a writer who delivered everything I love in humor and left it in my lap with a pretty bow.
I’ve already mentioned 
The stories I have shared so far touch upon lessons learned thanks to the women in genre or the strength I have gained through the friendship and talent of these women. You can say continuity has an established role in my life, though not every encounter with a brilliant talent grows into a relationship. Its beauty lies within its brief brilliance (can I get bonus points for alliteration?) and such is the case with Tammy Moore, better (if) known as T.A. Moore.
For the longest of times, I have considered myself a reviewer rather than a writer. As I’ve spoken about it, it’s reviewing that introduced me to genre and its authors. I have roots in reviewing and the people I have interacted with still remain dear friends. I will perhaps remember my days as a reviewer with the awe I felt every time I saw what 
I can’t discuss my influences without mentioning Diana Pho (or Ay-leen the Peacemaker), who runs the excellent blog project 
When you think of genre, you often associate it with books and rarely think about comic books, because comic books are peculiar and have often been separated from general SFF-dom. It’s true superhero-centric stories are in themselves a peculiar sub-genre as they rely on a narrative based on a sense of grandeur and over-the-top stakes. It’s do or die. Villains are outrageous. Heroes are expected to ascend beyond the flawed human nature.
It’s Saturday, the first day in two weeks, I have had some free time to rest, catch up on TV series and even read. Having almost to no free time has become feature presentation in my life. When I think my schedule has grown too overpopulated, I look over at 
Theresa Bazelli is a newcomer to the genre scene. She has some short fiction published, but has yet to establish a name in. Quintessentially, I’m her equal. We are both young hopefuls with eyes towards a brighter tomorrow* and creative realization, because there’s nothing more profound than validation of your dream – it means you’ve won in life. As cliché as it sounds, chasing THE dream is a journey and although the final destination matters, it’s all about the person you end up gossiping with at the back of the bus while the driver is trying to fix the AC – the driver is an old corgi with a tail-chasing habit.**
The Internet has its ways to connect people and I’m not sure whether I first met Juliette Wade as a person on Twitter and then discovered her wonderful blog or discovered the blog and thought it would be neat to meet the owner. Either way, I’m very glad I crossed paths with Juliette as she is a fine lady of genre – fun, kind-hearted and the most knowledgeable storyteller I’ve ever seen.