Ep #220

“GAYS IN SPACE”

This week Sarah Jean concludes our Sci-Fi & Fantasy romance theme with special guest author Christine Ragland & a focus on queer romance

EP 220 HOST

> SARAH JEAN (she/her) From the woods of Massachusetts, Sarah Jean has been reading queer romance for 12 years. She runs a queer book club called Rainbow Readers of Massachusetts (https://www.facebook.com/rainbowreadersmass/) that celebrates queer lives, joy, and empowerment through genre fiction. When not reading or listening to books Sarah is plotting her queer historical romances, cuddling with her cats, and planning her next adventure. Follow Sarah on Twitter @queer_reader

EP 220 GUEST

CHRISTINE RAGLAND (she/her) is a pop culture loving, anime watching, nerdy fangirl who lives to read and write romance. She loves to create stories that are emotional and lovely with sex that is integral to the characters’ romantic arc. A St. Louis native, Christine currently resides in Houston, Texas with her two dogs, and is a retired roller derby player. You can visit Christine’s website at https://www.christineragland.com/ and follow her on Twitter @CKRagland and Instagram at @ChristineKRagland


EP 220 DISCUSSION

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

NOTE: These notes include affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Amazon.com to support the RBP transcript project

NOTE: This episode was recorded in late-December during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21

> Title: Starlight Desire (Star Force Fighters #1)

Author: Christine Ragland

Relation to theme: Set in space

Representation: Black, queer author, Afro-Cuban MC, Samoan MC, queer MCs

Content Warnings: none identified

Bookshop: unavailable

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3pB8RrM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55984148-starlight-desire

> The Star Force Fighters series also has a prequel, Starlight Dreams

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3dxUB0v

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56026534-starlight-dreams

> Title: Mate of the Tyger Prince (Mate of the Tyger Prince #1)

Author: Shannon West

Relation to theme: Space setting

Representation: Queer MCs

Content Warnings: war, court intrigue, male pregnancy, children/infertility, medical procedure

Bookshop: unavailable

Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ZhPXeD

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28457325-mate-of-the-tyger-prince

> Title: Winter’s Orbit

Author: Everina Maxwell

Relation to theme: Space setting

Representation: Queer author, queer MCs

Content Warnings: death, court intrigue, domestic abuse

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/host-sarah-jean-s-recs/

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3pHDcoZ

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53320169-winter-s-orbit

> Title: Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings #1)

Author: Lyn Gala

Relation to theme: Space setting

Representation: Queer MCs

Content Warnings: PTSD, kink

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/host-sarah-jean-s-recs/

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3s0UJth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40498366-claimings-tails-and-other-alien-artifacts

> Sarah Jean also recommends Lyn Gala’s Earth Fathers series

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45031332-earth-fathers-are-weird

> Title: Acquainted With the Night

Author: Lesli Richardson (originally published under pen name Tymber Dalton, this title was recently re-released under the name Lesli Richardson)

Relation to theme: Space setting

Representation: Queer MCs

Content Warnings: prisoners of war, sex pets, group sex, dubious consent, male pregnancy

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/host-sarah-jean-s-recs/edit

Kindle: https://amzn.to/2NI0AFj

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56228303-acquainted-with-the-night

NOTE: The original edition did not have a traditional HEA, proceed with caution

> Title: Strange Love (Galactic Love #1)

Author: Ann Aguirre

Relation to theme: Space setting

Representation: Bi rep

Content Warnings: deadly competitions, death (side character), sexual assault (side character)

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/host-sarah-jean-s-recs/edit

Kindle: https://amzn.to/3b1AQxk

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48915429-strange-love

NOTE: This book was discussed in the RBP Best of 2020 episode, as well as RBP #219

LISTEN NOW: http://lustandfoundreads.com/rombkpod/best-of-2020/

LISTEN NOW: http://lustandfoundreads.com/rombkpod/ep-219/

> Title: The Authority

Author: Warren Ellis

Relation to theme: Partially set in space

Representation: Queer MCs (Midnight & Apollo)

Content Warnings: intense comic book violence

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/host-sarah-jean-s-recs/edit

Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ZxvB1q

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/546887.The_Authority_Vol_1

> Sarah Jean recommends the interactive fiction game Dawnfall by RoAnna Sylver

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42624633-dawnfall

Link: https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/dawnfall/

> Sarah Jean recommends the Penumbra Podcast 

Link: http://www.thepenumbrapodcast.com/

> Christine recommends the Starfighter webcomic

Link: https://starfightercomic.com/comic.php

> Christine & Sarah Jean mention the revival of She Ra on Netflix

IMdB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7745956/

Link: https://www.netflix.com/title/80179762

 > Christine’s TBR:

>> The Dark Space series by Lisa Henry

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/121489-dark-space

>> The Want series by Cindy Pon

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/207995-want

>> Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18277661-ascension

> Sarah Jean’s TBR:

>> Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sonderby

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34216194-failure-to-communicate

>> The Nowhere series by Felicia Davin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/237099-nowhere

>> Glorious Day by Skye Kilaen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54745256-glorious-day


> Which SFF #QueerRomance favorites did we miss? Let us know on Twitter or Instagram @RomBkPod

Happy Reading!

EP 220 MUSIC CREDIT

Music: “Lift Off” by Jahzzar

From the Free Music Archive

CC BY-SA 3.0


TRANSCRIPT FORTHCOMING