This blog has been pretty quiet lately, but hello new followers! I will have a couple new reviews up soon, but until then, I want to talk about web serials. As the underdog of queer media, they often get passed over, but here are a few that I am enjoying…and why I think the web serial is important.
The publishing world only considers a small fraction of the work - some of it really, really good - queer writers are making. Major publishers and queer writing don’t always get along, so the YA that makes it through tends to be formulaic: the tried and true coming out stories and high school romances that can be marketed most widely. But what about the Jewish bisexual psychics solving supernatural small town mysteries? What about the queer private eyes taking on noir-style cases in a 1930s-inspired fantasy world? And by God, what about the sky pirates?
Some of my favorite, most original stories have come from amateur writers doing it in their spare time and posting it for free, but it is mostly undiscovered. Here are a few gems that I can recommend - and stay on the lookout for more reviews coming soon.
Antlers, Colorado is a (completed) web serial about Austin Jones, a psychic medium punk who’s just trying to get away from home for a while…and finds more than he bargained for in the small town of Antlers, CO. Austin is bisexual, polyamorous, Jewish, and grouchy - all in all a delightful protagonist. He deals with the supernatural in all forms, from ghosts to demons, all while building bonds with the other characters in town, from a cute one night stand named Otter to the weird guy who lives alone by the lake. Antlers, CO is a charming, original take on the supernatural/horror genre and well worth the read.
Read Antlers, Colorado Here.
Deep, Blue, Bottomless takes place in the Antlers, Colorado universe and takes place after the events in Antlers, Colorado, but follows a new protagonist, Howell Lynch. Howell is a popular T.V. psychic who had a breakdown on air and now finds himself taking a mandatory vacation back home to Armitage, Maine. But even back home, the waking nightmares don’t stop - and soon Howell finds himself embroiled in an open murder investigation. Deep, Blue, Bottomless is a murder mystery crossed with horror and inspired by Melville. Unique and existentially terrifying, it’s a must read!
Read Deep, Blue, Bottomless Here.
Alright, full disclosure, I write this one with my co-author Marn (who is the amazingly talented author of Antlers, Colorado and Deep, Blue, Bottomless). Prairie Song is a post-apocalyptic Western following a group of misfits on the run: a priest, a burlesque dancer, a farmer, and a busker with a terrible debt. The four of them have adventures across the United States 90 years post-apocalypse…and things got a little weird in the meantime. They face motorcycle gangs, gambling dens, crime lords, and mutants on their mad scramble to the Mississippi River, their only hope for a fresh start. Prairie Song is about starting anew, finding yourself, and queer love after the end of the world.
Quoria is a noir-style detective adventure following Colton McKinley, a private eye navigating a 1930s-inspired fantasy world where you might run into a witch on the street, and God help you if you do. Quoria has the weight of excellent worldbuilding backing it up, making it a really enjoyable read. Readers who enjoyed Six of Crows or Amberlough (or who liked Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) will find Quoria a spiritual kindred. Really fun read, with a good balance of light-heartedness along with the good old detective work.
Sky pirates? Check. Wild worldbuilding that immediately has you clamoring for more? Check. Robots with bingo-cage heads? Oh, absolutely. Ballad is just getting started, but I’m already hooked. This far-future steampunk fantasy is doing new things with the genre. It’s got a gender-neutral order of nuns, for heaven’s sake. In the words of its author, C. L. Rubenmeyer, Ballad is “A web serial about coming of age, identity, pirates, and resistance. the life and times of the crew of the pirate ship vega vespa.” Check it out!
2087
stormborns
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
