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oxy/hydro fights: Illegal or socially frowned-upon violent contact sport pitting two or more opponents (often teams) against each other within a large tank of atmospheric mixtures of “air” and water, although other mixtures such as carbonyl-5 and “ultra-hydroxyl” are also used. The goal is to disable one’s opponent physically until surrender. No weapons are allowed besides what is provided by nature. GEN. ALT. contestants have been known to fight. Wagering, although illegal, is widespread. The sport is tolerated on MC worlds, which then periodically “clean up” oxy/hydros.
Pax Maternica: Catchphrase referring to over 1,000 years of expanded universal affluence, greatly extended life span, much increased health and welfare of all members of the Three Species under MC government. OPPOS. called it the “Age of Inert Systems”
Pelagia: Name given by the Albebaran Five group of METRO.-TERRAN scientists in charge of the SEEDED WORLDS project to the only inhabitable world of a small, ostensibly stable, G-CLASS STAR system in the CARINA FORNAX ARM of the galaxy; so named because it contains 70 percent water to 30 percent dry land.
Percodyne: A recreational drug with analgesic and pleasantly hallucinogenic properties.
Ph”arg: Name of the originating sentient-intelligent DELPHINID on Procyon V, mythical sire of the rest of his race, and founder of the oldest extant districts of NEW VENICE.
Plastro-Beryllium: Ore believed to exist only in HESPERIA’s long-dead stellar core; used in microscopic quantities to fuel FAST ship travel, some SLP.G travel and instant INTER. GAL. COMM. Its alloys are ultrahard and are used for Fast ships.
Pop. Zero: Short for Population Zero; a catchphrase devised by the MC to explain the temporary removal of the established right of a member of the Three Species to become pregnant and bear life. Pop. Zero is invoked only as a last resort and only in a specific emergency, such as a climatological catastrophe or plague.
post-neo.: A graduate of ED. & DEV; a post-adolescent.
prime-spouse: In any legal MC marriage, the first-chosen partner; usually a woman.
Quinx: The tricameral ruling legislature of HESPERIA, divided into (1) the five-member Inner Quinx that operates independently in an emergency, (2) the operating body of fifty-five, who answer to (3) the Outer Quinx, the 555-member council that convenes quarterly SOL RAD. The Acting Premier and Vice Premier are part of the Inner Quinx.
Reg. Prime: Regulus Prime, i.e., Melisande’s first planet. See MELISANDE.
resort world: A planet considered highly attractive or desirable by reason of its environment, natural beauty, historical importance, or sheer differentness. Some are water worlds, others all desert or all forest. Due to its great wealth, HESPERIA requested and received the contract to develop all MC resort worlds, a commercial ploy that proved to possess political teeth, extending the City’s sway beyond its own borders.
Seeded World: A planet, usually located in a far arm of the galaxy, chosen by the Aldebaran Five as a locale to be “seeded” by METRO.-TERRAN HUMES; often selected because it is far away or protectively hidden by some difficult natural barrier.
Ser: Formal address to any male HUME or DELPHINID.
single-spouse: Choosing to relate to only one partner.
SLp.G: Near-light speed interstellar travel developed during METRO.-TERRAN times.
soft-lounge: Waiting area for interstellar star ports; “soft” because they contain all the comforts of home.
Sol Rad.: Measurement of time, usually the local “day,” or period during which a planet revolves around its own axis or, in multiple star systems, around the axis of its primary star.
Somazine or Soma-Somazine: A recreational drug with narcotizing characteristics.
species ethnology: A field of study leading to the AVOCATION of Species Ethnologist, or Spec. Eth.; investigation of the ways, customs, mores, language, and behavior of a particular species or subspecies before it is brought under the aegis of the MC. By the terms of the TREATY OF FORMALHAUT, any “new” species, people, or SEEDED WORLD group is officially protected from commercial, religious, or social exploitation for 100 to 500 years SOL RAD. after its “discovery,” the period to be determined by only an accredited Spec. Eth.
Stelezine or Soma-Stelezine: A recreational drug with mixed characteristics, now stimulating, now narcotizing.
STY: Sidereal Time Year.
Thwwing: A sentient insectoid species of undetermined intelligence, thought to have evolved on Maia, perfected in the thin atmosphere of desert worlds such as USK. Purebred Thwwings have natural “cockpits”—see-through, silicate-enclosed cups atop their upper abdomen large enough to hold one of the Three Species sitting, and with neuronal connections to the Thwwing’s involuntary system, similar to CORTICAL or WRIST CONNECTIONS, that allow pilot control. Thwwing racing is a Hesperian sport on which enormous sums are wagered. Their rarity led to the catchphrase “Whistling up a Thwwing”—the believed method of contact—meaning “to wish for something nearly impossible.”
T-pod: A transparent, globular-shaped, Cyber-mechanism able to hold one or two members of the Three Species for travel within a planet’s atmosphere, from one orbiting vessel to another or from a vessel to nearby planet. T-pods are accessed through WRIST CONNECTIONS and, although unarmed, are mirrored and thus become virtually invisible.
Treaty of Formalhaut: Declaration of rules and regulations formulated following the Bella=Arth. War.
trine-spouse: The third member (among MC HUMES, male gender) in any partnership.
Truth-Sayer: Person who possesses extrasensory perceptions about the future or the past and/or who is able to predict events or life spans.
United Federation: Early METRO.-TERRAN government that lasted until the end of the Bella=Arth. War and was replaced by the First Matriarchy.
Universal Gal. Lex.: A text or texts of universal encyclopedic knowledge “published” in all known or predicated languages and instantly available to all MC citizens via Cyber and WRIST or CORTICAL CONNECTIONS. The greatest cultural achievement of the INTERVENING SYSTEMS PERIOD, it is updated hourly SOL RAD. and collated at Dickinson University.
Usk: M-CLASS PLANET, orbiting Near Scutum Arm stars Aquila Epsilon I and II (old red and new blue giants). A seldom-used RESORT WORLD, Usk is a desert planet with 2 percent water under Hesperian aegis. Its rings, thought to be unformed satellites, orbit in three separate sets. The Rings of Usk are among the Seven Hundred Wonders of the Galaxy. Sentient-intelligent Pamps, a relocated early primate species, live on Usk.
Victory of Altair: Refers to the battle in which the BELLA=ARTH. interstellar fleet was wiped out by the CULT OF THE FLOWERS; led directly to the destruction of nest cities of ALGENIB DELTA III and indirectly to the Bella=Arth. Great Suicide on Algol Epsilon III, and DENEB XII.
Voice & Eyes: See MAXWELL 4500.
water-pig: Self-anodyzing primitive mammalian used for scientific experiments. See also CURL-VOLE.
Wicca World: See MELISANDE or REG. PRIME.
Wonderful Woman: Catchphrase of praise or endearment from the First Matriarchy.
wrist connection: All-access Cyber connections constructed in ovo. First used by the CULT OF THE FLOWERS (who surgically implanted them) during the Bella=Arth. War, because of their success, they came into near-universal use during the ensuing eras of the First Matriarchy and especially during the INTERVENING SYSTEMS PERIOD. See CORTICAL CONNECTION.
About ReQueered Tales
In the heady days of the late 1960s, when young people in many western countries were in the streets protesting for a new, more inclusive world, some of us were in libraries, coffee shops, communes, retreats, bedrooms and dens plotting something even more startling: literature – high brow and pulp – for an explicitly gay audience. Specifically, we were craving to see our gay lives – in the closet, in the open, in bars, in dire straits and in love – reflected in mystery stories, romance, paranormal and more. Hercule Poirot, that engaging effete Belgian creation of Agatha Christie might have been gay … Sherlock Holmes, to all in
tents and purposes, was one woman shy of gay ... but where were the genuine gay sleuths, where the reader need not read between the lines?
Beginning with Victor J Banis’s “Man from C.A.M.P.” pulps in the mid-60s – riotous romps spoofing the craze for James Bond spies – readers were suddenly being offered George Baxt’s Pharoah Love, a black gay New York City detective, and a real turning point in Joseph Hansen’s gay California insurance investigator, Dave Brandstetter, whose world weary Raymond Chandleresque adventures sold strongly and have never been out of print.
Over the next three decades, gay storytelling grew strongly in niche and mainstream publishing ventures. Even with the huge public crisis – as AIDS descended on the gay community beginning in the early 1980s – gay fiction flourished. Stonewall Inn, Alyson Publications, and others nurtured authors and readers … until mainstream success seemed to come to a halt. While Lambda Literary Foundation had started to recognize work in annual awards about 1990, mainstream publishers began to have cold feet. And then, with the rise of ebooks in the new millennium which enabled a new self-publishing industry … there was both an avalanche of new talent coming to market and burying of print authors who did not cross the divide.
The result?
Perhaps forty years of gay fiction – and notably gay and lesbian mystery, detective and suspense fiction – has been teetering on the brink of obscurity. Orphaned works, orphaned authors, many living and some having passed away – with no one to make the case for their creations to be returned to print (and e-print!).
Until now. That is the mission of ReQueered Tales: to bring back to circulation this treasure trove of fantastic fiction which, for one reason or another, has fallen by the wayside. In an era of ebooks, everything of value ought to be accessible. For a new generation of readers, these mystery tales are full of insights into the gay world of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. And for those of us who lived through the period, they are a delightful reminder of our youth and reflect some of our own struggles in growing up gay in those heady times.
We are honored, here at ReQueered Tales, to be custodians shepherding back into circulation some of the best gay and lesbian fiction writing and hope to bring many volumes to the public, in modestly priced, accessible editions, worldwide, over the coming months and years.
So please join us on this adventure of discovery and rediscovery of the rich talents of writers of recent years as the PIs, cops and amateur sleuths battle forces of evil with fierceness, humor and sometimes a pinch of love.
The ReQueered Tales Team
Justene Adamec • Alexander Inglis • Matt Lubbers-Moore
More from ReQueered Tales
ReQueered Tales books are available on a variety of platforms. All of our books are available as Amazon e-books (select titles on Kindle Unlimited subscription) throughout the English-speaking world. Most non-series books are also available as Kobo, Nook and Apple e-books. Ask your public library: many of these are available to them through Overdrive.
We are particularly proud of our expansion into trade paperbacks. These may be found from many independent bookstores at wholesale terms favorable to them. Please support your local shops. Most large chains and online stores also carry our books. Try searching for “requeered”. Thank you for your support and happy reading!
Literary / General Fiction
FELICE PICANO
Like People in History by Felice Picano
Paperback: 512 pgs • 978-1-951092-13-9
Solid, cautious Roger Sansarc and flamboyant, mercurial Alistair Dodge are second cousins who become lifelong friends when they first meet as nine-year-old boys in 1954. Their lives constantly intersect at crucial moments in their personal histories as each discovers his own unique – and uniquely gay – identity. Their complex, tumultuous, and madcap relationship endures against 40 years of history and their involvement with the handsome model, poet, and decorated Vietnam vet Matt Loguidice, whom they both love. Picano chronicles and celebrates gay life and subculture over the last half of the twentieth century: from the legendary 1969 gathering at Woodstock to the legendary parties at Fire Island Pines in the 1970s, from Malibu Beach in its palmiest surfer days to San Francisco during its gayest era, from the cities and jungles of South Vietnam during the war to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and Upper East Side during the 1990s AIDS war.
In a book that could have been written only by one who lived it and survived to tell, Picano weaves a powerful saga of four decades in the lives of two men and their lovers, relatives, friends, and enemies. Tragic, comic, sexy, and romantic, filled with varied and colorful characters, Like People in History is both extraordinarily moving and supremely entertaining.
Winner of the Ferro-Grumley Award for Best Novel, Gay Times Best Novel of the Year and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, this 25th Anniversary edition features a foreword by Richard “Bugs” Burnett and an afterword by the author.
The Book of Lies by Felice Picano
Paperback: 440 pgs • 978-1-951092-32-0
Bright, ambitious, and handsome, Ross Ohrenstedt is a high flier in the fashionable field of queer studies. He has just taken a prestigious university position in Los Angeles and has been appointed to oversee the collection of papers and works of a leading light of the gay literary salon known as the Purple Circle. Ross stumbles across a lost work by an unknown author and his quest to identify the mystery writer and achieve the glory of scholastic tenure unveils increasingly bizarre and unbalanced facts about a group of writers who in the 1970s and 1980s broke new ground in the creation of a gay literary sensibility. But the dark truth contained within The Book of Lies is even more startling.
With biting wit and a lush sense of place and character, Felice Picano’s daring novel is at once a stylish mystery, a comical roman-à-clef, and a wicked send-up of the new Ivory Tower.
The Bay Area Reporter enthused “Funny, dark, sexy, shocking, and, yes, smart” on the original publication. This new edition features a foreword by David Bergman (The Violet Hour) and an afterword by the author.
Onyx by Felice Picano
Paperback: 358 pgs • 978-1-951092-05-4
Ray Henriques has success, love, friendship … but lately it’s not enough. Yet it’s not just Ray who is on a quest for deeper meaning. For Jesse, Ray’s lover of ten years, it is a quest accelerated by his imminent death from AIDS. And for young married father of two Mike Tedesco, it is a search for the heart of masculinity. The sexual exploration which begins when Ray and Mike meet awakens a restlessness in both men, which resoundingly alters their future paths. As Ray’s life begins to draw him increasingly into the future, a future without Jesse, he attempts to tether himself to the here and now with frequent visits to a past where life’s answers seemed simpler and more meaningful. But when Jesse’s fundamentalist Christian mother rolls into town to take charge of her son’s final weeks, he is yanked from his reverie to face an opponent unlike any he has ever known.
Marked by shifting points of view, humor, descriptive brilliance and unexpected revelation, Onyx is a multifaceted exploration of inner lives, motivation, love, and the sometimes hollow center beneath a polished surface.
Library Journal said: “An incredibly rich and densely textured world”. This new edition features a foreword by the author.
BRIAN BOULDREY
The Genius of Desire by Brian Bouldrey
Hopelessly drawn to the romantic notion of a double life, young Michael Bellman spends summers in Monsalvat, Michigan, coming of age in a loving tangle of highly eccentric relatives: Great Uncle Jimmy speaks to his dead wife during meals; Cousin Anne torments Michael beyond endurance; reckless Cousin Tommy secretly smokes cigars and can’t wait to “kick butt in ’Nam” – and Michael watches every magical move he makes.
A few years and one driver’s license later, as family alliances change and long-silent desires surface, Michael begins to understand his attraction to the double life because he’s living one – at roadside rest stops, in li
brary washrooms, and public parks. Coming out is the first step, coming to terms is the next….
A highly praised debut novel, this new edition includes a foreword by the author.
Love, The Magician by Brian Bouldrey
In April of 1997, Tristan Broder makes a pilgrimage of sorts from San Francisco to the prickly desert and scalped mountains around Tucson, Arizona, the place where he helped bury his partner Joe five years before. Guided by a comet that crossed the spring sky that year, he wanders toward renewal and resurrection, memory and mystery, deadly secrets and dark intentions.
There are plenty of people in the desert who still love Tristan as much as they did Joe. There’s Maria, Joe’s wild sister, now a converted Pentecostal; her truck-driving husband Earl; Joe’s mother with the dog Murphy she found one day abandoned in the desert; and Joe’s best friend Mik, a tough-minded Punjabi Muslim whose one vanity is his long silken hair. With open and glad hearts, they join Tristan to help him make a memorial to the whole-souled man he loved. Yet, despite the fact that they are all bound, like Tristan, by the memory and love for the saint who once lived among them, every one of them is hiding something.
Originally published in 2000, this new edition includes a foreword by Miriam Wolf and a new introduction by the author.
ROBERT FERRO
The Family of Max Desir by Robert Ferro
Paperback: 220 pgs • 978-1-951092-10-8
It was a family dealing with old values, acceptance and death. Max Desir loved his Italian roots and hearing his mother, Marie, recount tales of the old country. And he loved his American family, his father John a successful self-made businessman in New Jersey. As he came of age, Max discovered something else he loved – men – and met the love of his life in Italy. Now, at age 40, the family is split: Marie and his siblings accept Max and Nick as a stable, long-term couple but his father John does not. When a needlepoint family tree is to be hung at Christmas, it’s too much for John. Then the spectre of death enters as Marie rapidly declines with brain cancer. Loyalties divided, acceptance of family is re-examined.