pairing – includes n-b

Word Count: Click here to reveal17500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderfluid (Click here to hide)

Summary: Can an angel gown for a little boy let a single dad and a drag queen stitch together a new pattern for love? Hospice nurse Gabe Martin is bisexual but doesn’t have time for love—his main priority is raising Ian, his adopted five-year-old son. Ian loves wearing dresses at home and wants an angel gown for his kindergarten holiday pageant. When Gabe visits a sewing store to get help with Ian’s costume, he’s assisted by a bewitching employee named Loren who opens up Gabe’s focused world. Drag queen Loren Schuster likes playing with gender norms and wearing skirts and dresses in everyday life. A bad breakup killed his interest in serious relationships, but he reconsiders that stance when gorgeous single dad Gabe walks into the shop. Loren helps young Ian see it’s okay to be himself, and together, Loren and Gabe create a new pattern for a family full of love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal96000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Non Binary, Questioning, Straight (Click here to hide)

Summary: "Vardam needs to be found. We have to know what this thing is capable of, but for God’s sake be discreet! The last thing we need is some idiot journalist suggesting Area 51 has moved across the Atlantic to Buckinghamshire.” Scientist Kurt Lomax’s faltering career and personal problems hit another level when an alluring extraterrestrial shows up at his science lab. Non-binary Vardam has seen the future of the human race, and has travelled through time to prevent the destruction of life on Earth. Talking in sign language through Tom, a secretly employed interpreter, Vardam also reveals their affection for the mentally tortured Kurt, who is the ancestor of the close friend they had to leave behind. The fate of the human race is at stake, but so is the life of a man Vardam has loved from another time. Tom brings light and laughter to the somber laboratory. When he sees the feeling growing between Kurt and Vardam, his matchmaking unwittingly instigates an international crisis.

Word Count: Click here to reveal47000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: In the middle of a training trip, Keeska's shuttle navigation fails and strands Keeska on Earth—alone, no way to contact home, and with no chance of help from the locals...until one does. When Eric starts leaving food in front of an abandoned storefront in the crappy strip mall by his house, he thought he was helping a dog or a homeless kid. He gets the shock of his life when he discovers an alien instead. Not sure what else to do, especially with the alien bleeding and in shock, Eric realizes he's about to have an unusual houseguest. But as Keeska's health improves, they both forget that Keeska should probably be finding a way home. As they grow increasingly close, they are forced to figure out the answers to questions they never thought would have to be asked...

Word Count: Click here to reveal100500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Genderqueer, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: For Ress, survival is a complicated nightmare. Caught between two masters on different sides of the law, his life is falling apart one bad decision at a time. All he wants is to be is a good person, a loyal family man, and a successful metalsmith—a dream he can never obtain while he works for the Shar-denn, the violent gang that plagues the republic of Kattal. To make matters worse, he works as an informant for the High Council. He scrapes through both jobs waiting for his last breath. As the Shar-denn motto says: the only way out is dead. No stranger to living complicated decisions, Adren is caught between worlds of cir own. As the child of a Shar-denn faction boss, cir life is a conflicted tangle of expectation and duty. When cir family is arrested, Adren manages to escape, but nowhere is safe. Desperate and on the run, Adren is determined to punish Ress for turning in cir family. No one who betrays the gang can live. Ress must pay the price, even if Adren has to go against everything ce is.

Word Count: Click here to reveal36000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Intersex, Lesbian, Non Binary, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: MI-GRA-TION (Noun) 1) Seasonal movement of animals from one region to another. 2) Movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions. 3) Movement from one part of something to another. Three definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell. Here are 120 of our favorites. Migration feaures 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Word Count: Click here to reveal51000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealLesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual, Straight (Click here to hide)

Summary: The world was whole before the war. But war is a terrible thing, and terrible things are done in the name of defense and protection. And this war tore the world apart, fractured it, separated families and lives and dreams. The reasons why no longer matter, but the effects still linger. They cause pain, though the war is over. But despite the monsters and the poisons and the despair, there is a glimmer of light. And hope and love are not gone from the world. These four stories, set in the Fractured World, explore how light can make it through the darkness. How hope can conquer fear. And most of all, how love can still flourish, even when the world is bleak. A young woman braves monsters to see the sky. A reluctant man chooses forgiveness over suffering. Lovers reunite to save a child and their community. Best friends risk everything for each other. Come see the light for yourselves.

Word Count: Click here to reveal52000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Demisexual, Lesbian, Non Binary, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: One young man desperate to make things right for the monks who raised him. Another looking to escape the limelight. The two best friends stuck in time because of promises. A couple looking to make a bigger unconventional family—one young woman who wants to help the world become a more beautiful place, one transwoman looking to put down roots for the both of them. Love isn’t always easy, but the good kind is worth fighting for, even when others don’t understand it. The story of what becomes of their love is what will be passed down into legend. Because stories like this, people remember. When Jira, Boon, Areeya and Fon come together to celebrate Yee Peng and Loy Krathong, sparks fly and dreams coalesce. But that’s only the beginning…

Word Count: Click here to reveal100000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Genderfluid, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: Big-hearted Danny finds interaction difficult and must keep his world small in order to survive. By day he lives in an abandoned swimming pool and fixes electrical devices to trade for supplies, but by night, alone, he hunts sharks—a reckless search for the dangerous men who prey on the vulnerable. A search for his best friend’s killer. A chance meeting with an American boy selling himself on the streets throws Danny’s lonely existence into disarray. Micky is troubled, fragile, and Danny feels a desperate need to protect him. Though from what, he doesn't know. As Danny discovers more about Micky, he realises that what Micky needs saving from is the one thing Danny has no idea how to fight. To save Micky, Danny must risk expanding his world and face something that scares him more than any shark ever could: trusting he will be accepted for who he is. If a freezing winter on the streets, a sadistic doctor, and three thousand miles don't tear them apart first, that is.

Word Count: Click here to reveal108000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderqueer, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: Fire. Water. Burn. In the two months since the All Hallows’ Eve party, Tally has courted Haru, buying expensive gifts, taking the two of them to upscale restaurants and trying to find a balance in earning Haru’s fragile trust while being new parents to the Cohen joeys. Tally sees hope in the new domesticity the family has settled into, despite having some bumps along the way. Gifts and treats have satisfied Haru’s otter, but the human half remembers the brutal lessons of giving their trust away. How can two lijun who barely know each other anticipate what will happen when times get tough? There are circumstances Tally doesn’t understand yet, and Haru struggles to find their feet with an Urusar who doesn’t know the rules. A revelation not only throws the tentative relationship between them askew, but also starts Tally and Haru down a path the two of them can’t escape, one so heart-wrenching Haru’s not sure their heart will survive. Traditionalist concerns that have always nipped at the Bastille clan’s heels come roaring to the forefront with demands and ultimatums. Tally needs to fall in line or face further threats to his otter, his family and his clan. Haru needs to find the strength to believe in the good despite the bad. In an environment where it’s vital to know ally from foe, Tally and Haru need to stand united or watch the community Tally’s family has built fall under the thumb of heartless, greedy autocrats.

Word Count: Click here to reveal100000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Lesbian, Non Binary, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Dragons don't care what gender you are. A small town may be a refuge, or a trap. Some younger brothers really do save the planet. Three people can be the strongest shape. There's nothing quite like a gorgeous girl on a shape-shifting motorcycle. This second Kira Harp collection brings together LGBTQ teens in 21 stories of adventure, discovery, and romance, in fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, and SciFi settings. Ranging from a few short pages to 12,000 words, each story was inspired by a prompt picture from the YA LGBTQ Books Group on Goodreads. (Content warnings for abduction, bullying, self harm, substance abuse, suicidal ideation.) **This book is free in ebook everywhere except Amazon

Word Count: Click here to reveal85000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderqueer, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: At the annual Global Lijun Alliance conference in Tokyo, Tally Bastille makes the first impulsive decision of his life. Others perceive his uktena-the enormous legendary serpent that's his dual-spirit-as a threat, which makes him all too aware that he frightens fellow lijun. But an encounter with a passionate, obviously-not-straight otter lijun one evening convinces Tally that he's found his Em'halafi, his destined match. Tally is determined to barrel through all obstacles to make the match happen, including the otter's conservative, traditional family. Trained as a Satislit—a bride son—Haru Tanaka chafes at the strict boundaries set around their life. They rebel against their clan's constant attempts to force an arranged match and wish desperately for someone who will love them. At the conference, Haru is horrified to learn their family has accepted an offer for them, one too lucrative for the clan to refuse. Not only has the Urusar sold Haru to a stranger, but the lijun is also a giant snake and one who believes in the tired old superstitions regarding Em'halafi. Threatened with banishment if they refuse, Haru has no choice but to marry the wealthy American serpent. Back in Tally's home in Wisconsin, Haru and Tally must navigate both the widening gulf between them as they realize how much they've misunderstood about each other and the tricky politics of the lijun clan Tally leads. Murder, intrigue, and increasing hostility threaten to tear apart the little town of Wadiswan and the arranged marriage they've barely managed to begin.

Word Count: Click here to reveal88000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Lesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: As 2017 opened, the United States took several steps back in the progress toward equality. In response, a group of authors has stepped up to offer positive stories of hope and love. In an effort to help fight and support those groups who are facing even greater challenges, we wrote these stories to offer a small amount of aid. Stories of hope, resistance, and ultimately triumph fill the pages of this anthology. All proceeds of the anthology go to The Trevor Project and GLAAD to help fight the effects of the dark times we’re facing.

Word Count: Click here to reveal7200 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Gay, Genderqueer (Click here to hide)

Summary: Part of the "A Holiday to Remember 2017 Series" On the colony planet Vega III, everyone knows Beck—outgoing, fabulous, and genderqueer—and nobody notices Anil, the quiet plant biologist. But when Anil finds Beck hiding in his greenhouse, lonely and missing Earth, it's Anil who is able to comfort Beck by letting them talk about what they miss most—the feeling that comes with celebrating the holidays with loved ones, especially New Year's Eve. ​The two of them are drawn to one another, but both of them are hiding secrets about their sexuality. With trust between them already on shaky ground, Anil's elaborate plans to cheer Beck may well backfire. A Holiday to Remember Freddy MacKay - Watermelon Kisses Foster Bridget Cassidy - But to Love More Toni Griffin - Corey's Christmas Bundle Angel Martinez - Safety Protocols for Human Holidays Nicole Dennis - Secrets & Silk Kassandra Lea - Winter Home Jill Wexler - The Christmas Eve Craigslist Killer Jayne Lockwood - New Beginnings Tray Ellis - A Piece of Ourselves J. Scott Coatsworth - I Only Want to Be With You Siri Paulson - A New Year on Vega III

Word Count: Click here to reveal87000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Dalí Tamareia has everything--a young family and a promising career as an Ambassador in the Sol Fed Diplomatic Corps. Dalí's path as a peacemaker seems clear, but when their loved ones are killed in a terrorist attack, grief sends the genderfluid changeling into a spiral of self-destruction.Fragile Sol Fed balances on the brink of war with a plundering alien race. Their skills with galactic relations are desperately needed to broker a protective alliance, but in mourning, Dalí no longer cares, seeking oblivion at the bottom of a bottle, in the arms of a faceless lover, or at the end of a knife. The New Puritan Movement is rising to power within the government, preaching strict genetic counseling and galactic isolation to ensure survival of the endangered human race. Third gender citizens like Dalí don't fit the mold of this perfect plan, and the NPM will stop at nothing to make their vision become reality. When Dalí stumbles into a plot threatening changelings like them, a shadow organization called the Penumbra recruits them for a rescue mission full of danger, sex, and intrigue, giving Dalí purpose again. Risky liaisons with a sexy, charismatic pirate lord could be Dalí's undoing--and the only way to prevent another deadly act of domestic terrorism.

Word Count: Click here to reveal100000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Genderqueer, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: For two years Nicky has wandered the dark empty corridors of the overgrown Thorn Hall, unseen and untouched, feeling like a ghost. His only company, the cold man who promised to keep him safe from harm, Lance. But when Lance dies, Nicky’s assurance of safety disintegrates and his world suddenly becomes a lot more real and a lot more dangerous. Scared to leave the house, Nicky longs for daylight. He employs a gardener to clear the over-grown bushes and vines that have nearly swallowed Thorn Hall whole. The last thing Nicky expects a little light to do is show him something to fight for. Eighteen months in a young offenders’ institute has taught Cai two things: he occupies the playful puppy end of the How Dangerous Are You? spectrum, and he has an unfortunate knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Desperate for a job, he takes the first offer he gets. Even though Thorn Hall creeps the hell out of him and he barely knows one end of a pair of garden shears from the other. Things start to fall apart when Cai is drawn into Nicky’s strange world of sticky notes and secrets. Cai finds he is now a target, blamed for a crime he didn’t commit. Desperate not to go back to prison, he digs deep and risks all the good things in life to help Nicky run. But now Nicky has someone he wants to protect, he knows he can’t run any more.

Word Count: Click here to reveal10000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderqueer, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Alyssa's father wants her to settle down and become a happy wife and mother, as befitting a woman from one of the noble Houses, but Alyssa has other ideas: she wants to be an inventor. Her first invention, the crystal-powered teacup warmer, has earned her an invitation to study at the Institute and she accepts, hoping to meet her personal heroine Lady Isabelle and to be herself outside the confines of her rigid upbringing. Left disappointed when Lady Isabelle proves to be dismissive, Alyssa is soon captivated anew by Prince Artan, who hides a secret himself and teaches Alyssa far more than the technology she's come to study. But relationships between teachers and students are forbidden by the Institute, and they aren't the only ones who will suffer should they get caught.

Word Count: Click here to reveal25745 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: When a steel trap of celestial and infernal politics threatens to close around them, Shax and Verin flee Earth’s system in a stolen ship, leaving everything behind. It’s an elegantly simple plan, with a new ship and a new life as carefree brigands among the stars. But the ship seems to hate them, and in order to have any sort of life they need funds. A frightened man offering them a contract to deliver three mysterious crates comes just in time, and Shax is sure their troubles are over. Out of his environment and in over his head, Shax scrambles to understand the players and the consequences of his new life. With cargo that’s not what it seems, shadowy motives around every turn, and a gorgeous rogue named Julian for a dash of added confusion, Shax’s grand schemes of a new start may be his demise before he can even begin.

Word Count: Click here to reveal7150 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealNon Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: In a four-gendered world where correct gender identity is law, Venk struggles with his inability to choose one sexual orientation over another. His body has matured, but he still shows the multi-colored crest of a juvenile, someone who has not yet presented proper orientation. With his family losing patience and others beginning to whisper, Venk must find a way to change his crest or be labeled an aberration. But the only choice he sees is a dishonest one.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderqueer, Intersex, Pansexual, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: The day started as any other day would. Bellamy Delacroix was shopping with his brother, and then he headed home to the inevitable discussion about his future with his mother. A woman who still cooks despite technology that doesn’t require her to, his mother is an old-fashioned type in a future world. Then, his world explodes quite literally, and he’s swept up into a world beyond his imagination. A war between extraplanar creatures who call themselves angels and demons draws him in because of what he is. And what he is, no one has ever seen before—a Nephilim. He is the child of an angelic mother and a demonic father and is thus capable of channeling both the positive and negative energies of the planes. This makes him dangerous and a target for both the minions of heaven and hell. ​An angel named Saniel takes him under her wing and helps him adjust as he is brought to the underground city of heaven, Elysium. He learns about what he is, who they are, and their enemies in Zion, the demons. A warning from an ally of his mother, though, rings in his head, and he wonders who he should really be trusting. Things begin to spiral in ways he doesn’t understand, and the world is changing before his very eyes.