Cassia from Dragonfall, for the preorder campaign!

real tired of hearing the vegan vs. omnivore arguments when the real superior diet in terms of both cruelty and ecosystem is locally sourced

beef and pork from a farm 10 minutes away from you is more ethical and less detrimental to the environment than quinoa grown in ecuador. the future is food forests. the green revolution is food forests. if we manage to survive this apocalyptic hellscape all of your food, plant and animal, is going to come from within half an hour of where you live. plant a vegetable garden in the meantime

As a trained conservation biologist this is the most important step we can take. You do not understand how many issues we could solve if people bought most of their food from local sources.

Happy dragon saturday

@lauraroselam

Not above a bit of cheeky self-promo, so if you’d like to read about a dragon (that can turn into a human) kissing a hot genderfluid thief, I’ve got the book for you. 

Dragonfall by LR Lam

Glass Onion makes my brain insane because the crux of the movie is that Miles is actually that dumb and the mystery isn't that complicated at all whatsoever and yet every shot of this movie every musical choice every detail is painstakingly placed and curated and I'm tearing my hair out just thinking about it and trying to find every single delicious morsel

it's because the WHOLE MOVIE is a glass onion! it's in the name! per urban dictionary:

"A glass onion is something that would have layer after layer peeled away, only to realise that it was transparent all along."

like part of the cleverness of the movie is that it's right. there. all. along. there are definitely twists, but the whole thing is actually incredibly transparent, which is a genius move for a sequel to a mystery. if the sequel flops, the franchise might falter, so you have to give the audience something that they'll find satisfying. but this audience in particular is looking to unravel some Big Mystery, so they're particularly vulnerable to being taken in by something they think has to be deeper than it seems. but it's *in the title* and we've all been trolled. literally I'm still in awe of this choice. not only a great romp, with great performances, but delightfully meta as well.

indeed it does!

Laura Lam, Pantomime (via razreads)

Goldilocks by Laura Lam

In a world that closely resembles our own society, things have turned sour for working women. Each of the five women main characters have seen themselves pushed out of their STEM jobs in favor of men. Now, with life on Earth about to become untenable due to rampant climate change, an all male group of astronauts is prepared to go on a journey to explore a nearby, potentially habitable planet. These five women decide to hijack the spaceship themselves, but quickly find that they do not all have the same intentions for the outcomes of this expedition. Misogynistic politicians and a climate crisis may sound a bit too close to home for some, but I happen to love near dystopia that explores the consequences of our current actions.

Laura Lam, Pantomime (via razreads)

Ordering Signed Copies of Laura Lam Books for the Holidays

Ordering Signed Copies of Laura Lam Books for the Holidays

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ICYMI!

It would be just as effective as a full on strike, without risking their jobs in anti union states. Especially if they made public newspaper announcements that this is what they will ALL be doing.

This is called “Work-To-Rule” (a form of malicious compliance), and is a very useful and effective tool in labor organization!

The problem is you can’t ultimately uphold work-to-compliance in education. Lesson plans need getting done, as do parent phone calls and conferences.

im a bit confused by this objection - all work “needs getting done,” that’s why workers not doing it is effective!

in education (speaking from a university TA perspective here) the fact that your students are not your bosses can make the decision to strike more difficult - you feel guilty, like you’re failing your students. i imagine it could feel similar in other public service jobs, like public transportation. the point of a strike is a disruption! but it’s all too easy to feel like the disruption is disrupting the people who are being deprived of services, not the bosses.

here’s the thing: in a strike, the role of the people who are being deprived of services is to direct ire at the bosses where it belongs!

the same would be true in work-to-rule. if you’re able to disrupt your exploitative labor situation by strictly complying with your contract, then you may choose to do so as an effective organizing strategy, even (or especially) if it means lesson plans, parent phone calls, and conferences don’t get done.

a general thought: especially in the US, where labor has been dramatically weakened in recent history and anti-union ideas have really permeated culture, it’s not uncommon for people to shy away from pro-labor actions, even when things are really, really bad for workers. but it’s good to be educated about the tools of labor organization and how they are intended to disrupt business as usual, whether it’s a strike or something similar like work-to-rule!

Laura Lam, Seven Devils (via razreads)

*and Elizabeth May :-)

Rhea & Clo from Seven Devils

Seven Devils is now out in US paperback! (UK paperback came out a few months ago). 

This book was a Sunday Times bestseller and is basically STAR WARS BUT MAKE IT NEARLY ALL WOMEN AND GAY. We sometimes also call it Mad Max: Fury Road meets Rogue One. 

Representation: autistic, asexual, lesbian, bisexual/pansexual, trans, disabled (amputee). 

PURCHASE LINKS: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/607293/seven-devils-by-laura-lam-and-elizabeth-may/9780756418281

Cover copy: 

This first book in a feminist space opera duology follows seven resistance fighters who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire–or die trying. When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray. Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated. When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings. Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

Praise:

“A thrilling ride from two of the most exciting authors in the genre.” —Gareth L. Powell, BSFA award-winning author of Embers of War “More gripping than The Expanse.” —Charles Stross, award-winning author of The Laundry Files “I was promised Mad Max: Fury Road in space—I got that and so much more. Seven Devils is an explosive new addition to the space opera genre. May and Lam had me from the first severed finger! This is a book you are not going to want to miss and the start of a series that promises to be a wild ride.” —K. B. Wagers, author of the Farian War trilogy “Lam and May bring a multivoice story from a group of diverse, courageous females attempting to save themselves and their galaxy. Backstories and present-day actions are built into an alien setting, well-rounded characters, and an action-filled plot with themes of colonization, military manipulation, and conditioning.” —Library Journal (starred review)

And it’s only SIX MONTHS until the conclusion to the duology, Seven Mercies. 

Like so many books, it came out during the pandemic. Books live and die by worth of mouth, so if you enjoyed it, please shout about it! And if you’ve never heard of it before but your eye was caught by the beaaaautiful cover by Dan Dos Santos, please consider picking it up? 

Aesthetic made by one of our editors, Leah Spann at DAW. 

Thanks for reading! <3 -Laura Lam

Giving mom a kiss before bedtime.

Seven Devils is now out in US paperback! (UK paperback came out a few months ago). 

This book was a Sunday Times bestseller and is basically STAR WARS BUT MAKE IT NEARLY ALL WOMEN AND GAY. We sometimes also call it Mad Max: Fury Road meets Rogue One. 

Representation: autistic, asexual, lesbian, bisexual/pansexual, trans, disabled (amputee). 

PURCHASE LINKS: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/607293/seven-devils-by-laura-lam-and-elizabeth-may/9780756418281

Cover copy: 

This first book in a feminist space opera duology follows seven resistance fighters who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire–or die trying. When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray. Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated. When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings. Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

Praise:

“A thrilling ride from two of the most exciting authors in the genre.” —Gareth L. Powell, BSFA award-winning author of Embers of War “More gripping than The Expanse.” —Charles Stross, award-winning author of The Laundry Files “I was promised Mad Max: Fury Road in space—I got that and so much more. Seven Devils is an explosive new addition to the space opera genre. May and Lam had me from the first severed finger! This is a book you are not going to want to miss and the start of a series that promises to be a wild ride.” —K. B. Wagers, author of the Farian War trilogy “Lam and May bring a multivoice story from a group of diverse, courageous females attempting to save themselves and their galaxy. Backstories and present-day actions are built into an alien setting, well-rounded characters, and an action-filled plot with themes of colonization, military manipulation, and conditioning.” —Library Journal (starred review)

And it’s only SIX MONTHS until the conclusion to the duology, Seven Mercies. 

Like so many books, it came out during the pandemic. Books live and die by worth of mouth, so if you enjoyed it, please shout about it! And if you’ve never heard of it before but your eye was caught by the beaaaautiful cover by Dan Dos Santos, please consider picking it up? 

Aesthetic made by one of our editors, Leah Spann at DAW. 

Thanks for reading! <3 -Laura Lam

The Queer SFF Book Database is…

1) A Thing That Exists

2) A searchable database of queer science fiction and fantasy books!

3) A project that also now has a Twitter account!

Oooh, this is very cool!

The only thing which immediately strikes me as lacking is a way to filter by protagonist identity. Because if I’m searching for books with NB people, sometimes I want books which are actually about NB people, not just ones where the cis main characters have an NB friend.

Gotta give it like, 8 stars for having a whole set of fields for intersectionalities though. It doesn’t cover everything, but it’s a damned fine start.

The only things tagged are protagonist identity, so clicking “non-binary” will be all non-binary protagonists.