GayRomLit— or as some refer to it as GRL— truly is the must-attend event for
people who create and celebrate LGBT romance. For those who are unfamiliar with
what GRL is I can try and summarize it. Every year in October (this year it’s
the 17th to the 20th with pre-events on the 16th)
the LGBT community consisting of authors, narrators, readers, and professionals
gather to share in their love of LGBT romance. There are signings, author
lounges, many events, spotlights, it really is hours of fun.
The location
changes every year and on the opening night of each year the spot for the next
year is announced. During this time at
GRL there are two signings. One for Registered Authors and one for Featured
Authors.
At these
signings you can go to the authors’ tables, talk, have them sign swag they
have, books you’ve brought, pick up pre-orders, and they will even sign
something you brought from home.
Lounges are
set up as well these are outside the signing times. Registered authors have one
and featured have two lounges.
There will
also be spotlights with readings, Q&A’s and so much more.
Now until
October 14th Diverse Reader is spotlighting authors that will be at
this years GRL. And if you want to know more about it simply head over to the
site by clicking here:
Where to Find J. Scott Coatsworth At The Event
Lounge times
Thursday 9 AM
Friday 2 PM
Featured Author Signing
Saturday 10:00 AM
Hey all…
This is my third GRL in four years—I missed
last year—and my second time around as a Featured Author. It's also the first
time that GRL hasn't featured a vendor room, and as such, the first time I
don't have to watch over a table for Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink.
Which means my time is open to hang out with my
fellow authors and the many great readers who come to this event. I've reached
the point in my career where I have a pretty decent backlist, and I have a new
book coming out just before GRL – "The Shoreless Sea," the final book
in my Liminal Sky Trilogy. So I'll have a lot to celebrate.
I really enjoy GRL. It's a great place for us
authors to get out of our author caves, like bears coming out of hibernation in
the springtime. The first time I went, back in Kansas City in 2016, I hardly
knew anyone. Now it's like an old friends' club.
We authors are a strange breed. We can be both
super confident and hyper aware of every defect in our work and writing style.
We can write the most amazing scenes of people having interesting interactions,
and then become utter imbeciles when it comes to real-life socialization.
But somehow, at GRL, I get past all that and just enjoy being in the mix.
My very first in-person fan meeting happened at
GRL—a guy came up to my supporting author table and started gushing about The
Autumn Lands, and I was like "Holy shit, someone actually read my work.
And he liked it!" It's happened a few times sense, but that first time was
special.
For this column, Marilyn asked me "what
you want readers/fans to focus on this year at GRL for you." One thing
I've never gotten, and always hoped I would is some fan art. So if you wanna
make my little author heart beat with happiness, give me your impression of
Xander from Skythane in charcoal. Or a macaroni art map of Antarctica from Slow
Thaw. Or how about shipping Jameson from Skythane with Hari the wolfman from
Homecoming? Pop my fan art cherry! :P
But even if you just bring me yourself and your
excitement, we'll be all good. I can't wait to hang with y'all.
See you in Albuquerque!
—Scott
The Shoreless Sea
As the epic trilogy hurtles toward its conclusion, the fight for the future isn’t over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind.
As the epic trilogy hurtles toward its conclusion, the fight for the future isn’t over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind.
The generation ship Forever has left Earth
behind, but a piece of the old civilization lives on in the Inthworld—a virtual
realm that retains memories of Earth's technological wonders and vices. A being
named Lilith leads the uprising, and if she succeeds in setting its inhabitants
free, they could destroy Forever.
But during the generation ship's decades-long
voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the
world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope. They'll have to face
not only Lilith’s minions, but also the mistrust of their own kind and
persecution from a new government as homotypicals continue to fear what they
can't understand.
The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld
must be healed, and the people of Forever must let go of their past and embrace
what they’re meant to become.
Homecoming
Spaceman meets wolfman.
When his own world is destroyed, Aldiss and his
crew barely manage to escape, leaving friends and lovers behind. What was meant
to be an exploratory trip back to the home world becomes a mad dash for
survival.
When they awaken from deep sleep on Earth,
abandoned by humanity five centuries before, they must quickly learn about
their new home. While exploring the region around the ship, Aldiss meets Hari,
a human-wolf hybrid, whose people harbor secrets which just might cost the crew
their lives.
Will Hari and Aldiss uncover the secrets of the
past and find common ground? Or are Aldiss and his team doomed to failure?
Slow Thaw
Javier Fernandez is a climate scientist living
in a research station near the South Pole. Since his husband was killed in a
car crash, he’s preferred to be alone, and is less than thrilled to have a
junior scientist thrust upon him by his rich patron.
Col Steele is a trans man fleeing a bad break-up.
He is ready for the next step in his career, and eager to spend Christmas
anywhere but at home.
When a crack in the ice separates the two men
from safety, they are forced to come to terms with their own losses and each
other.
Skythane
Jameson Havercamp, a psych from a conservative religious
colony, has come to Oberon—unique among the Common Worlds—in search of a rare
substance called pith. He’s guided through the wilds on his quest by
Xander Kinnison, a handsome, cocky wing man with a troubled past.
Neither knows that Oberon is facing imminent
dest
ruction. Even as the world starts to fall apart
around them, they have no idea what’s coming—or the bond that will develop
between them as they race to avert a cataclysm.
Together, they will journey to uncover the
secrets of this strange and singular world, even as it takes them beyond the
bounds of reality itself to discover what truly binds them together.
Spells & Stardust
Spells &
Stardust is Scott's first anthology - eight sci fi and fantasy shorts that run
the gamut from regeneration to redemption.
The
Bear at the Bar: A gay fish out of water tale with a pinch of magic.
Tight:
What happens when your lover disappears in midair?
Morgan:
The year when everything changed.
Re-Life:
What if you were reborn in a strange new future?
A
New Year: They met every eleven years. And each time, Hank's life changed.
Repetition:
What if you wanted to go back in the closet?
Gargoyle:
Sometimes you get what you deserve. Sometimes it happens on All Hallows Eve.
Avalon:
A few bright moments in the sun, stolen from outside time.
Most
of these stories have been previously published in various anthologies and
journals. This is the first time they have all been collected in one place.
Scott lives with his
husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into
fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her
library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
He
decided that if there weren’t gay characters in his favorite genres, he would
remake them to his own ends.
A
Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other
Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality.
