Is SF and Fantasy Really dominated by Male Writers...or Are the Awards Dominated by Male Writers?

In an interview, Tanya Huff beautifully blows this constant comment out of the water. I have to agree with her. I don't make a big deal out of it, but probably 80% of the writers I currently look forward to and read are women genre writers. (Part of that 20% includes Steve Miller, of Lee & Miller.)

"Science fiction is thought to be generally male dominated, so why do you think this is?

Is it? I grew up in the 1970's reading Andre Norton and Anne McCaffery and Marion Zimmer Bradley and Zena Henderson and Joanna Russ and Ursula K. LeGuin. Then I read C J Cherryh and Vonda McIntyre and Diane Duane and Barbara Hambly and Pat Murphy and Janet Kagan. Then I read Elizabeth Moon and Julie Czernada and Melissa Scott and Lois McMaster Bujold. And those are just the science fiction writers I read, the fantasy list is a lot longer. So if there's a perception that science fiction is male dominated, it's not one I share. My short story editors have been both male and female but my novels have only ever had female editors. My publisher is female.

Are SF awards male dominated? They certainly seem to be. Maybe it's because the core group who nominate and vote are men but I have no idea why that is when clearly so many women are both working in and enjoying the genre."

Alfreda Made a New Fan

It's always a relief when a very visible reviewer likes your books. I have the job right now of trying hard to gain readers for Night Calls, which was mishandled by New York publishing. (In hindsight I wish we'd sold it to Laura Anne Gilman at Ace, but that may be about the time she left for ROC--the problems of my memory since Life, Interrupted.) When you bring something out with a smaller press, it's a crap shoot whether anyone will talk about the book.

But friends and fans (and fans who are friends) do talk about the book, and slowly, reviewers take note, and people start finding the book. Over at The Bookpushers, E-booklover gives Night Calls her seal of approval. She also has a nice collection of links, much like my gone and lamented Backlist eBooks did, to multiple venues where the book can be found.

"Life happened to get in my reading way so I didn’t manage to read Night Calls until after the New Year when I was dealing with the post holiday slump. After I finished reading it I knew three different things. First, I really hoped she Kimbriel was writing more Alfreda stories. Second, I HAD to review this and spread the word. And finally Gilman gives good book recs."

Yes, there are more Alfreda books--Kindred Rites is in ebook, and coming in print as soon as CreateSpace stops messing with us. Laura Anne Gilman does give great book recs (and writes wonderful books, too!) I'm sorry the web site isn't up to date, but I have been debating moving it, or overhauling the code engine completely--and that takes time. (You see why I so miss Backlist eBooks?) Also, with everything else going on, it's update or finish writing Spiral Path, the third Allie book.

You choose. Write, website, or find a job. Pick two. Guess what I chose? ;^) But I hope to get to it soon--I kept the Backlist eBooks code!