Speculatively Queer is a small press in the Pacific Northwest publishing stories about queer hope, joy, love, affirmation, and community. Our anthologies It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility and Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth can be ordered at speculativelyqueer.com or through your local bookstore or library. Find us on Twitter @specqueer and Instagram @speculativelyqueer.

Isabela Oliveira has been a professional editor for years, from technical documents to pop culture content. While attending college, she kept busy as the poetry editor and later the editor-in-chief of her university's literary journal, the Salmon Creek Journal. Isabela started speaking on panels at fan conventions in 2016 and has been at it ever since. These days, she's working as an editor by day, and an occasional podcast co-host, a crafter and maker, and an aspiring voice actress in her free time.

Jed Sabin is a jack-of-all-trades with professional experience as an editor, writer, scientist, project coordinator, and logistics manager. At age 17 (before Kickstarter existed!) they successfully crowdfunded and produced a geeky pin-up calendar that was featured on Neil Gaiman's blog. They were editor-in-chief of their college student newspaper, and they worked as an editor on the popular Kickstarter-funded Maze of Games puzzle novel. Their writing has been published by Daily Science Fiction and Wired Magazine.

It Gets Even Better edited by Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin

These stories are about identity, relationships, and community. They're about hope, acceptance, affirmation, and joy. And most of all, in a time when uncertainty feels inescapable and overwhelming, they're about taking one another by the hand and choosing together to embrace the unknown.

The possibilities are endless.

This anthology is full of uplifting, affirming short stories about queer possibility by an outstanding lineup of speculative fiction authors including Charlie Jane Anders, Zen Cho, Amy Griswold, Nibedita Sen, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, and S.L. Huang.

CURATOR'S NOTE

A tremendous collection of stories about queer possibilities, about what we can choose to become. This was an anthology I needed to read, and that I'll read again and again. – Catherine Lundoff and Melissa Scott

 

REVIEWS

  • "This anthology does what it says on the cover, offering up stories of queer joy, possibility, and belief in a better future... with the unifying theme being a sense of hope that even in the midst of dark times there is a light and things will get better. Overall, it's an incredibly strong anthology."

    – A.C. Wise, Nebula-nominated author

  • "It's a delight. A whole variety pack of queer science fiction and fantasy writing, with many flavours and textures to enjoy."

    – S. Bear Bergman, Xtra Magazine

  • "I really enjoyed this delightful, affirming book! There are lots of standout stories and they all support the theme in different ways. If you're looking for a standout anthology, full of work by queer authors you should be paying attention to, this is definitely one to check out."

    – Catherine Lundoff, Queen of Swords Press
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

The word queer is a delightfully complicated beast. It refers to gender and sexuality, but that's not all it is; queerness is built from the weathered bricks of its own history and forever reshaped by everyone who touches it. It's about who we are, where we've been, where we are now and what it's taken to get here, how we see ourselves and direct others to see us... it's impossible to fully describe or define, and we wouldn't dream of trying. These stories aren't about what queerness is, what it has to be, or even what it will become — they're about queerness as it might be.

We decided to make this book in late summer of 2020, when life was flinging volleys of lemons in all directions. Everyone we knew was exhausted, anxious, and running low on optimism. It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility is our way of reaching out, spreading positivity, and reminding our queer family of what it feels like to be surrounded by love.

These stories are about identity, relationships, and community. They're about hope, acceptance, affirmation, and joy. And most of all, in a time when uncertainty feels inescapable and overwhelming, they're about taking one another by the hand and choosing together to embrace the unknown.

The possibilities are endless.