Category: Issues

Episode 140: What’s up in 2023!

Andi and Lise chat about the changing of the year, taking stock, calendars, and a few of the things they’re looking forward to in terms of books, TV shows, and games, and also their dreams to win powerball and fund game studios. 

Lise:  

Tears of the Kingdom, the next Legend of Zelda game, available in May 

K.B. Wagers’ 2023 and 3rd installment in their NeoG sci fi series, The Ghosts of Trappist, but read the whole series! 

The space exploration/epic journey game Starfield, by Bethesda, hopefully out in 2023 

Andi: 

Author Kalynn Bayron’s latest, My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix, is out in 2023. Bayron remixes fairy tales and other stories into diverse, queer awesomeness. Andi plans to read all her stuff. 

The Mandalorian Season 3, slated to drop March 1 

Heartstopper on Netflix, Season 2. Andi’s going to give this series a try because it’s supposed to be heartwarming and we could all use more of that 

Lez Geek Out! is available on bunches of platforms; please like and subscribe! THANK YOU! 

LGO, Andi, and Lise are still hanging out on what’s left of Twitter. Find us: 

@LGOpodcast, @andimarquette, @LiseMacTague 

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Episode 137: WTAF

Andi and Lise spent some time trying to process the recent mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They’re angry, devastated, and horrified. Sometimes, in order to find some support, you need to reach out and talk/vent and claim some space for yourself to do that. We hope that you’re able to do the same—to reach out to your networks and find some support. Because it’s okay to not be okay in the middle of all this horrible crap. 

We encourage you, too, to reach out to local organizations in your communities that are doing the on-the-ground work for oppressed people and offer time and money to them so they can continue to provide care and resources to local communities. 

There is a GoFundMe for survivors and victim of the Club Q shooting: LINK 

As we recorded this episode on November 20, the day after the Club Q shooting, we’d also like to recognize that Nov. 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance. If you’re so inclined and able, you might consider donating to local trans organizations that are doing the hard work of sustaining and building communities. 

Find Lise on Twitter: @LiseMactague 

Find Andi on Twitter: @andimarquette 

And find the podcast on Twitter: @LGOpodcast 

Thank you, all, for listening. 

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Episode 127: It’s Pride Season!

Andi and Lise talk about Pride: its origins, media representation, commercialization, and the anti-LGBTQIA stuff we are all still facing. Celebrate, commemorate, but stay safe and take care of yourselves and each other. 

Some reading! 

Pride and the history of police violence against LGBTQ communities 

The History of Pride: How Activists Fought to Create LGBTQ+ Pride 

What is Pride Month and the History of Pride? 

Shout-outs: Lise has been watching season 4 of Stranger Things on Netflix, but has mixed feelings about Netflix because the service has been stepping in it by platforming anti-trans voices and other problematic things. Andi has been watching British procedurals on Acorn and BritBox and is continually reminded how screwed up the US is because gun violence just isn’t an issue in almost all of them. 

Solidarity, love, and light to those affected by gun violence. 

Find us on Twitter: @LGOPodcast; @andimarquette; @LiseMactague 

And please like and subscribe. Thanks! 

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Episode 120: Romance and Lesfic

Romance, Representation, and Publishing 

Andi and Lise discuss what’s known as the lesbian fiction publishing industry (as distinguished from “mainstream” publishers that publish LGBTQ+ fiction) and the role of books that feature romance as a main plot in the industry. They unpack the scarcity of genre fiction in lesbian fiction that isn’t romance-driven (but may include romance as a subplot) and discuss the pros and cons of being defined by a particular genre. They’re excited to see more books that include asexual, trans, and non-binary characters in romance, but they’d like to see more characters like that in genre fiction that may or may not have a romantic sub-plot. 

Links of interest: 

About Naiad Press 

Obituary/bio of Barbara Grier, one of the founders of Naiad 

Lise MacTague’s list of publications 

Andi Marquette’s list of publications 

A small list of lesbian fiction publishing houses: Bold Strokes Books, Bella Books, Bedazzled Ink Publishing, Bywater Books, Dirt Road Books, Flashpoint Publications, Launch Point Press, Sapphire Books Publishing, Ylva Publishing 

Shout-outs: Lise got an electric bike for her birthday, and she’s super-stoked about how it makes riding uphill so much easier! Highly recommend! Andi just finished the first in Tasha Suri’s Burning Kingdoms series, The Jasmine Throne, which features two female protagonists thrown together in extremely difficult circumstances. Gorgeously written, political intrigue, excellent world-building, and F/F rep.

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Episode 114: Writing outside Your Lane

This week Andi and Lise discuss the old writing adage of “writing what you know” and how that is or is not problematic. They delve into “writing outside your lane” and writing characters who aren’t like you, and being responsible about doing that and why it’s important, and why you need to think about the lens through which you view the larger society. There are no easy answers, but the conversations are important. 

Writers on “writing what you know” 

Mo Black on writing diverse characters 

Alexander Chee at Vulture on how to unlearn everything: “When it comes to writing ‘other,’ what questions are we not asking?” 

Writing the Other — Resources 

Shout-outs: Lise shouted out horror novel The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher in which a woman, freshly divorced ends up living in her uncle’s house and discovers a portal to other worlds haunted by scary things. Andi is shouting out working on getting her stress levels under control and also, she would like to shout-out Lise for doing the editing on the audiofiles! GO, Lise!!!!! 

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Episode 104: Pride and Representation

Pride and Representation 

This week, in recognition of Pride month, Andi and Lise talk about LGBTQ representation in media, including tokenism and how it intersects with queerbaiting and even bury your gays. When is tokenism “good”? When is it “bad”? Join them as they try to unravel some of this. 

Shout outs: Lise is stoked about an 8-episode mini-campaign for the D&D show Critical Role, which just wrapped up its second campaign. It’s another Exandria adventure! It features part of the regular cast, so you’ll still be getting great voice acting. Give it a whirl! Meanwhile, Andi is still obsessing over Acorn TV and she’s been watching a lot of the NZ mystery series Brokenwood, which features a really quirky lead detective (among a lot of other quirky characters) who loves old country music and drives a funky old car. Really cool to watch the characters gel, and there are some great mysteries. 

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Episode 98: Beyond Romance in Lesfic with KD Williamson

Andi and Lise were joined by author KD Williamson to talk about lesbian fiction aka “lesfic.” Why does it seem to be predominantly defined by storylines that feature romance — F/F — that usually involve sexual consummation, whether it’s fade to black or depicted as part of the storyline? Why aren’t there other genres represented as much as romance under the lesfic umbrella? After all, being LGBTQ+ involves a lot more than romance and sex. Andi, Lise, and KD ponder. 

Shout-outs: Lise is not pleased about this, but getting it done will be great – fixing up the bathroom! For her part, KD has been doing some of her gaming. She’s got Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla on the Xbox and Ni no Kuni on the Nintendo Switch AND the PS5! Meanwhile, Andi sucked it up and just bought a PS4. The first 3 games she got are Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Horizon Zero Dawn,  and Wolfenstein II: New Colossus. 

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Episode 95: Writing in the Time of COVID

Andi and Lise talk about how to create/write during a time of intense upheaval – in this case, a pandemic. How can writers incorporate it? Do they? Should they? How do you incorporate global traumatic events into, e.g., romance? How can you ensure that you are accurately capturing the experiences of people from different backgrounds who are also experiencing the pandemic? Also, Andi coins the term “panfic” though probably somebody out there has already done it. LOL 

Shout-outs: Lise highly recommends two novellas by Vietnamese author Nghi Vo. The novellas are 1 and 2 in the Singing Hills Cycle and include “The Empress of Salt and Fortune” and “When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain.” Queer rep, interesting POV approach. Andi has started watching season 2 of the CW’s Nancy Drew take and so far, she’s enjoying it. The new approach takes on Nancy Drew with paranormal twists. You can find the first season on Amazon Prime. 

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Episode 87: What Do You Do When Your Faves Let You Down?

Warning: this week’s discussion will include the subjects of transphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ sentiment, and sexual assault. 

This week, Andi and Lise were joined by Tara Scott, book reviewer extraordinaire (Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and The Lesbian Review), to discuss writers whose work they may still admire but who they have stopped supporting because of said writers’ personal views made public and/or actions. There are no easy answers, and everyone who consumes content should make their own decisions on whether to support that content or not. Here, the LGO crew grapple with what that means in their own consumption habits, and grapple, too, with what it means to find out one of your faves has said or done something that goes against their own personal views and/or that has potentially harmed others. 

Find Tara at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and The Lesbian Review.

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Episode 81: Disclosure

This week Andi and Lise discuss the brand new documentary on Netflix, Disclosure, about trans representation in media. Laverne Cox is the executive producer and the documentary includes commentary from several trans actors, scholars, and creatives who discuss the harmful and dangerous tropes that trans characters have been subjected to for decades, but also the double-edged sword of that representation, a question Lise and Andi grapple with: is bad rep better than no rep? And how do we negotiate bad rep with visibility? Andi and Lise loved this documentary, they learned a lot, and they’ll be watching it again. It stays with you – as it should.

Find Disclosure on Netflix.
Watch the trailer HERE.
List of cast and crew HERE.

Shout-outs!
Lise highly recommends the book Planetfall, by Hugo-winning author Emma Newman. It’s part of her Planetfall series. Follow Ren and Lee Suh-Mi as they decide to seek out another planet beyond Earth that promises to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos.

Andi is reading the graphic novel Archival Quality, written by Ivy Noelle Weir and illustrated by Steenz. Celeste loses her job at a library and takes another at a museum as an archivist, but it’s not what it seems and she soon finds herself confronting her relationships, her mental health, and possibly her grip on reality as she starts to dream of a woman she’s never met.

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