SFR Shindig: Tati’s SFR Recommendations by Tatiana Caldwell

I've always been a geek. Sci-fi books, movies, shows and games have enthralled me as far back as I can remember. Why? Worlds and time periods filled with wonder, imaginative technology, characters and story-lines far more diverse than any other genre. I’ve also always been a romantic, favoring tales of love conquering all over any other plotline, so SFR – the mashup of the two – simply does it for me.

It isn’t always easy, however, to find good SFR entertainment. Books have been somewhat easier to come by, because of websites like this one that seek them out help make their existence known. But I still find it somewhat challenging to discover good movies, TV shows and video games that could truly be defined as SFR. Sometimes it’s because of the way they are marketed (or the lack of marketing), but mostly I think it’s due to there just not being enough of it. 

So I’d like to share a brief list non-literature SFR entertainment that I’ve really enjoyed.

SFR TV Shows

SFR Shindig: Love and the Kick-Ass Heroine By Deborah A. Bailey

The original Star Trek was my first exposure to science fiction, and ultimately I moved on to reading and writing fan fiction. One of the best things about it was writing stories where I got to pair up various characters.

So once I started writing stories of my own, I didn’t see any issues with having a heroine who was strong, capable and unafraid to fall in love. It was logical, as Mr. Spock would say. Why would a heroine in a science fictional world be any different than her counterparts in other genres?

But at times there’s outright hostility to the idea of a strong female character having a love interest. As though if she did fall in love, she’d start sighing and draping herself across fainting couches.

Kick-ass heroine? No problem. Kick-ass heroine in a romantic relationship? No good.

SFR Shindig: Hobbies and How They Relate To Diversity In SFR by KS Augustin

I have to admit, I’m never happier than when I’m doing something. Husband J calls me a workaholic. One of my current interests is soapmaking, and if you go to the Sandal Press blog, you might occasionally come across one of my soaping (mis)adventures!

See this below? This is one of a batch of soaps that I recently made for my MIL (mother-in-law).

It’s an exotically-scented soap, a smooth cream rippled with sandalwood, and the pattern of the mould lent itself very well to being touched up with different coloured mica powders. I’m still a beginner at this mica-painting soap thing but I know that my MIL will love it. In fact, we’ve had a hard time persuading her to use the previous batch we sent (for her birthday) as she says they’re too pretty to use.

SFR Shindig: Why I Sci-Fi… By Lyn Brittan

I am always asked why I write Sci-Fi. Always. People outside the genre worry about the future. Some fret about a cold, disinterested world where people are numbers and homes are heartless, metal shells.

I call shenanigans. I actually call bullshit, but shenanigans sounds more professional so, yeah. Shenanigans!

The future rocks. Legit. I promise. Because every thought is within the realm of possibility. Every hope has as much chance as any other else of coming true. I want a world free of the divisions that chain us today and I know that it can happen. When I write a book in the Outer Settlement Agency Series, it’s a wish sent out into the universe that one day we’ll get it.

SFR Shindig: My List for Strong Female Characters in Science Fiction by Elizabeth Lang

I’m a sci-fi and fantasy nut from way back. I used to devour books, often reading late into the night, or the next morning. As a young girl, I’d never really noticed the gender statistics of the books I read. It wasn’t until much later that I realized how badly represented women are in genre fiction. I’m not referring to the presence of females in the stories, but how they are used.

I was introduced to a new term recently and wonder why I’ve never heard of it before, which is the idea of agency. Generally, it refers to characters having independent, personal action and motivations.