Happy Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Hold it, Black Speculative Fiction has a month? Sure does. And that month is October. Not even the shortest month either. Like any other “month” this is a chance for folks interested in the field (a.k.a. nerds) to generate buzz, have events, release books, and generally promote the genre. It is in its second year and is growing. You can read more about it over at Chronicles of Harriet, one of my favorite sources for books and information of Black Speculative happenings. Speculative Fiction (Spec Fic to its friends) as a term is coming in to general use because saying “I’m a Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/Alternative History/anything else that is not just plain Fiction fan” is so long that it doesn’t leave much room in your Tweet for the @ mention and the # commentary. Like all genre labels, it has some squishy edges. How does it relate to Afrofuturism? Post-colonial literature? That’s a fight I’d rather stay out of at this point. But I do choose my own books. So here’s what I do know. You’ve seen that guy on the subway or street corner who’s working his self-produced CD?

Sister Dread, Sister DREAD! Hey hey, I’m working here to move these tracks, you know? Is me and a few of my aces, all positive rap, you know, no bitches on here, just a little booty. We trying to move on up, you know? You want one? Five dollars, five dollars for a listen you won’t regret! I’m the Sister Dread that buys those CDs. I’m also the one who wanders the Internet and finds new authors who you might n…