Amazon Censors GLBT Book Rankings

I don’t understand why Amazon.Com banned my book Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure (ISBN 0595317138) as part of its supposed ban of erotic books from its sales rankings. Degranon has no sex, and no profanity. But the classification of "gay" apparently makes it adult. There's nothing adult or erotic about it. Some of the major characters happen to be gay. Surely Amazon has a policy against homophobia and other discrimination, but they're singling out books with gay themes or characters for special discrimination. My novel confronts some controversial issues, such as discrimination and censorship, appropriately. However, it does so without including adult content.

And Amazon hasn’t apparently removed all heterocentric books that contain sex. The purge seems to limit itself to gay books, even if they contain no sex. Why target gays?

I thought Degranon vanished from the sales rankings because of a glitch, but I learned about this situation over the weekend.

Writer/director Jeff London is currently casting his next movie, The Wind Was Warm. London will begin filming in July, with settings in Arizona and California. Watch the Guardian Pictures website for more details. London’s previous films include Arizona Sky and Regarding Billy.

The following excerpt is from “Flip, Turn,” a story in my book The Acorn Stories, copyright 1998, 2003. Read reviews of the book at Kirkus, Amazon.Com, bn.com (2nd edition reviews), bn.com (1st edition), and Authonomy.


I pulled myself up enough to see the alarm clock just across my room. 10:15! It had happened again: after dreaming during the night that my alarm clock was buzzing, I had gotten up and turned it off, realized I was dreaming, stayed in bed wondering whether I had also dreamed turning it off, then fallen asleep without turning it back on.

“Swimming,” I mumbled into my pillow. I was supposed to have met Jimmy Jacobs at Acorn College’s indoor pool around ten. Since I hadn’t gone swimming in weeks, I had no idea where my alumni I.D. was. I searched my disintegrating wallet, pulling out shreds of napkins, envelopes, and newspaper with scribbled numbers. Some of the numbers looked like combinations for P.O. boxes or lockers, while others looked like phone numbers, but none of them had words on them. My wallet housed numbers detached from their purpose. I thought I should keep them in case I needed them one day. But how would I know if I needed them, or which ones to use? Then I found a phone number with a familiar handwriting.

I could have called all the phone numbers to see if I recognized the voices of the people who answered. Then I could just hang up. Maybe that’s what people are doing—the people who call me then hang up. Maybe they sorted through old wallets and purses, found my number on a scrap of paper. After finding my I.D. in the dark recesses of my wallet, I stuffed all the numbers back in to recreate whatever equation they had formed, knowing I would probably not see them again until my wallet fell apart.

After pulling on swim trunks, T-shirt, and tennis shoes, I walked outside into Mom and Dad’s yard sale and suddenly remembered that I really need to get my own place.

The following excerpt is from “Paying the Rent,” a story in my book The Acorn Stories, copyright 1998, 2003. Read reviews of the book at Kirkus, Amazon.Com, bn.com (2nd edition reviews), and bn.com (1st edition). The narrator of this story isn't likable.

I couldn’t help but notice how fat Lisa had become. She looked like one of those women who see themselves as big-boned, full-figured, girthful, well-rounded, plump—the kind who get blind dates as someone with “a nice personality.” She barely resembled her former self. Sure, she had always carried a wide load in the back, and her face retained baby fat all the way through twelfth grade, but I expected more—or rather, less—when, after a seven-year disappearance, she called to say “Guess who?” I still loved her bright blue eyes and bouncy blonde curls, but the rest of her looked like something created in a misshapen Jell-O mold.

The SciFi Channel has unveiled the cover art for the Caprica TV Series Pilot. Caprica provides a backdrop for SciFi’s version of Battlestar Galactica.

Rumors about a new Galactica movie follow.

SciFi Watch: Universal Pictures to Re-remake Battlestar Galactica?

Hollywood Reporter: Universal in talks for 'Battlestar' movie

Richard Hatch’s Battlestar Galactica Trailer has also emerged online, revealing his past work at reviving the franchise.




BTW, I’ve updated my Science Fiction & Fantasy page and added a new version of the Duane Simolke.Com home page.

Science Fiction Adventure Video Playlist. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Lois McMaster Bujold, David Weber, H. G. Wells, Farscape, Fringe, Battlestar Galactica, Kings, Terminator, Stargate SG-1, fan fun, and more!

Science Fiction Video.

Gay Love, Gay Valentine, Videos.



Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I’ve created a
Gay Love Playlist
at YouTube. It includes gay-themed movie trailers and other gay-themed videos, as well as videos with
Home, a love poem from my book
Holding Me Together.

Is Someone You Love Gay?

This informative video playlist involves coming out, hate crimes, Prayers For Bobby, PFLAG, ex-gays, suicide, anti-gay discrimination, the Holocaust, family, elderly gays, pride, and much more. Scroll near the bottom to choose videos. The gray-to-red box at the bottom has a “Show All” feature that adds arrows for viewing the complete list.

Greatest Science Fiction Writers.

Tim Janson of Mania.Com is using his weekly book blog to pose the question Who are the Greatest Science Fiction Writers of All-Time? This week’s blog also includes news about Star Wars, DC Universe, and more.

He Likes Guys.

Wolfe Releasing brings together eight short films from the years 2005 through 2008. They range in length and tone, but all eight involve gay men. Read my review at ThisWeekInTexas.Com.

Primeval.

No news yet on when BBC America will show the third season of Primeval, but a trailer follows below. BBC America showed the first two seasons (or “series,” as the Brits call seasons of a TV show) of the hit show back-to-back, as a single season.

This is the 400th entry of my blog. Thanks for reading!


This week, some TV news regarding Smallville, Prayers for Bobby, and Kings.

Smallville.

Smallville returns January 15, and may soon reach its series finale. Cinema Static includes rumors about the show’s future.

Prayers for Bobby.

The movie Prayers for Bobby, based on the acclaimed book by Leroy Aarons, premieres on Lifetime, January 24. Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Ghostbusters, Gorillas in the Mist) stars in this true story, about a religious woman who cannot accept her son’s homosexuality, until after his death. Russell Mulcahy (Highlander, Queer As Folk, The Shadow) directed the TV movie.



Kings.

Eragon’s Christopher Egan will star in NBC’s new series Kings. The series, which begins March 19 with a two-hour premiere, updates the biblical story of David, in an alternate reality. The preview looks promising.