Tomorrow marks the beginning of the third annual Women in SF&F Month! Women in SF&F Month began after there were some discussions about women’s contributions to science fiction and fantasy both as authors and bloggers. I’d felt that women in general were often not given the recognition they deserve in speculative fiction for a long time, and I did see a few comments like “Women do not write fantasy and science fiction” or “Women do not review fantasy and science fiction” in response to these discussions. After that, I decided to spend the month of April highlighting some of the many women who were contributing to fantasy and science fiction and showing that yes, indeed, there are women writing, reading, and discussing all kinds of speculative fiction. (The longer version of why I think reading and supporting women who write speculative fiction is important is here.)

Like the two previous years, I’ve invited several women contributing to SF&F to write guest posts, and their guest posts will be shared throughout the month of April. Once again, some guests will be discussing topics related to women in speculative fiction, but not all, since the goal is to get some interesting people, thoughts, and books all in one place—and perhaps find some new books and blogs to read! (I have already added a few books to my wishlist, and the month hasn’t even officially started yet.)

I’m very excited about this year’s Women in SF&F Month and its contributors! The guests for the first week are:

April 1: Renay from Lady Business

April 2: Cinda Williams Chima (Seven Realms, The Heir Chronicles)

April 3: Khanh from The Book Nookery

April 4: Beth Bernobich (Passion Play, Queen’s Hunt, Fox and Phoenix)

April 5: Anne Lyle (The Alchemist of Souls, The Merchant of Dreams)