Steve Berman's Lair

Ghouls and zombies have been with us since ancient times; this new anthology offers readers thrilling stories of carnage and mayhem from throughout history.

 Bad Seeds features treacherous tykes and wicked children who lead adults into the direst danger.

Greek myths held that Oceanus to be a massive river surrounding the land. A Titan, son of sky and earth, he was depicted as a handsome, muscular man whose torso ended in a scaled tail. As the Olympians emerged, Oceanus retreated, his domain restricted to strange and dangerous shores, the realm of sailors' fortunes and worries. So, too, are the eleven tales within the pages of The Touch of the Sea: fantastical, at times eerie, with sightings of mermen, water spirits, and sea beasts (even the fabled ''living island,'' the aspidochelone) as well as a smattering of pirates. What makes these stories memorable is that they affirm the masculinity of the sea, the taste of brine on another man's lips.

Wilde Stories has twice been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards.

The GLBT-Round Table of the American Library Association has listed Wilde Stories 2011 one of their 2012 Over the Rainbow List of recommended books for positive and exemplary queer content!

So, once of the odd things I have noticed is that there tends not to be much cross-pollination between gay readers who love good fantasy or horror and spec fic readers who enjoy gay fiction. The divide seems to be caused by an ignorance of  wonderful and stories. I started the Wilde Stories series, reprinting the "Best Gay Speculative Fiction" from the prior year to bridge this gap. Each volume has fresh voices and well-known authors, some gay, some not. The intention is to introduce both sides of the divide to the wealth of fiction out there.

The sister series to Wilde Stories, Heiresses of Russ showcases the best lesbian speculative fiction published the prior year. The series is named after Joanna Russ, one of the more influential feminist authors of the 20th century. The 2011 edition was named one of the Over the Rainbow recommended titles by the GLBT Round Table of the ALA.

In 2008, I began reading for a new annual anthology that promised readers quality ga fiction and essays: Best Gay Stories. I edited the anthology for three years before handing it over to a friend, Peter Dubé.

My first young adult fiction anthology, Magic in the Mirrorstone featured a variety of fantasy tales, including work by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Gregory Frost. It was only published as a hardcover.

My first fantasy anthology was So Fey. One of the wonderful things about working on this book was meeting so many authors with whom I would develop friendships with:  Chris Barzak, Richard Bowes, Catherine Lunduff, Melissa Scott, among others.

When the publisher of the first edition went out of business, Lethe released a new edition (one of the original authors bowed out of the reprint, so I replaced her story with one of my own).

The first book I ever editied I did with a good friend, the kindly Toby Johnson, an award-winning author and expert on the field of gay spiritualty. I wanted us to release an anthology of essays and fiction that would inspire gay men and let them know their lives have value. The book was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the category of Best GLBT Anthology.