The Lavender Menace: Tales of Queer Villainy!

Tom Cardamone is the editor of The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered, and author of the speculative novella, Green Thumb, and the erotic fantasy novel, The Werewolves of Central Park. His short story collection, Pumpkin Teeth, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. His fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, some of which can be read on his website: pumpkinteeth.net.

Steven Bereznai is the author of the gay teen super hero book Queeroes, the gay dating bible Gay and Single...Forever? 10 Things Every Gay Guy Looking for Love (and Not Finding It) Needs to Know, and the children's picture book The Adventures of Philippe. He can be reached online at stevenbereznai.com.

‘Nathan Burgoine lives in Ottawa with his husband Daniel, where he tries not to summon any demons unless it’s really important. His short fiction appears in Fool For Love, I Do Two, Saints + Sinners 2011: New Fiction From the Festival, Men of the Mean Streets, Boys Of Summer, The Touch Of The Sea, and Night Shadows. His non-fiction appears in I Like It Like That and 5x5 Literary Magazine. His first novel, Light, is forthcoming from Bold Strokes Books. You can find him online at redroom.com/member/nathan-burgoine.

Hal Duncan's first novel Vellum was published in 2005 to some acclaim, garnering several award nominations (Crawford, Locus, BFS, World Fantasy Award,) with US, French and Finnish editions subsequently winning the Gaylactic Spectrum, Kurd Lasswitz and Tähtivaeltaja awards respectively. Along with the sequel Ink, he's also published a stand-alone novella, "Escape from Hell!", various short stories in magazines and anthologies, and most recently a full poetry collection, Songs For The Devil And Death. A member of the Glasgow SF Writer's Circle, and a regular online columnist at Boomtron, he also wrote the lyrics for Aereogramme's “If You Love Me, You'd Destroy Me,” on the Ballads of the Book album, and the musical, Nowhere Town, which premiered last year in Chicago. Homophobic hatemail once dubbed him "The… Sodomite Hal Duncan!!" (sic). He's getting a t-shirt made up.

Matt Fagan is a writer and artist raised in the wilds of Oregon, where he climbed trees and sometimes wore pants. His stories have appeared in McSweeney’s, Little Engines and Thought Magazine. He wrote and drew the Love Omnibus, a collection of comics about a gay couple living in Chicago, and the underground sensation Domestic Partner of Frankenstein. He is also the artist on an ongoing comic series called Monster Dudes. Fagan currently resides in Chicago, where he owns and operates Brainstorm Comics, and lives with his “special friend”. He has a dog named The Doctor.

Jamie Freeman went to college in D.C. but now resides in a blue county amid the predominantly red counties of North Florida. His short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies including Blood Fruit, Unmasked II, I Do Too!, and Best Gay Erotica (2009, 2010 & 2012). His novellas and ebooks have been published by Dreamspinner Press, Forbidden Fiction and Untreed Reads. Find out more at jamiefreeman.net.

Marshall Moore is the author of three novels (The Concrete Sky, An Ideal for Living, and Bitter Orange) and two short story collections (Black Shapes in a Darkened Room and The Infernal Republic). He is also the publisher at Typhoon Media Ltd, which publishes under the imprints Signal 8 Press and BookCyclone. A native of eastern North Carolina, he now lives and works in Hong Kong.

Jeffrey Ricker’s first novel, Detours, was published in 2011 by Bold Strokes Books. His writing has appeared in the anthologies Paws and Reflect, Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction, Blood Sacraments, Men of the Mean Streets, Speaking Out, Riding the Rails, and others. He is currently finishing his second novel and pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. When class is out, he lives in St. Louis with his partner, Michael, and two dogs. Follow his blog at jeffreyricker.wordpress.com.

Rod M. Santos was born in Manila, raised in the Bronx, and is currently lost in Yonkers. His work fluctuates between dark and lighthearted fantasy with frequent stops throughout the speculative continuum. His stories have appeared in Icarus magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Cinema Spec, Myths and Magic, and Skulls and Crossbones: Tales of Women Pirates. In 2008, he garnered an honorable mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (Datlow, Link, and Grant) for his story "In Earthen Vessels" (Philippine Speculative Fiction, Vol. 3.).

Damon Shaw lives in the Canary Isles, fifty miles off the African Coast. He has sold stories to Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Online, AE, and Bull Spec. He also has stories in several Lethe Press anthologies. Follow him at damonshaw.livejournal.com. He wrote Light and Dark in Autumn 2010 when his partner, Angel was gravely ill with cancer. Angel passed away in January 2011. Damon would like to dedicate this story to him.

Lee Thomas is the Lambda Literary Award and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Dust of Wonderland, In the Closet, Under the Bed, The German, Torn, Ash Street, and the forthcoming Like Light for Flies. Under a couple of other names he has authored several suspense thrillers for young adults, including Mason, Shimmer, and the Wicked Dead series (co-authored with Stefan Petrucha). Lee lives in Austin, Texas, where he is working on a new book. You can find him online at leethomasauthor.com.

Stellan Thorne lives in Manchester with his partner, several cats and a chaotic stack of comic books. He always wanted to be a super villain, but suspects he's either too nice or too lazy.