Why did we name our new queer sci-fi anthology Binary Stars?

Since we founded Space Fruit Press, we’ve been itching to release a book of sci-fi stories. We are all down bad for science fiction – suckers for spacepeople, tripping out on rocketships, aliens are our best friends, and while we don’t believe in using robots to write stories, we do believe in taking them out for candlelit dinners and dancing.  Queerness has always been present in SF (hello, Mother Mary Shelley!) and so we’ve been having a gay old time putting together our first anthology in the genre.

Samuel John Stump portrait of Mary Shelly, oil portrait of woiman in ornate black dress writing at desk surrounded by papers.
Mary Shelley, pictured inventing messy queer drama

The title we chose, Binary Stars, originally started as an in-joke, because we love bisexuals just as much as we love their patron saint, Captain Kirk. But then as the book was being assembled, we realised it fit. While our stories are all very different, they are all about two different entities finding each other in a galaxy far, far away and getting much, much closer. 

Captain Kirk, pictured enjoying having a wide range of options

In astronomy, binary stars are a pair of stars that are gravitationally bound to each other. In a universe full of cool phenomena, binary stars are one of the coolest. We very much ship  Zeta Reticuli. 

Two stars shine through the centre of a ring of cascading dust in this image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The star system is named DI Cha, and while only two stars are apparent, it is actually a quadruple system containing two sets of binary stars. As this is a relatively young star system it is surrounded by dust. The young stars are moulding the dust into a wispy wrap. The host of this alluring interaction between dust and star is the Chamaeleon I dark cloud — one of three such clouds that comprise a large star-forming region known as the Chamaeleon Complex. DI Cha's juvenility is not remarkable within this region. In fact, the entire system is among not only the youngest but also the closest collections of newly formed stars to be found and so provides an ideal target for studies of star formation.
Polycule anyone? This is the star system DI Cha—captured by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It’s actually a quadruple system containing two sets of binary stars. The entire system is among not only the youngest but also the closest collections of newly formed stars to be found. Read more @NASA

We decided that Binary Stars would be the first entry in our sci-fi series Constellations. But it’s not a reflection of a gender binary, it’s a reflection of pairings. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting to polyamory in space, give us time. Our position on the gender binary is the same as Captain Kirk’s – we respect however someone wants to define themselves, in or outside the binary, and we’d like to take you out for a candlelit dinner and a good time once we learn your pronouns. 

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  1. Pingback: New Release: Binary Stars: Constellations #1 – Queer Sci Fi

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