Too frequently fans and the people involved with genre fiction are asking where the women are. This has confused speculative fiction author Harry Markov, who regularly interacts with women who write, edit, and represent genre fiction. He and Science Fiction Frequency believe that this is a problem.

And they’re going to do something about it.

Gender politics is a messy thing and I don’t like to speak for the whole community, but if we’re still in the active pursuit of the answer to where women in genre are, then we have a problem. One heck of a problem. It’s healthy to talk about it, but it’s also healthy to do something about it, too.

Here’s what I will do in April. I’ll dedicate each day to tell a story about how a woman in genre has changed my life for the better through her hard work and dedication. That’s 30 days and 30 kick-ass women – critically acclaimed and small press names, new talent and established names, in the limelight and involved behind the scenes.

This is what the Women in Genre month is about and I’d like to see you talk online about all the wonderful women you encounter and admire. Let’s praise and celebrate and change the tone of the current conversation about gender in genre. I believe that if we push female creators to the forefront, we’ll send the correct message and maybe cure our gender blindness at least a little bit. And men talking about women will make all the difference.

If you want to join the conversation, SFF has ways for you to contribute to Women in Genre month.