Dusk Peterson

Honored several times in the Rainbow Awards, Dusk Peterson writes LGBT stories with gay, bisexual, nonbinary, and asexual characters, as well as stories about heterosexual characters. Most of these stories belong to various genres of historical speculative fiction: alternate history (alternate universe), historical fantasy, and retrofuture science fiction. Many are stories with strong romantic elements, mixing romance plotlines with plotlines about friendship, family, and historical social issues.

The alternate history stories appear in the Turn-Of-The-Century Toughs cycle, which is set between the 1880s and 1910s. One of the series within the Toughs cycle is set in a retrofuture: the future as imagined in the early 1960s.

The Three Lands fantasy series is inspired by conflicts between nations during the Roman Empire and the Dark Ages.

Suspense plays an important role in some of the tales; the conflict in those tales is both external and internal. Peterson's specialty is stories with dark settings, such as prisons or wartime locations. While the tone of such stories is not unrelentingly dark, Peterson often departs from happily ever after endings in favor of happily for now endings or bittersweet storylines that are touched with joy.

Despite the angst undergone by characters in these stories, friendship and other relationships based on platonic affection and respect play a prominent role in many of the tales.

Black, multicultural, and interracial storylines often show up in Peterson's work. Characters with disabilities also appear, especially characters struggling with mental illnesses.

Although Peterson's stories do not fall into the Christian Inspirational category, religion and spirituality are often important aspects of characters' lives.

Gender roles and gender variance sometimes affect the story plotlines.

Dusk Peterson is a resident of the State of Maryland, which serves as a setting in the author's Turn-Of-The-Century Toughs cycle.

Peterson worked for a number of years as a journalist and a history writer and has edited many online resources related to LGBT literature and genre fiction.

Dusk Peterson is a member of the Romance Writers of America.

On the Web

• Dusk Peterson's Website (e-books, online fiction, and online nonfiction)
• Dusk Peterson's e-mail lists, blogs, and social networking profiles
• List of Published Writings by Dusk Peterson

Series

• The Three Lands
• Turn-Of-The-Century Toughs