Now, if we
don’t double-count re-releases or include omnibus editions, I’ve got
twenty-five published titles under my belt. And you know what? That first M/F
book remains the only M/F romance in my entire backlist. My primary couples
(with one exception in a currently out of print novella) are cis men, although
their sexual orientations run the gamut from pansexual through asexual.
 |
| https://ejr.pub/duking-it-out-amz |
When
Judith suggested “why I write M/M romance” as a potential topic, my knee-jerk
answer was “because that’s what was contracted.” Beginning with my third book,
I wrote for a publisher that specialized in queer fiction, and for another that
only published M/M romance.
But that’s
not the only reason.
I came of
age smack in the middle of the second wave of modern feminism--the first issue
of Ms. magazine was published two years before I graduated from high
school. I’m an introvert who had always been a high achiever in school
(sneeringly referred to as “a brain”), and as I hit puberty and entered the
scary world of non-platonic relationships, I began to get seriously irritated
by the way boys were defined by their success and accomplishments while girls
were defined by their looks or their domestic function.
It wasn’t fair,
dammit.
Although
this implicit gender bias isn’t as pronounced as it was back then—barely a
decade past the 50s—it’s still with us today, and any female character you put
on the page has an automatic disadvantage because of it. At this stage in our
societal evolution, that power imbalance cannot be overcome. It’s baked
into all our systems, reinforced by tradition, the media, politics, and
interpersonal baggage. When I first began writing romance, I struggled with
this dichotomy. I mean, a kick-ass heroine can only kick ass so far—because a
hero who allows his ass to be so kicked apparently isn’t “heroic.”
On the
other hand, two male characters, while they might have other personal
and relationship issues to confront, at least start out on a level playing
field with regard to gender expectations. Their relative social power, as a
function of their genital configuration at birth, is the same. I found that
writing about two men falling in love, besides being fun, was much
better for my blood pressure!
 |
| https://ejr.pub/silent-sin-amz |
But that’s not the only reason
either.
My best
friend in high school was gay. He came out to me in 1975—and mind you,
consensual intercourse between men was still a felony in California at that
time, so I was constantly concerned for his safety and well-being. I’ve had
countless queer friends over the years. My twin sons are both gay. All of
them—not just my family or personal acquaintances, but the whole glittering
spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation in the LGBTQIA+ community—deserve
stories that are just as happy, just as funny, just as charming, ridiculous,
heart-warming, uplifting, and romantic-AF as any cis heterosexual couple. It’s
only fair, dammit.
In my
books, everybody is out. LGBTQ+ relationships are first-class relationships
like any other—and characters who don’t subscribe to that view are quite
obviously Wrong with a capital W.
I write
romantic comedy—both contemporary and paranormal. I write supernatural romantic
suspense. I write historical romance. But as far as the question about why I write
M/M romance? Yes, I want to write it--I love writing it as much
as I love reading it. It makes me happy to tell stories about LGBTQ+ folks
finding their soul mates. But when it comes right down to it, the real question
is…
Why not?
Multi-Rainbow Award winner E.J.
Russell—grace, mother of three, recovering actor—holds a BA and an MFA in
theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial
manager, database designer, and business intelligence consultant (as one does).
She’s recently abandoned data wrangling, however, and spends her days wrestling
words.
E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits
from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and
the occasional hyperbole.
Find E.J. here:
E.J.’s latest release is a tale of the
Tokyo Olympics that-might-have-been.
It’ll take more than medals to mend their
relationship.
 |
| https://ejr.pub/thomas-flair-amz |
Diabetic gymnast and team
alternate Sol Ashvili had one thing on his agenda when the 2016 Rio Olympics
wrapped up—confess to his teammate and best friend Tony Thomas that he’d been
in love with him for years. But Tony took a major deduction in Sol’s heart when
he jetted out of Rio and turned his back on an almost-finished college degree,
international gymnastics meets… and Sol. The first two Sol could
forgive—barely. The last? Not a chance.
Tony’s crowd-pleasing,
no-holds-barred, high-octane gymnastics style stole its nickname from a
legendary gymnastics move—the Thomas Flair. After the 2016 Games, he vaulted
into a career as an internet celebrity, specializing in extreme sports and
risky stunts. When Tony decides to battle his way into competition shape to
earn a spot on the 2020 Olympic team, he has to survive the most extreme risk
of all: facing Sol again.
For the sake of the team and
the reputation of US men’s gymnastics, Sol and Tony must leave the past behind
and get a grip on working together. And as the Games draw closer, they realize
that being more than teammates might be the only way they
can truly fly high and stick the landing.
The Thomas Flair is available at Amazon on Kindle
Unlimited.
5 comments:
Ellen, you've hit upon the perfect and from my pov the best and maybe the only reason to write ANYTHING!
Yes, I want to write it--I love writing it as much as I love reading it. It makes me happy to tell stories about LGBTQ+ folks finding their soul mates.
Thank you for guesting with us this smokey weekend. Hope you and yours are safe from the fires.
It's great that you write what you love to write. Good luck on your book sales.
I've never read any LGBTQ books. I like reading books which relate to me, a heterosexual.
That being said, I wondered if you could explain what the following terms mean:
cis heterosexual -pansexual- asexual
I have no idea. Thank you in advance for explaining.
Ellen, That fighting, feminist brain is still as large as it was in high school. It's so strange to me that even though I knew you back in high school, I didn't know this activist "good trouble" side of you. I was also an introvert who only let my feelings out through theater.
I agree with Judith that the best reason to write anything is because you have a passion for it and enjoy it. Though both our sons are CIS men, my extended family certainly has the spectrum of gender identities. I do remember my first cousin, only a year younger than me, coming out to me when he was 15. He kept it hidden from his parents for 20 years, even though he was living with a man.
Like so many people of that generation they immediately sought to blame each other for that horror. My Uncle blamed my aunt for letting the boys play with Barbie Dolls when they were young. My aunt felt guilty for having done that, certain it was her fault. I tried to point out the obvious that it wasn't the Barbie Dolls that made my cousin gay. If there was a direct connection then the other two boys in that family would be gay also.
Fortunately, they didn't spurn my cousin. He was a ballet dancer and after his professional career he started a ballet school. They went to all of his performances, and several of the school's performances if it was in the greater Los Angeles area. Though they loved him, it wasn't until the 1990s that they both finally accepted it wasn't their fault he was gay and stopped looking at him as anomaly.
It is very important that people who are not part of the majority are represented in books--whether that's sexual orientation, race, abilities, spirituality, or many other differences among ourselves. The more that happens, I believe the m ore we will all realize we are more alike than different.
Diana, I wanted to take a stab at your question about terminology around gender identity and sexual orientation. First, I highly recommend this CBS report, which is part of a longer series, discussing the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-difference-between-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/
Here is a glossary I have found useful. https://pflag.org/glossary It is maintained by PFLAG, an organization founded my a mother who was willing to publicly support her gay son in the early 1970s. It is the nation's largest family organization.
Over the past 10-15 years LGBTQ+ individuals, academics, health professionals have been trying to put together a way to understand gender and sexuality that represents more than the binary way of looking at it (e.g., two genders: male and female; and two sexual orientations: straight or gay). In reality there has always been a spectrum of gender identity and a spectrum of sexuality. It just wasn't acceptable to talk about it and even the American Psychological Association labeled it either as a pathology (mental illness)to be cured (when I was in college), then in the mid 1980s and 90s it was beginning to be accepted as not a mental illness but an "uncomfortable feeling" with not being "normal." It wasn't until the last decade that the APA and mainstream health professionals began to embrace the spectrum of identities and sexualities as normal.
I have to admit that even though I have several cousins, two nieces, and a nephew who don't fit into that binary thinking, I have struggled to keep tabs on many of these concepts. So, don't feel bad if they are new to you. It is something that requires attention and practice to listening to people who identify differently than male or female, or straight or gay.
I personally believe that in the end we will all come to the conclusion that there is no one "normal" or even "majority" view. We will find that people are unique, as they have always been, and that relates to their perceptions of gender and sexuality as well.
Thanks, Maggie. I had a gay girl friend in high school. I just didn't know it as she didn't come out till the late '70s. and my first marriage my one brother-in-law was gay. I adored him and his partner. I always said the brother-in-law was my favorite Sister-in-law!!!
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