Essays

This page is a catch-all for reviews and rants related to gay romance fiction and M/M writing in general. I'm especially interested in the ways the homoerotic romance is evolving and its impact on the readers and writers. Not sure if these will be of interest to anyone, but articulating this stuff sometimes stirs my mental chili.

RANTS & RAMBLING:

• Ghetto Blasting: Gay romance activism and the importance of our RWA chapter (Guest post for Chicks & Dicks)

• Romantic Nature: the mad science of subgenres and the evolution of  Romance ("Lecture" for Romance University)

• Sexiness and the Sears Catalog: the boundary between porn and romance

• Numb Shots: don't get him off to get it in (Op Ed  for Jessewave)

• Rocks Off: "On the wet spot in romance and the romance in the wet spot" (guest blog for Chicks & Dicks)

• An Ode to Gordon Merrick: the godfather of gay romance

• Worse than a Girl, Better than a Woman: apparent misogyny in M/M

• Hello, I love you: reality TV and the sociological roots of insta-love

 

ADVICE FOR WRITERS:

Since I'm an opinionated cuss and have been writing for a lot of years in a lot of genres, I've written a few articles for writers about work-specific topics related to craft, promotion, and career development. Many of these appeared in Rainbow Romance Writers' Pot of Gold magazine but found extended life in the RWA chapter magazines which subsequently republished them. Folks keep asking where they can find copies... so now that time has passed, I include them here. Other sites and magazines have requested professional pieces, so in the months to come, I'll be adding more to this how-to collection.

• Add Verbs: creating characters that pop off the page ("Lecture" for Romance University)

• Dark Matters: cultivating creative cruelty in romance fiction ("Lecture" for Romance University)

• Action Pact: on the promise of erotic romance (guest blog for Sinfully Tasty)

• Screw Up: on writing forward and kicking your own ass. (guest blog for Well Read)

• Feel Real: writing realistic sex (guest blog for Babes in Boyland)

• Press Here: making your website work harder

• Fictional Friction: where's the rub?

• Swag Hag: promo goodies that don't suck

• Hearing Stories: inspiration at the outset of any project

• Con Pros: girding your loins for author events

 

REVIEWS:

These are pretty random... in most cases, the books that elicited these comments just happen to be gay romantic fiction I read and enjoyed when I had time to articulate an opinion. Or books that had problems that raised interesting questions.

• Anything for You

• Outcast Mine (review for Jessewave)

• precious_boy

• Into the Light

• Double Blind

• Pack

• Gathering Storm

• Between Brothers

• Truth in the Dark

• Jake's Alchemy (review for Jessewave)

• I Love You Asshole!  (review for Jessewave)

• Come Unto These Yellow Sands (review for Jessewave)

• Dance With Me (review for Jessewave)

• Duck!

• The Good Thief

• Catch Me If You Can (Romano and Albright 1)

• Simple Men

• With/Without series

• Sci-Regency series

• Caught Running

 

 

AUTHOR OVERVIEWS:

I read a ton, so naturally I have some go-to, time-tested writers that I know can be counted on for craft and art. When I have time to draft them properly, each of these "overviews" will try to examine the special magic of a given MM author and what makes them stand out from the herd... Perhaps poking around at the themes and habits and tropes that they continue to cultivate and harvest successfully.

J.L. Langley

Eric Arvin

Heidi Cullinan

Megan Derr

Z.A. Maxfield

Ethan Day

L.B. Gregg

Cameron Dane

James Buchanan

Ally Blue