G is for Gay

I almost didn't do this post. It sounded great but the topic should be a little too obvious coming from me. Those who haven't looked, that image in my profile is a picture with Pride flags. That is for a reason. I posted last month about the different between gay characters and gay stories (here) and on my other blog I know I've posted at least one or twice some of the reasons I write glbtq (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and other letters of the alphabet) characters and stories.  So, this post is going to ramble on a few different topics related to gay characters/books.


When I started writing, I heard from a few different people that I should write straight characters if I wanted to get published. I didn't know much about publishing and at the time, I was more focused on writing the stories I wanted to write than anything else. Luckily this has kept me from submitting too early but it has caused me to worry a little about what would happen if I ever did submit to publishers/agents. The thought of being asked to change the characters gender and/or orientation made me a little nervous because I didn't want to be hard to work with but at the same time changing that would ruin any romance story because I knew the characters were gay and to change it just to get published would make me feel like I was selling out. I'm not as worried now.


I went to a conference in Colorado where a common question asked was: "what do you write?" and it was difficult at first for me to answer because I write so many different things. Eventually, I started answering with the same answer: "I write glbtq fiction, mostly in fantasy but occasionally other genres." Not as short as saying "I write fantasy" but it worked minus the few times I had to explain what I meant by glbtq. And it's true, over 90 percent of my novels have gay, bi, trans, intersex, questioning and even asexual main characters. The response is what surprise me. Several times, I was told how there is a great market for that. Shocked me, that is for sure.


Part of the reason I write these books is for me, and part is for readers. Having volunteered with gay teens, I know they would love to have books with characters they can relate to and straight character books don't quite work. Sure, they can read and enjoy them, but their experiences aren't always the same. The gay boy teen wants to read about how two boys fall for each other not yet another story about how a boy and girl build a relationship. Even I have a hard time relating with certain characters and have mentioned it recently. When the female character talks about how yummy a boy is or stares, almost drooling, at some guy's six pack and the chatter about how attractive they are I get bored. I don't relate to that at all even though I sometimes date males. I'm not really a physical person so I'd be thinking "keep the shirt on" but I'm weird like that. I'm female, for those that don't know.


Thankfully, more books are being published with glbtq characters. I didn't know that at first. But lately I've even seen them in bookstores. Where I shop, there are no glbtq sections, so it's hard to find any but lately I've seen 6 of them in the young adult section. That is more than the two or three I'd noticed before. Authors like David Leviathan and Malinda Lo have books available and those are just two of many. The books may still require research in order to find and/or be aware of their existence but they are out there.


But there is still room to grow: to improve. I would like to see more on the shelves in bookstores. To not have to do as much research to know about the books that are available. Would also like to see an industry where the books and movies don't have their ratings increased just because the characters are gay. There has been progress and I hope it continues. For now, I'll keep writing stories with glbtq characters and proudly admit to being a gay writer.