Happy Wednesday! I’m finally back, but I got so derailed between work and illness and other changes that I didn’t manage to do much of anything with my goals the last couple weeks. I really hope I’m back on track.
It’s been a rough few weeks. My younger child was really sick last week, with croup and a horrible flare-up of her asthma. Now I have whatever-it-was (minus the asthma but with a side dish of fibromyalgia flare-up). Meanwhile, we have younger one’s special education meeting in a couple of days. There’s a lot going on with that, which I’ll share more about another time.
I pretty much failed all my ROW80 goals for the week, but hopefully that will change now that I’m done with a fairly big project and no one is sick but me.
- Read 30 minutes/day—No, but I finished a book I was being pokey on.
- Write 1 hour/day—Almost…ish
- Write 1 blog post/week that isn’t ROW80 or WIPpet—Actually, this one I did
- Write 1 flash fiction/month—Not yet
- Walk on the treadmill 5 days/week—Nope
Anyway, on to my WIPpet. Just a bit of fair warning, there is no actual steamy content in this snippet or in the chapter it came from, but it’s on the edge, and it’s pretty clear what they could do if they choose to. For context (because this particular thing isn’t really a spoiler), there’s some history between these two during times neither of them has been with someone else. Also, Trevor is not gay and hiding behind Marlie (his sometimes-girlfriend). There are more than two options, folks.
WIPmath: From the 3rd scene, 8 (from the 18th) paragraphs.
Trevor lay on his mattress, a light from outside glowing yellow against the still-falling snow. He was glad to be wrapped in his thick, warm blanket. His thoughts drifted to Marlie, his on-and-off girlfriend of many years. They’d known each other since diapers, and they’d been together in one way or another since junior high school. Although they’d split up multiple times over the years and dated other people in between, they’d always come back to the familiarity of each other. They were currently on hiatus, mostly because Trevor needed to get his head straight about their relationship and where it was headed.
With a sigh he turned over, listening to the slushy whoosh of the late-night traffic and trying to relax enough to sleep. He felt the mattress dip next to him and turned his head to look at his oldest friend other than Marlie. Nate planted an intentionally slobbery, wet kiss on Trevor’s cheek.
“We did it! We’re finally all moved in.”
Breaking out of his melancholy, Trevor laughed and wiped his face then rolled so he was facing Nate. “Yeah. Ugh, I can’t wait until we get all the crap cleaned up.”
“Give us a few days before you start the lectures, okay?” Nate rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.
“Fine.” Trevor reached out and put his hand on Nate’s arm.
Nate hummed and leaned in to kiss Trevor lightly. They stayed with it for a few minutes then Nate slid his hand from Trevor’s hip around to the front and dipped his fingers in the waistband of his flannel pajama pants.
“We should christen the new apartment,” he murmured against Trevor’s lips.
Thanks to K. L. Schwengel, we have this fabulous playground here. Come join us—we only bite occasionally. Don’t forget to read and comment on the other entries. Happy writing!
Do you find people forget about bisexuality pretty often? One of my most frequent between-classes hang-out buddies in college was bi and there were some others in the bunch that were even more open-minded. It seemed like everyone just took it in stride.
(So, by the way, would actually like to continue conversing on this if you have time, but I’ll probably forget to come back here. – Sorry. It’s not an intentional thing at all. – Do you mind snagging me on FB or Twitter?)
I’m so sorry about your younger kiddo’s asthma. That desperation to just get enough air into your lungs is so distressing and your breathing muscles can get so sore. 🙁 And I’m sorry your Fibromyalgia is acting up. And that you have an IEP meeting on top of all that. I haven’t had to do one of those yet but I gather they are no special needs parent’s idea of a fun time.
I’ll be happy to PM you. For the benefit of anyone reading the comments, I’ll give the brief answer: I mostly find that people forget about bisexuality in media and fiction—especially bi men, who are invariably assumed to be gay and doing some variation of lying, denial, or pretending. Since this particular story is about men within a church context, it’s usually assumed that a man with a wife or girlfriend who says he likes men is actively trying not to be gay (which happens, unfortunately).
I wish your site had a like button. 🙂
LOL! I know. It’s the one thing I hate about wordpress.org vs wordpress.com. Nothing is linked except my account. So *I* can like people’s posts, and I get notified of reply comments, but it doesn’t go both ways.
I’m glad you liked it, though!
Wow, Amy, that’s a lot going on! *hugs* I think you’re totally justified in not keeping up with your goals under those circumstances.
I personally think of sexuality in terms of gradients, from completely hetero to completely homosexual, to all kinds of variants in between. 🙂
Thanks! I think we’re all on the mend now. 🙂
Yes, I agree, there’s lots of variation. Sadly, it’s often not reflected (or not reflected well) in fiction, in part due to the expectation that lgbtq = romance or erotica. The stereotypes and tropes about people somewhere in the middle of the spectrum are often at their worst in romance/erotica. Since I don’t write in those genres (mine is listed as either contemporary or literary), I wanted to clarify that I’m not relying on an overused (IMO) trope.
What do you mean, there are other options??? 😉 Truly, most of the folks I know believe a person’s sexual orientation has to swing firmly one way or the other. No in between. You’re either straight, or you’re gay. Nice snippet, BTW.
Exactly. I know many people who are aware there’s a spectrum, but I know a lot of people who think who you’re with determines everything. There’s kind of a “one drop” rule, especially for men. I like messing with people’s black-and-white thinking.
Sorry about the health issues with your daughter and your fibromyalgia. 🙁 Doesn’t sound fun at all. Sounds like he definitely has some thinking to do 🙂
Fortunately, we’re all on the mend. It’s been a rough winter, more than most. I think it will smooth out now that the weather is starting to turn.
Yes, Trevor has a lot of thinking to do. 🙂
love the snippet, but sorry about the health issues for you and your kid.
Thanks! 🙂 I think we’re heading toward better health now, hopefully. Spring is around the corner!
I hope you know that you’ve changed my world and deepened my awareness with your stories!
While we were in Oregon, the governor resigned over a scandal, and the lieutenant governor was sworn in. The headlines were full of the fact that she’s bisexual and married to a man. My father in law, who is 80, couldn’t quite figure it out. I tried, but it didn’t work.
I’ve given it some thought since. What I should have said is something like, “Well, it’s like this. Some people are bisexual, so they can be attracted to both men and women. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t want or can’t have committed relationships. If they choose to, they’re probably going to have them with either someone of their gender, or the opposite. Their partner doesn’t make them gay or straight – what’s inside of THEM, as a person, determines their sexual identity and orientation. So, if this woman’s current relationship ended, and she got involved with someone else – it could be a man or a woman.”
Maybe he still wouldn’t get it…
Mostly because of you and Adrian, I’ll be writing a novella this month that involves multiple sexualities. I’m not sure yet what genre will best fit it, but I see it more as an exploration of human relationships and how they change with circumstance than as romance or erotica – even though there will be romantic and erotic elements in it.
I’m really hoping to get it right….
Yay! Well, I’ll always be happy to take a look at anything if you want. I’ve done that sort of thing before.
It’s so true—who we’re with doesn’t determine who we are. I think that’s a pretty good lesson for all people, actually. In the sorts of religious environments I was in for many years, we learned two things: 1. Your identity supposedly comes from your faith; 2. They just say that—they really mean it only for men. Women’s identities come from their husbands. No one’s personhood should ever be contingent on their spouse/partner. I like to think that those of us who are bi, fluid, flexible, etc. are more aware than most how true that is. 🙂
I got so wrapped up in all that, I forgot to wish you speedy recovery and a painless IEP meeting. Our oldest had speech therapy through the school district as a preschooler who wouldn’t be entering the school system…and those meetings were hard enough, when he was only three and four. I can only imagine what it would be like for an older child and their family.
Thanks! We’re all on the mend, I think. The meeting is a good thing. I’ve been saying there was something going on for a long time, but I didn’t see a need to do anything while we were homeschooling. Since we knew she was going to at least start school in 6th grade (fall of 2016), we thought we should get things checked out ahead of time. Sure enough, it’s a good thing we did. The meeting is just going to be everyone talking about where we go from here. We have a plan in place, and we think the school will be on board (this is a very supportive district). It’s just a matter of hammering out details.
There also seems to be a trend for it to be more acceptable for a woman to be by sexual, than for men. Have you seen the film clip for that song… “Take me to church?” by Hosier I think it is? You should watch it because it gives a much deeper meaning to that song and the message might perhaps align with what you are writing.
Unfortunately, bi or gay males being openly affectionate is still very shocking for most people and it makes them uncomfortable so I like that your fiction is bringing it into the spotlight. I’d like to read more.
Women are just so sexualized. It’s ok for us to be sexual as long as it’s either for men to admire or in a “proper” way. We should be sexual but not *too* sexual, on display but not actually enjoying ourselves. When I came out, despite the fact that I’m married (to a man, and I’m not wired to be poly or non-monogamous), I had men I thought were friends sending me sexually explicit messages. I had to block a lot of people because I felt threatened. Bi men have it rough in a completely different way—either erased or shamed, both by straight and gay people. I don’t even get that—bi men are not only fun to write about, they’re actually just pretty great in real life, too!
I love that song, by the way, and the video. I was volunteering with the cast/crew of the play my son was in. The girls were talking about it, and one of them said, “It’s just so disgusting.” At first, I thought she meant the gay content, but then she said, “Why would anyone treat someone that way just for who they love? It makes me cry.” How come teenage girls get it and adults often have so much FAIL?
Sounds like you’ve had a horrible week – of course goals are going to be put aside. Glad to hear you and your child are improving. Having been through the IEP route with my daughter and done many IEPs for students, it can be a challenge for sure. All the best with that as well.
Very interesting snippet, well written. Opened my eyes, especially with the discussion.
I’m surprised people would make assumptions either way, really. If you hadn’t clarified before the snippet, I would have simply wondered what the situation was. Maybe he’s gay and hiding, or maybe he’s bi. Maybe he’s not clear on the subject himself and this is new. It adds another layer of complexity, which I think can throw people who aren’t used to it, but I wouldn’t have thought assumptions would be such a difficulty. There’s a full spectrum of sexuality out there, from sexual desire to gender preference and beyond. I expect some things are still new to the general public (like asexuals and poly lifestyles just for example), but I thought bisexuality was generally accepted. Le sigh.
Anyway, I like the snippet. Like button press!
Glad everyone is on the mend at your place and hope this week goes better for you. Okay – don’t laugh too much, but when I saw ‘oldest friend’ and ‘wet slobbery kiss’, at first I thought Nate might be a dog – ha! Nice snippet – interested to see where this goes next.
I love the snippet adds more twist turns to the story. Spicy!
So sorry about the little one and yourself being sick. I hope by the time you have read this you would’ve pulled a full recovery
This snippet really connected with me deeply this week – particularly the bit about his headspace. Such great characterisation, I really enjoyed it!