Arts

WIPpet Wednesday: A Cat and a Keyboard

Welcome to wonderful Wednesday! I’m having a blast with all the guest posts, interviews, cover reveals…this book launch thing is exhausting but fun.

I’ve decided to skip out on ROW80 this time. I don’t really have time to write or keep up with goals. I’ve got so much going on right now for this book launch that I can’t see adding more to it, and I don’t want to reduce my pre-launch month to a list of things I have to report on every week. I’m hoping to join in again next time, though.

This week’s WIPpet was inspired many months ago when someone (I’m thinking it was Shan Jeniah Burton) mentioned in the comments that she pictured my Cat behaving much like his feline counterpart (really, I did write him that way). She suggested perhaps he might sit on Micah’s lap and mess with his keyboard. I’d already established (but hadn’t mentioned) that Micah’s an author, so I found the idea hilarious—but I couldn’t share why! Now that I’ve given you all last week’s post with their exchange regarding Micah’s novel, I thought I’d treat you to this bit inspired by my fellow WIPpeteer.

WIPmath: 10 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 4 = 17 paragraphs.

Cat looked over at the screen. “What are you working on?” He grinned. “Another het story without the heaving boobs?”

Micah let out a snorting laugh. “This one’s a little different from the last.”

Cat’s eyes widened. “Ooh! Is it lesbian porn?” He leaned in and whispered, “Lesbian alien tentacle porn?”

“Oh. My. God.” Micah laughed and swatted at Cat. “You are awful.”

Cat plopped himself in Micah’s lap, startling the breath out of him in a whoosh. “Let me see.” He twisted slightly so he could peer at the screen. “Why, Micah!” he said. “Are you actually writing a gay story this time?” He snickered.

“I wasn’t going to, no.” Micah tried to reach around to close the laptop, but Cat blocked him.

“But you have these two exceptionally hot guys, and they are totally flirting.” He read Micah’s most recent paragraph out loud. “Oh, they want each other bad. So much sexual tension there.”

“They’re on a road trip, discussing driving directions to the next city.”

“Exactly!”

Cat began typing, and Micah made a grab for his hands. “Don’t mess it up!”

“Not messing. I’m telling them they want to have hot sex on the hood of the car.” Cat elbowed Micah.

Giving in, Micah let him continue to type for a few minutes. He longed to stretch out his hands along Cat’s legs or wrap them around Cat’s waist. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes to rid himself of the intrusive thoughts. It wasn’t easy, given that he had a sweet, sexy redhead sitting on his lap, fooling around on his keyboard. With a low growl, Micah decided to do something about it. He put out his index finger and dug it gently into Cat’s ribs.

That did it. Cat yelped and pitched sideways. Micah grabbed him to steady him, and Cat stood up. He glared at Micah. “I was just getting to the good part.”

Micah studied the screen. “This is…absolute shit, you jerk,” he laughed. “Good thing I’m the one who does the writing. Also, this guy? Brad? He’s in love with Tammi. So it’s no-go with Karl.”

Cat crossed his arms and pouted. “Karl has an unrequited crush, then. Can’t you make at least one of them gay?” He batted his eyelashes. “Please?”

“I could. But I’m not going to.” He rolled his shoulders. “Maybe one of these days I’ll write a gay story. But I’ll need a new pen name for that.”

“I’ll bet I could think of one,” Cat said with a smirk.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll take some time to check out the other entries. Many thanks to K. L. Schwengel, especially as she didn’t send her monkey minions after me last week. Happy writing!

By and Bi: Bisexuality in LGBTQ Fiction

Books, Fiction, Love, Sexuality and Gender, Writing

Happy Tuesday! We’re officially into Week Two of my pre-launch celebration before my novel releases next month. If you’re late to the party, just click on the main site to scroll back through all the good stuff we’ve had here so far.

Today I’m going to do what I do best: get a little ranty, have a little fun, and tell you about one of my super pet peeves. Buckle up, kids.

Phin blew out his breath. “Did you or did you not tell [Michael] that it was okay for him to like boys?”

“Of course. I still don’t see—”

“Did you tell him that it’s okay for him to still like girls, too?”

“I…not exactly.” Alex raked a hand through his hair.

“Right. That’s what I thought. Which version of lying did you accuse him of?”

Alex drew his brows together. “Point taken. But that’s not what he’s confused about? I don’t understand.”

Phin shook his head. “He wanted relationship advice, you dolt, not advice on coming out.”

~Lower Education, chapter 11

If there is one thing I cannot stand, it’s horrible bisexual tropes in fiction. There are no good ones. Everything from “gay for you” (i. e., straight until meeting The One) to “there are no bisexuals” (every time someone’s in a same-sex relationship, it means GAY), these are painful to read. If I had my way, no one would ever write them again.

I am a sucker for a good coming-out story. These can be so wonderful—from heartache to wholeness, from self-discovery to sweet sensuality, there is so much good stuff to be had. However, one thing I don’t tolerate well is when characters are very clearly and easily identifiable as bisexual…until they’re not.

It’s true that some people do go through a phase in which they identify as bisexual before fully embracing being gay or lesbian. But it’s truly not as common as it sounds. In fact, it’s equally likely that a person previously identifying as straight, gay, or lesbian will embrace bisexuality. There are many reasons for that, which I suggest everyone take the time to learn about. (I’m not using this space for that right now; feel free to message me if you have questions, though.)

What I don’t like is the way it’s used as a literary device. Over the past several months, I’ve had the opportunity to read and review many books under the lgbtq fiction umbrella. I’ve lost track of how many times I had to read something along the lines of:

I like boys sometimes. I like girls sometimes. Wait…I’m now with someone of the same sex. Oops, guess I’m gay/lesbian after all, since we’re now in a committed relationship.

Yikes. That’s not how it works, people. Identity is not the same as a relationship. I’m absolutely cool with monosexuality (exclusively gay/straight). Trust me, one does not become monosexual by entering a relationship, committing to that relationship, or getting married. Nope.

But it happens in books all the time, especially when characters come out. There are so many variants on that theme, including being misidentified by others and simply adopting it as fact or persistently being labeled as “confused” until some relationship catalyst comes along to rescue the character from a dreaded bisexual limbo. If we think people can know their orientation as gay or lesbian with conviction, why are we so afraid to admit one can know their bisexuality with conviction?

Here’s another disturbing one that’s perhaps a bit more subtle: Discovering one’s gay/lesbian identity because the sex is so fabulous that the character can’t help themselves. Newsflash: it doesn’t work that way, either. Sex with someone who is hurting you or doesn’t care about you can be really, really crappy. Sex with someone you love very much and want to be with can be freeing and fantastic. That should not be confused with “I guess I was gay after all.” Writers should try to avoid setting up a coming out story with that sort of scenario.

I read one—and only one—book this summer which included a bisexual character for whom it simply wasn’t a big deal. It was two small things, hidden in the rest of the context of the story. First, the character implies he’s probably not gay despite a same-sex relationship near the beginning. Then, later on, he says to the person he’s in love with that his lovers have been both men and women, but he’s never forgotten his one true love. It’s a non-thing; a part of who he is, but he isn’t owned by or defined by it. It’s so subtle some readers will probably miss the enormity of it or think it means something other than what it does.

That was a rare treat.

Maybe this is why I like to write characters who mess with binaries, be that orientation or gender. Do I write people who are monosexual and binary male/female? Yes. But I like to add variety. My first novel includes more than one bisexual character, and my work-in-progress has more than one person with a non-binary gender identity (which probably deserves its own blog post).

I don’t expect everyone to write bisexual characters; I’m not looking for that. But with so much variety to human experience, there’s no excuse for lazy writing that perpetuates tired stereotypes and myths. If you’re going to write a character who demonstrates a definite bisexual identity, please do not ruin that by having the character change their mind. Let it be what it is—a person who has discovered a wonderful part of themselves and entered into a relationship with the person they want to be with. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.

Guest Post: Author Sirena N. Robinson

Books, Guest Post, Writing

I’m so excited to have my friend and fellow author, Sirena Robinson, guest posting for me today. If you haven’t had the chance to read her books, check out the links at the bottom. I’m guest posting over at her blog today as well, so you can read that here.

Faith and Writing

by Sirena N. Robinson

Today I am thrilled to be taking over here on Amy’s page. I’ve known Amy for almost two years now, and she’s one of my biggest supporters with my writing. She’s one of my beta readers, so she’s involved in almost every aspect of my books, from finding all my grammar errors to brainstorming plot ideas. So when she asked me about doing a takeover as part of my publicity celebrating the launch of my recent releases, I jumped all over it. She’s taking over at my blog today for those of you interested in her thoughts on writing lgbtq fiction. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

When I asked Amy if she had any ideas about what I should write on, she suggested discussing both how I came up with the series and how my personal faith interacts with the philosophy and religious undertones in the novels. The Chosen Chronicles focuses, rather heavily at times, on Christianity.

I’ll start with the easier of the two. In college, I took a creative writing class and was prompted to write a short story about a way to prevent the Apocalypse. What would eventually become Devil’s Dilemma was born. I kept writing and what had started as a short story ended up a 100,000 word novel. Shortly after finishing it, however, our house burned down and I lost the book. It took me more than two years to re-write it. During the re-write, I introduced new characters, added some plot twists, and changed the ending to allow for more books because I knew I didn’t want to stop at just one. It felt like there was more story left to be told.

At first, I thought there would be four. I had planned for four. Then, I decided I needed something to link the books together, so I decided to write a common prologue, one that would connect them. That’s where the prologues with Amaya and Gabriel come in, so of course she needed her own story. That brought me to five. Then, when I decided how the fourth book was going to end, it seemed right to have some common threads with the last ones, so I expanded it to seven, which is where it is currently. If you were to group them, Devil’s Dilemma can be read as a stand-alone. There’s no cliff-hanger and it’s relatively self-contained. The next three are meant to be one story, and the last three are another, for seven in the series.

Now for the tougher question. To be clear, I am a Christian. I have a relationship with God that I value above all else, and I have a closely held set of beliefs that I have come to after much thought, discussion, and prayer. Those beliefs do not always coincide with what I write, and for some people, that can be hard to understand.

In my novels, my fictional representation of God is very cold and hands-off. That makes for good fiction because it gives characters hoops to jump through. My version of Angels can have sex, interact with people, and have children. Those things are far from Biblical, but they work for the plot I’ve created. I have characterized Satan in the later books in the series, turning him into a villain and using him to drive the plot of the sixth and seventh book.

Unlike a lot of authors of sensitive subject matter, I write under my own name. No penname here. That means that everyone in my family knows it’s mine when they pick up a book. There’s no doubt it’s their niece or daughter or granddaughter who just wrote a five-page sex scene or introduced the Devil as a character. I wish I could tell all of you that it hasn’t caused problems, but that would be a lie. There are some people in my life that can’t separate what I write from who I am. One aunt won’t speak to me anymore. She claims I’m a hypocrite and that I cannot be a Christian and write a book with violence, foul language, and pre-marital sex.

Devil’s Dilemma

Devil’s Despair

Guest Post: Author Adrian J. Smith

Books, Guest Post, Writing

I’m so excited to have author Adrian J. Smith guest posting for me today. We’ve worked together for a long time, and I’ve been privileged to be part of her editing team. If not for her support (including pitching my novel to her publisher), I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m glad to be able to call her a friend.

How to train your protagonist…

by Adrian J. Smith

This topic was given to me by a fellow author of lesbian crime fiction. Along with this topic, by another LGBT author and the host of this blog, I was given the topic of what makes a female character strong. I’ve decided to sort of combine them, because in all honesty, how do you train a strong female character?

It’s no secret that I love strong female characters. It’s a huge part as to why I write lesbian fiction (the other big part is I find a lack of it in mainstream fiction, and I desperately want to read good lesbian fiction that isn’t all about the romance—though those are nice too on occasion). So strong female characters tend, at least to me, that they’re hard to train. It’s hard to train a person in general if you don’t have them from infancy, so training a character is just as hard.

Because they are like people. That’s right, I said it. Characters are like people. The characters in my novels become my best friends for the time I’m writing them and editing them, and it’s probably the best part about being a writer. I have such diverse friends. Sometimes they can even help with problems, mostly they help me relax. But I digress. Characters are like people.

If a person is hard to train, it’s next to impossible to train a character. They take on a mind of their own. They have their own personality. Strong women aren’t known for backing down when they disagree with someone else, they don’t just give in to the whims of everyone around. Sure, they’ll compromise (sometimes), but they don’t do it without letting you know their opinion on the matter at hand first.

These women can take almost anything that is thrown at them, and a lot gets thrown in their direction. It’s not a matter of working through the problems and situations that come up; it’s a matter of doing it with grace and with poise. The women in my novels do that—for the most part. There are some blips on the radar of poise and grace *cough* Grace Halling *cough*.

Training the protagonist to do what I want them to do might also not be the best to my advantage. I wouldn’t do half the stuff Grace and James do. No way, no how. I wouldn’t be sitting in the car shuddering from it all. But they do it. If I was in there, I would be yelling at them to stop, telling them they were stupid for doing what they were doing, and I would probably be pulling them back with a rope I’d secretly tied around their waists when they weren’t looking. Now that wouldn’t make for a very good story, would it?

So the answer to the question of how to train your protagonist, who just so happens to be a strong female character, is don’t. Don’t do it. Go with the flow and be flexible. There’s no reason to hold back on the story or the characters for the sanity and comfort of the author. If it fits the plot or if it fits the character, then go with it. They are what make the story, not the author.

Author Bio:

Adrian J. Smith, or “AJ” as she is often called, has a generous and soft heart. She loves to rescue stray cats and dogs, as well as those who just escape. Her hoard of animals currently includes two cats, a dog and a fish, but no children as of yet. She’s passionate about LGBT et al rights, women’s rights and children’s rights.

AJ loves to read and write lesbian fiction, simply for the fact that strong women make her swoon and when two are involved her knees turn to jelly and she falls head over heels in love. AJ travels around the United States, and sometimes the world, gathering up stories for her novels. Currently, she lives in the middle of nowhere of the middle of nowhere and is rather difficult to find except on the internet, where she spends a lot of her time.

Connect with her online:

@AdrianAJSmith
www.facebook.com/adrianjsmithbooks
adrianjsmith.wordpress.com
www.goodreads.com/adrianjsmith

Ashes Fall

Eleven years after the love of her life dies, James hopes everything would be normal and works to construct her reality as such. Her adopted daughter, Lily, finishes her sophomore year of high school with nothing other than good grades, a best friend for life, and goals for the future. James, after stepping back into the dating world, has a girlfriend with a steady, non-life-threatening job. Life is as peaceful as it can be. But a day at the waterpark with her daughter reveals the largest crack in the façade.

And nothing can stop chaos from ensuing.

Ashes Fall Buy Links:

Thursday Q&A: A little about my writing

Books, Fiction, Writing

So…I forgot I was supposed to answer a few questions and tag some people for a blog hop. I got a wee bit carried away with other things this week. I’m probably going to have seven years of bad luck or die a horrible, painful death as a result of breaking the chain.

Oh, well. I’ve lived a good life so far.

Anyway, I figured I would just answer the questions anyway, since today is my weekly “ask the author” post. You’ll get just a little about the inner workings of my creative brain.

What am I working on?

Currently, I have:

One novel in revision/beta
One novel in outline
One short story out to beta readers
One short story in revision
Two short stories in progress

I’m not sure that’s enough, though!

The novel in revision is the one I’ve been posting snippets of for the last several months on Wednesdays. Like all my stories, it’s (very) loosely based on a classic fairy tale—this time, Puss in Boots (which, really, is an awful story; hopefully, I’ve redeemed it).

The four short stories are for November’s book launch. Each week, one of them will be available here for free and for purchase after the week is up. I was playing around with genres—everything from my usual (humor with a dash of angst) to YA to romantica. Yes, folks, you read it here first: I’m actually writing a genuinely smutty story.

How does my work differ from others in the genre?

Because I wrote it? I mean, honestly, what differentiates us is our “voice.” I do try not to be samey. My work tends toward light and humorous with a dose of social justice and a bit of angst thrown in for “realism.” One thing that perhaps makes me a bit different is that I love to write gender-fluid and gender non-conforming people, and I often write at least one of my characters as bisexual. I’m over us being invisible, especially in fiction! It’s probably why I don’t tend to write (or enjoy reading) coming out stories—so full of bi erasure or bi tropes that it’s no longer fun to read. Of course, I just had to write a coming out short story, right? So I obviously break even my own rules.

Why do I write what I do?

Believe it or not, I didn’t set out to write gay romance. That was nearly accidental. My first NaNoWriMo novel was YA, and my second was from a woman’s POV and technically qualifies as bi romance. I always planned to write romantic stories in some form, but not specifically about men. I discovered that I love writing from a man’s POV, though, and when I started writing my upcoming novel, I intentionally chose to make the main character a man. He was actually supposed to fall in love with the main female character. I even wrote it that way when I started! I eventually figured out she was already in love…with someone else. And there was no possible way her personality and my male MC’s would ever mesh—not even remotely. Not only that, he was already crushing hard on one of my (at the time) very minor characters. So I gave his love a bigger part, and the rest is history. But seriously—sexy men falling in love with each other? Yep. That’s a lot of fun to write. Sexy women falling in love with each other is good, too. Hm…

How does my writing process work?

You can’t be serious. Hahahaha! Well, it looks a lot like me sitting down at my computer and going, “What shall I write?” And then I start typing things. Words appear on the screen. Now and again, they actually make sense, so I turn that into a story. Meanwhile, I work out the details with my kids and my spouse during meals. Our recent conversations have all involved video games and how to translate them into (hopefully very funny and entertaining) live-action versions of their favorites. The kids want me to do Mario Kart, Minecraft (wth? ha!), and Dance Dance Revolution. Spouse wants me to do Oregon Trail (died of dysentery). As you can tell, they’re very helpful!

One of my weird quirks is that I rarely write in a straight line (argh…no pun intended). I don’t write from Chapter 1 to Chapter 20 in a direct path. I almost always write the first and last chapters right away, then I go back to the beginning for a bit…then fill in some of the middle…you get the idea. At some point, I’m ready to write in sequence again. My method almost always results in having to rework or reject scenes from later points that don’t fit the story anymore, but I don’t mind. I’m not writing mystery or thriller, so it works for me.

And there you have it! If you have anything you want to ask, feel free to post it here in the comments, or you can click the link at the right and like my Facebook page. Questions can be posted there, too.

Book Review: Devil’s Despair

Books, Reviews

Devil’s Despair

by Sirena N. Robinson

This is the action-packed second book in the Chosen Chronicles series. (Book 1, Devil’s Dilemma, is being re-released today as well).

Having enjoyed the fast-paced first novel, I was excited to read the continuation of the story. As usual, my favorite part of any book is the characters. One thing Sirena Robinson has a talent for is witty dialog. I loved the interactions between the different people populating her near-Apocalypse world.

It’s difficult to provide much information on specific characters and why I like them without giving too many spoilers about the previous novel for those who haven’t yet read it. However, there are some wonderful surprises in store regarding who some of the players are and their role in stopping the world from destruction.

The main fun for me was watching this motley crew of people come together in solidarity against the threatening evil. I love great, badass women who can give strong, badass men a run for their money. Although there’s a bit of same-ness to the physical prowess of the women (and a bit with the men, too), for me that didn’t distract from the story.

Although the series is inspired by religious themes and end-times writings, the theology should absolutely not be taken literally. Unlike other books in the genre, it isn’t intended as such—it’s just a fun read and a fresh take on Earth’s final days. It should be read in the spirit of urban fantasy rather than as an interpretation of biblical prophecy.

From start to finish, Devil’s Despair provides non-stop forward momentum, whether in the form of steamy sex, ferocious battles, or narrow escapes. Readers should be warned that there is a considerable amount of violence, some profanity, and mature sexual content. I recommend it without hesitation to fans of urban fantasy, action, and thriller.

WIPpet Wednesday: A Cat and a Keyboard

By and Bi: Bisexuality in LGBTQ Fiction

Guest Post: Author Sirena N. Robinson

Guest Post: Author Adrian J. Smith

Thursday Q&A: A little about my writing

Book Review: Devil’s Despair

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