A person that has fun when things aren't fun. He walked over, not a hint of grace missing from his walk. Gary didn't balk as his boss came at him, the handsome older gentleman stopping just inches from his face. But he did twitch when Vince's hand came up to trail down his arm. He looked down and watched as the glass was taken from him. His eyes came up to find Vince's face so close to his that each of subtle nuance making up that specific bottle of scotch—honey, almond, citrus—were close enough to smell.
Closing his eyes, he heard the clattering sound of the glass hitting the table. It wobbled and sloshed as Vince put a hand to his face and pulled him in. Gary grabbed at his lapel, certain that if he didn't hold on he would lose this opportunity forever. An electric spark traveled through his lips as they kissed, Vince tentative at first, testing the waters, but Gary pulled him in, turning his head so that their noses brushed.
Vince's lips were soft, firm. And I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks this is a weird list. It started with four or five - but I just checked, they are all gone now. I would never presume to declare myself non-sexist, non-chauvinistic or completely liberal-minded. I'm almost absolutely certain that sometimes, I am sexist, chauvinistic and not always as liberal minded as I fancy myself being.
Evidently being a gay man myself has not prevented me from learning and believing the same stereotypes and presumptions as everybody else I can't explain it or quite put my finger on it but there is something about the writing of a male writer, particularly an acknowledged gay male writer, that particularly holds my interest. It holds my interest in a different way, not necessarily a deeper or better way, but decidedly different, perhaps truer or closer to my own life experience.
I hazard to say that the experience of living life as a self-identified homosexual male can't help but inform a gay male author's writing.
Plus, both this list and the one created in response display a sexism and divisiveness that I'm uncomfortable with. To edit the list, you have to be a librarian. And it's pretty easy to become one if you are interested. But if you are a librarian, there is an "Edit" link at the top of the page, right after the list description.
Then there's a link to "remove particular books. In the end, there's always caveat emptor - if I'm not sure if I'll relate to a new-to-me author, I'll read their free stories on their website. The time when you had to buy books "blind" is long over.
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Reminds me of a discussion where I talked to a woman who told me flat-out that any "lesbian" who'd ever slept with a man an enjoyed it wasn't a "real lesbian". It brings to mind my transgender friends who are being told they aren't "real men" or "real women". I simply don't condone anything that tastes of sexism. And making my co-writers seemingly insignificant or invisible on this list feels like a kick in the face.
We really need a list for transpeople, for bisexuals, for straight women, straight men, straight transmen, straight transwomen And our beautiful community turns into a labelling fest. Sep 20, I think the characterization of straight women as a mainstream, colonizing force ignores the fact that straight male sexuality and straight female sexuality are not the same thing, and do not enjoy the same cultural privileges. In fact, male violence denies women their sexual agency, and there are very few cultural outlets for women who wish to express a desire for men in a non-heteronormative way.
I have no beef with gay men who want to read books by other gay men. Makes total sense to me. But to place this list in the context of a genre largely composed of women writing about men from a non-straight-male-mediated perspective does come across to me as judgemental, and that I do object to. I'd like to meet the "librarian" who traversed the globe performing crotch checks on all these authors. I'd shake that person's hand, I would. But I do have to applaud this divisive effort. The human population definitely needs more precise segregation.
Nov 17, I have read fantastic books by woman but I respect when men write more for their experiences etched into their fiction. Jun 29, Aug 13, And you know, I really feel uncomfortable having to offer that "truth in advertising" moment, because I like for my readers to be able to envision me in whatever manner they prefer. Nov 03, What if you want real gay male experiences written by real gay male authors. Not women just writing about men having sex with men.
That is what this list means to me. I could write a book about what it's like to be a woman, but I am not one. That would matter to some people. However, if you're looking for real gay male authors, this isn't the list to go by. Too many females keep turning up on it. There's at least one on there now. Anyone can read and write anything they want. Some of us like certain things and want to find more of it. No, it's not perfect, but it's a start.
There's a zillion lists out there. Lists for cat people. Lists for older characters. Lists for non-sexual books. Nobody goes to the cat people lists and moans about how divisive it is that people are so narrow-minded they insist on playing the label game. I don't care to read books about cat people, but that in no way implies that they shouldn't write it, read it, and make lists about it.
I expect the same courtesy extended to my taste in reading. The problem that people including myself have with this list is that it focuses on an author's personal identity rather than the book content. When I see this list, I feel like its implied message is that male authors of gay fic are perhaps preferable than female authors. Of course I realize it wasn't intended that way, but it's how I feel, and I think that might be how others feel as well when they see and object to this list.
If someone set up a list for "books written by white heterosexual men" I think more than a few people would have a problem with it, and to me, this list isn't any different than that. Don't get me wrong, I think lists are great when it comes to dividing out subject content so people can find what they are looking for or what they aren't looking for. If I want to read about cat people, or older characters, or vampires, or BDSM, or books involving fruit sex, then great. Let's make a list. But if I don't want to read books written by women , then that's prejudice. And to me at least, that's what makes this list different from all the rest.
This topic is the source of so much debate and consternation. If women want to write books having to do with gay male love and sex, so be it. And I would have regretted turning down many books and thus denying myself the pleasure of reading some very beautifully told stories if I had turned them down on the basis of the gender of writer. Still, it grabs my attention when a male author like Damon Suede comes out with an unabashed romance story involving two men.
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Other male authors whose works are romantic and relational in content, rather than plot driven, are Kyell Gold. Men, who write about this type of subject matter are rare indeed, it seems like the romance genre or works of a romance nature do not come as naturally to men as they do to women. Could you ever imagine a man, gay or straight. Could a man have come up with such an astonishing gem of a novella? Nov 04, Wait, I just noticed Josh Lanyon on this list. Is he a man? Let me pour more kerosene on the fire here. Nov 05, What's in a name, after all?
I'm afraid this list just isn't very reliable -- unless the "listers" know the authors personally -- because it's based on often erroneous assumptions of gender. Imo, lists based on the authors' gender or sexual orientation is arbitrary, and I won't vote. Why not romances written by redheads?
It's just a persona. The above criteria may be very important and not at all arbitrary for some readers. I just really do want to know. That's the part I don't get. Lists like these are pointless, really. The people who add books to them have no more knowledge than you do. Because the authors themselves aren't going to say, nor should they have to. Or a list of Turgid Literary Tomes writte This whole must-know stance smacks too much of our tabloid obsessed culture.
Where does it stop? Do we also must know their sex life? If a writer identify themselves under different gender than they really are, I don't understand it, but I respect it. And that's yet another can of worms, Lou. I realize there's supposed to be some "literary value" criterion involved, but I challenge anybody to define it. The romance element is, I guess, a determining factor, but plenty of books viewed as literary gay fiction contain romantic relationships.
Possibly the most significant reason for why many women are now being open about their identity when writing homoerotic fiction is their knowledge of their readership. Author Laura Baumbach gives me an example of hers in an account that really makes you think twice: It is a romance, pure and simple; nothing but a budding one-night stand that turned into a relationship.
But the reader was so taken by it that he wanted to thank me for it. Then he told me that his mother had read it first and given it to him with the thought that she hoped one day he could find someone like the lead character to share his life with. After reading it, so did he. Straight woman to gay son.
That is my target audience. It is perhaps surprising, given the subject matter, that the main reader of homoerotic fiction is women; it would be easy to assume that homoerotic fiction predominantly attracts gay male readers only. However, as Baumbach estimates, easily 70 per cent of her readership is made up of women. This knowledge of the reader and the types of characters and settings that they enjoy reading also makes it easier in many ways for Baumbach to write. I have a solid one myself.
It also means her work can be judged fairly and appropriately without prejudice. The rise of an increasingly accepting reader has played a key role in female writers coming out: However, despite her decision to be honest, as well as changing attitudes amongst female writers and readers, for Baumbach, rejection and prejudice have marked much of her writing career, coming hand-in-hand with every attempt for success. There have been times when Baumbach has had to repress her female identity in order to balance out the reality of her gender with the success of her work.
Alyson Press once published one of my short stories in an anthology but insisted I use my initials only. They were at least open-minded enough to read the submission and accept it.
This is the second time in her life that Baumbach has been required to hide her identity, yet this time the choice was not hers and the reason was far more prejudicial. Her experience with Alyson Press would not be the only time Baumbach faced this hostile reception to her gender either. Maybe I should have passed altogether, but it became about the principle of the thing. But it was a lesson in writing for your readership. Almost immediately, this point that Baumbach made struck a cord with me.
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In the initial stages of writing this story, I had suggested that our editor-in-chief should be the one to write it. How could I do justice to this story? I was a straight woman - what did I know? Thank goodness he had told me I needed to write the article. I may not be gay, male or know the first thing about the world of erotic literature, but what I do know - if ever there was a topic to keep me talking for days — is about women suppressing their identity within the realms of authorship.
In reality, not much has changed to this day really.
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I had shown this simple mindedness myself, without even thinking. My feminist brain was kicking itself for being so one-track minded, and for not looking at the bigger picture. Of course I could write this article. Like Baumbach, I had an imagination - I could put myself in another world. I could write this article and do justice to it just like any gay man, if not better. Suddenly, with this perspective under my belt, I realised how so often we allow ourselves into the minds of others through imagination, fantasy and dreams; through putting pen to paper, we bring breaths to life using the English language alone.
It is one of the beautiful capacities that we have as human beings. Yet something as binary as gender and sexuality repeatedly and easily strips us of this power, even now when we think we have come on leaps and bounds in how we perceive both of these issues. So how do women produce authentic and believable homoerotic fiction? It would seem the mind plays one of the most powerful roles in its production.
Indeed, all erotica author, Laura Baumbach, has ever really needed for her work is her ability to think creatively and provocatively. For me, sex is not a spectator sport. And no, I have never seen two men being sexually intimate. All I need is my imagination and my lifetime of sexual experience. In fact, it is this experience that critics quite often overlook.
We do oral sex, masturbation, anal intercourse, etc. For Baumbach, though, the writing process is not just about stimulating the mind and erogenous zones with steamy sex scenes and erotic language plucked from the workings of her imagination. It is also about education, and being aware of what information an audience reading homoerotic fiction needs to be equipped with.
These statistics are very important, particularly given that, while the number of HIV tests performed by the sexual health services that year saw an increase to ,, just under half of the adults who were newly diagnosed in were at a late stage of the HIV infection, when they should have already started treatment.
Although there have been notable changes in attitudes and understanding of HIV and AIDS, a great deal of work still needs to be done to both educate and raise awareness of the importance of prevention and early detection. Adding to this, only 30 percent of respondents were able to correctly identify all true and all false HIV transmission routes when presented to them in the survey, and only one in six people felt they knew enough about how to prevent HIV transmission during sex. One way of educating appropriately so more people feel confident to be tested and treated, as well as changing attitudes and lessening the stigma surrounding the disease, is through books.
For writers of homoerotic fiction, this subject matter plays a crucial role in the production of characters and plot developments. Some write about a central character losing their love and finding new romantic relationships, some actively address their characters as living with HIV and how it affects them and their partners. We write romance, so we are locked in to the HEA happily ever after ending or the HFN happy for now ending - so, many times, it is a challenge to write an upbeat story.
This is where the skill of the author comes in. Do what I say and what I write. Like, in A Bit of Rough , the characters are having sex in an alley; they have just met, but I make sure one character hears the sound of a condom being opened. A small thing but important. Later, they talk about their status when they decide to continue seeing each other. This awareness for Baumbach of her responsibilities came with a growing understanding of her readership and popularity.
A mother passing one of my stories on to her gay son means I have a responsibility to reinforce sensible sex practices and not gloss over things they need to be aware of; but to do it without making a big deal out of it. Her work within Emergency Trauma has, if anything, the closest markings for her decision to move into homoerotic fiction.
I can make tough decisions and live with the consequences. But I think, if you are a straight woman, you can only write it well if it calls to you. Readers noticed it too and a lot of those authors have faded away. It impacted, however, upon the serious authors within the genre. This sense of rejection, however, continues to be pervasive for female writers of homoerotic fiction, especially at industry events. It was also intended as a way of bringing such literary minds together to celebrate their arts. It was the first time I had ever been so uncomfortable in a group of strangers.