writerslounge | (no subject)

Okay, well, my profession and obsession has always been writing. I was an editor/story writer for an organization up until about a year ago, when I was laid off. I always did need a kick in the pants, so I took that as a big old flashing neon sign stating I best quit whining about a lack of time and energy to devote to my own stuff, and get to writing.

I picked up and old piece I had begun many years ago, something I had always intended to be a novel, but was forgotten in the shuffle of life. I read what I had, which was about 1/3 complete. To my surprise, I liked it and I was inspired. A series was born of that first effort. Two books later, I’ve begun work on the third. I am in my glory.

To keep my hand in and keep up my interviewing skills, I also do volunteer writing of profile pieces for an organization. I have yet to seriously pursue getting my own stuff published, partially because I’m not ready and partially for a lack of reputable resources and support for what I’m doing. I don’t want to get pigeonholed, but everyone dearly loves a label.

A switch to novels was eye opening, as I’d previously mainly written one-offs of boysmut to entertain my friends. I often wrote based on storyline requests from friends, and I loved the challenge to create something beautiful and thought provoking with lots of hot sex driving the plot. So to speak. I still center around gay characters, with less smut and more philosophical leanings.

I came to Dreamwidth to build relationships that are focused primarily on writing. I have other communities elsewhere that serve other purposes, but this piece was lacking. I have always shied away from writer’s communities because of preconceived notions and a lack of focus. I hope that will change as things progress.

Threaded | Flat

Hiya, pleased to meetcha. Always happy to meet other writers of boysmut!

Just out of curiosity (well, mainly curiosity, but also a desire to avoid pitfalls that others may be aware of) is it the gay aspect of your writing that makes you concerned about reputable resources and pigeonholing?

Hellooo and welcome! Also, big-up the gay fiction massive *grin*.

I would agree that writing m/m (I term I dislike, but which is a useful shorthand for a particular market sub-section) is tricky. In my experience, at least half the readership (and reviewership) have a sort of mandatory expectation level about the amount of flesh they're going to get to 'see', but there are pubs who are known for a wider genre approach. MLR Press have a strong line in mystery and detective fiction, despite placing an emphasis on erotica, and Dreamspinner are a romance publisher open to and known for a wider range of less explicit work. (I have a thing out there in October, which I believe doesn't actually contain the word 'cock' once. Gasp(!))

Tbh, I think things are open enough now that you can place well-written fiction anywhere, regardless of GLBT content... yet it's also true that, where said title involves sex or romance, gay characters are less bankable for large mainstream publishers, which means many 'mainstream' gay titles get marginalised to small presses, especially when written by new or little-known authors. It's changed a lot in the past fifteen years, but not changed completely, I think.

Also, I agree: research the hell out of anywhere you submit, regardless of the company's size. ;)