Christie Gordon's Blog, page 4

Who would M/M Romance author, Xavier Axelson, want to see in bed? Find out!

I'm very pleased to welcome M/M Romance author, Xavier Axelson, to my blog. We had a little Q&A session and here's how it all went down:

Tell us about yourself:
I'm a writer of erotica for Silver Publishing and Seventh Window Publications.  I also write the Los Angeles Sex Advice Columnist for Examiner.com, and a column for All Bear Online Magazine.

If you could pick any two male characters from television or film to get together in an M/M Romance novel, who would they be?
Tony Soprano and Mr. Big

What do you think is the hottest M/M Romance sex scene and why?
A sex scene that is true to what the characters are feeling is what I find most arousing.  I think it's hot when a writer can infuse a sex scene with honest sexuality while maintaining the sensuality.

Alpha or beta? Who's your favorite? Why?
I've never written a story with a distinct alpha or beta character, so I guess I don't have a preference.

When and how did you start writing M/M Romances?
I probably started writing sexual stories when I was in High School, maybe even before, I've always been of an erotic nature; born this way! 

Do you tell acquaintances about what you write? Why or why not?
I've worked in the adult industries for over 15 years; I'm pretty sure the jig is up.

Tell us the story about how you became published:
I answered the 25 Days of Christmas submission call over at Silver Publishing, and the rest is history.

Tell us about your latest release:
When Pryor's daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods.  He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?  When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn't when Lily was taken but it's when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

Which character is your favorite in this book and why?
I've come to really appreciate Pryor for his endurance and bravery.

If you could pick a song to describe the love story in your latest book, what would it be?
The only thing that is coming to me is More Human Than Human by Rob Zombie; somehow it's fitting.

And there you have it. You can find Xavier Axelson at the following websites:
http://www.facebook.com/xaviersaxel
http://www.twitter.com/xaviersaxel
http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/francis-xavier
http://www.xavieraxelson.com

Please check out Xavier's latest M/M Romance book, Lily.

Blurb:
When Pryor's daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods.  He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?  When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn't when Lily was taken but it's when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

Excerpt:

I am Lily's father, my name is Pryor. It was a year ago last Father's Day when she was taken from me. I still believe being Lily's father is the most important thing in this world.

Unfortunately, my daughter dwells in another world.

* * * * *

I glanced at the necklace. Ned's pressed close to me, but the necklace I hoped would bring Lily back to me felt closer. Ned was soft in his sleep; not the bull of a man he was when he's awake. I loved him soft and I loved him hard. It was his hardness that grounded me, that brought me in from the darkness. The necklace caught the light of the fading moon and I wondered where Lily was tonight.

The old clock on the nightstand hummed quietly; its vintage florescent glow a pale mockery of the necklace that lay beside it and yet I heard the clock, it won in that department. Time always does.

Ned moved against me, I could feel his arms pull me close, felt the bulge of his muscles, his arms thick and powerful. He had never loved a man before me. I had only loved Lily. Once she changed, I had little left to love; in fact, I was certain love had disappeared from my life all together.

The clock still hummed, never quiet; it's old and made noise as if time itself wanted us all to know that it was passing and with each minute Lily fell farther and farther into the darkness. The tears came then and at the same time Ned's cock pushed more firmly against my back. He grumbled, pulled me even tighter so that I could truly feel his penis–not hard, not entirely soft–on the edge of wanting. A tear fell and I gasped a little. Seeing the necklace; hearing the clock, feeling Ned's cock, his muscles, I fell away into him and closed my eyes.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I was," I replied softly.

"No you weren't," his voice was sleepy; distant and yet he knew things, he knew I was awake, thinking about my lost daughter.

"It's Father's Day," I answered, skipping over my lie. "Do you think she will come?" I felt him nod and nodded in return against my pillow. Another tear fell.

"Come closer," he whispered.

"How much closer could I get?"

"Closer," he said again, a growl, a grunt; there was the bull I knew.

His lips brushed on my neck, a hand on my thigh stroking, touching, pulling a sigh from my mouth. I wiped a hand across my face.

"I never get sick of touching you," he whispered wetly, his tongue tracing my ear.

Smiling, I turned in his big arms and I could feel my thoughts ease. Ned had that way about him. 'Magic arms' I called him because he had this way of holding me that made me feel completely safe and for one man to be able to do that for another was amazing.

I kissed him and was happy to discover his breath was not bad but sweet, the trace of his toothpaste before bed still there and I smiled even as I kissed him. Ned sighed gently, his cock fully hard now, urgent, pressing. I reached down and stroked him through his boxers; he was already wet. I tried to pull my tongue from his mouth but he only pulled me closer, deeper; at one point I was almost certain one of us was going to stop breathing.

He finally relented but only because I jokingly squeezed his balls a little too tightly.

"Fuck, you make me nuts," he grumbled, we both laughed at his joke.

His hand reached for my cock; I slept naked so there was no flimsy cotton between his rough hands and my skin.

"You like that?"

I nodded, I did like it, I'd thought I wouldn't ever be able to like sex again, or any intimacy after Lily disappeared.

His hands were rough but I relished his edges; he touched me as if he knew me and, after a year, I guess he kind of did.

"You want me to suck it?" His voice was hoarse with his question; there was still a shy embarrassment behind it, as if he couldn't really believe he was going to suck cock.

"What do you think?"

My response excited him. I could see it in his eyes, even in the dark; the fading moon told me just enough.

When you had a daughter like mine, you learned a lot from the moon.

Book Trailer
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Should a M/M Romance writer pretend to be another gender?

Wow, this is a tough topic these days. I just found out about AJ Llewellyn being a woman. Yes, a woman, not the gay man she pretended to be.

We both started out at eXtasy Books writing M/M Romance, though I prefer to write more of the Yaoi variety:) I've had plenty of banter back and forth with AJ about writing, the M/M genre and the like and I must say I feel a bit… shocked. I know that women have taken male pen names in times past in order to get published and all that. And I know that some female M/M Romance authors have male pen names currently and keep hush about their true identity. I suppose it is no one's business but their own. Or is it?

Here's the deal. If I read a M/M Romance book by a particular author with a male pen name, I assume certain things. The first being, that they have first-hand knowledge of what it's like to be a gay man and maybe I'll learn a few things. Of course, that's the author in me. And if and when I encounter this author in a chat or on some social media site, I speak to them as if they're the gender of their pen name. I take into account their opinions on writing and other topics based on what I think their gender is, right or wrong. I can't help it. We've all been programmed to think a certain way based on our upbringing as a particular gender and have preconceived notions about the opposite gender. I hope that makes sense:)

As far as author gender and writing M/M Romance or even Yaoi for that matter, my question is this: Should authors be straight up about their genders? I mean, we're writing about gay men for a predominantly straight female audience. M/M Romance is not the same (at least in my eyes) as gay romance – presumably written by gay men with a target audience of gay men. So it seems to me that author gender might matter. Women in general put more emotion into their romances, especially if we're targeting a female audience. Again, my freakin' opinion;) But women are emotional creatures. Emotion is what we crave, right?

I'm also wondering if the female authors writing under a male pen name are doing the rest of us authors a disservice. It's hard to go about telling people who aren't familiar with this genre that you're a straight woman writing gay romance. I've blogged about my follies with that a few times. You need a thick skin and a hardy sense of humor. Maybe if more of these women writing gay romance for other women were more up front about it, it would normalize the situation a bit more and make it easier for all of us. Stand proud that you're a straight woman writing about gay men, damn it:)

So now that I've said my piece - chime in here. What do you all think?

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Should a Published Author let on about Their Fanfiction?

I've always been a bit bothered by another M/M Romance author's bit of advice that given to me during a chat. The advice was basically this: Don't tell anyone you wrote fanfiction.

Now, as an M/M Romance author who got started in this business by writing Fullmetal Alchemist  fanfiction and has used this fact as much as possible to let my fanfiction readers know that - hey, I have some original published stories, too, and  they're a lot better than the fanfiction stories – I can't let myself really believe this is good advice. It seems to me if someone likes your fanfiction stories, then they'd probably like your original published stories, which are quite often a hell of a lot more polished and professionally edited. For me, I look at the fanfiction as fun free reads. And I loved writing them. I got to have fun with someone else's characters and quite frankly, the whole episode taught me a ton about how to write and what readers wanted to read.

And to tell you the truth? I'm proud of my fanfiction stories. Sure, there was a lot of head hopping, typos and the like. But people expect that sort of thing in fanfiction. Sometimes, I almost feel as if there's a lot more freedom in fanfiction. I can test a few things out and see if I'm wacked for writing something like that or maybe it's the best idea ever. (I'm liking that term, best XXX ever lately, LOL).

We as published writers need to promote about as much as we need to write good stories and to think we shouldn't use that avenue of ourselves to promote our work just seems… wrong. I know I've read some pretty damn good fiction on fanfiction.net and adultfanfiction.net. So to think that all that literature out there on those sites is bad writing, well, I don't subscribe to that view. And if you're a published author and want to write a bit of it for fun, why not? And why not promote it as yours?

What do you think? How do you other authors feel about this issue? And yep, if you look to the right there in my links, you'll find my fanfiction.net site and can read all my fanfiction stories if you're so inclined:)

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Live Action Yaoi

So I've noticed lately on YouTube, much to my delight, some Japanese films that appear to be what I'd refer to as "Live Action Yaoi". Now maybe I'm coming into this phenomenon really late and all you other fangirl and fanboy types have already drooled all over these things, but I'm hoping to see them on Netflix or even Crunchyroll sometime soon;) (If they're already there, tell me!)

I've started watching one called, Soshite, Harukaze ni Sasayaite, or maybe Takumi-Kun Series, I can't tell what the name is by the video title;) And I'm very intrigued. Sure, it's a bit mushy as gay movies go, but it's also very sweet. And if we like yaoi, that's what we're looking for, right? This story in particular is based off this shy dude who was molested, I think, by his older brother and is the love interest for your typical very popular dude. They're in college and share a room – how convenient:) Gee, I think I've seen that somewhere before (like in my own book The Obsession, LOL). And so the popular guy, Gii, makes his feelings known and protects Takumi in true yaoi, seme fashion.

It looks like the guys don't do too much in terms of sex except for a stolen kiss here or there and lots of gushy "I love you's". Of course, I can always hope. And as I peruse YouTube, I think I'm seeing a few of these things with a bit more racy content. There's one called, Pure, that seems to go a bit, ahem, deeper.

Let's get some discussion going about this – do you like these or yaoi anime better? Where are these coming from – please enlighten me a bit more:) And what's up with this? Can we petition Netflix and Crunchyroll to show them if they don't already? If I seem a bit daft with respect to these things, give me a break – I just found them!

And so, here's the first part of the Takumi-Kun Series (if that's what it's called):

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Why do the Men in Yaoi not Want Sex?

I'm watching this yaoi anime on Crunchyroll (finally, Yaoi on Crunchyroll!), Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi – World's Greatest First Love, and I realized that in so many Yaoi anime and manga, the guys don't seem to actually want to have sex, at least the ukes don't. Why is that? Don't all men want to have sex all the time? If so, shouldn't it hold true that in our gay male stories, there's lots of man sex and they're loving it?

So, I was putting dishes away, because God knows I have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning;) and I'm thinking to myself about why we as straight women like this sort of thing. I mean, we must, right? Or why would the Yaoi powers that be put this stuff out? And why would we watch it so religiously?

In the typical Yaoi manga or anime, you have these two dudes that are attracted to each other, maybe even confess their love for each other, but invariably one chases after the other for sex (usually the seme), while the other runs from it (usually the uke). Then when the seme actually gets the uke, the uke does the, "Oh, stop… please stop", thing while at the same time obviously getting off on what the seme's doing.

My question is – could this be a hold over from the traditional romance story days when the heroine in our romance books loved, but hated, but didn't want to tarnish her reputation by having sex, but got really hot and bothered by the hero? As women, we're supposed to make guys chase us, guys we like, but we can't show them we like them or we won't get chased. Whew, what a wild game, huh? And what a mess… And this does resemble the typical Yaoi story arc, does it not? Hmmm…

Maybe in these stories, since they're written largely for a straight female audience, this dynamic exists in order to give some sort of semblance of a traditional male/female role that women recognize immediately. And we eat it up, don't we? It's that whole forbidden thing. The "I want you, but I shouldn't, can't" thing. The whole reason why we love our Yaoi and M/M Romance – forbidden love.

And so the poor uke has to go on wanting sex with his seme, but pretending like he doesn't. I wonder, what would happen if we made stories that were more true to gay male life? Would we still devour them so hungrily? What do you like?

And now, the trailer:

 

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Writing the Perfect M/M Romance Hero – Can It Be Done?

Hot guys come in all flavors and sizes. So as a writer of M/M romance books, I'm always striving to make the perfect hero. Of course, this means the perfect hero as I see the perfect hero, because, after all, I only have my own perception to rely on. And what is the perfect hero in my view? Usually a hero that's not so perfect, if that makes any sense:)

To me, the perfect hero is a dichotomy – a man that's strong and protective and yet flawed, sensitive and vulnerable. Yep, I said all those things in one sentence. It seems I'm always drawn to heroes I see in anime – Vincent Law of Ergo Proxy (do I talk enough about this dude, or what?), Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed, Cashhern in Casshern Sins. These guys are the best when it comes to fighting, killing, maiming, what have you. Hell, they aren't even human, LOL. But they all possess a sort of humility about themselves and their abilities, a deep remorse from their wrong-doings or perceived wrong-doings and the ability to love deeply and give of themselves completely. Note I'm talking about Kira Yamato here and not Athrun Zala – get my drift?

And so as a writer of M/M romance, I draw upon what I see appealing in these characters in order to morph certain traits into my own, perfect-yet-flawed heroes. I strive to make a character that I find approachable, but not the type of guy you'd think was approachable if you met him in person. You know, the lonely guy in the corner of the bar who might look like he's all that, but deep down he's just the average Joe in his own mind.

I think women (and gay men) in general do dream of guys like this and so like to read about them in their M/M romances. At least I hope so since that's what I try to write;) On the other hand, it's a hard job. I'm always asking myself – is this guy too tough? Is he being too sensitive for this scene? Can I get the humanity out of this character and onto the page while he's being a real asshole? Or the classic – did I just turn this dude into a lady? LOL

Yes, all of these things cross my mind and in the end, I find I just have to be true to myself and the story I'm writing. You can't write a story everyone will like or a perfect hero everyone finds perfect, because he's a moving target in the perception of everyone's mind. Did that make sense? I hope so. Tell me, what is your perfect hero and why? And fellow authors, how the heck do you get that onto the written page?

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Anime Expo and A Review of Requiem for the Phantom

It's the fourth of July. Happy birthday America! And I should be at Anime Expo with all those other lucky bastards. But I'm not. I'm sitting here at my computer while the temperature's rising outside – it's 84 degrees and supposed to get up to 103, pretty balmy for Phoenix this time of year.

So what is an unlucky otaku living in a sauna of a desert to do when they can't go to the biggest freaking anime con in North America (and it's only a 5 hour drive away)? They watch anime on Netflix in the air-conditioned comfort of their own home. Yep, that's right. I'm on a quest to find something akin to Gundam 00, or Fullmetal Alchemist, or even Death Note in it's anime greatness.

I don't know yet if Requiem for the Phantom fits the bill entirely, but it's pretty close. Let's dissect it, shall we?

The opening song, Karma, by Kokia is really cool. I'll probably download it by the end of the day:) Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn2vBa...

The Plot:

A Japanese traveller witnesses an assassination and becomes caught up in a web with an underground organization called Inferno. They take his memories from him and because he possesses extraordinary animalistic survival skills, they train him to be an assassin. The one who trains him? A girl called Ein, the very assassin he witnessed in the beginning. The organization gives the traveller an new name, Swei, and a new life. He' s told that he's not a slave, but if he decides not to kill, he'll be killed.

The Trailer:

My Take:

I'll preface this with how I grade a good anime:

1. Hot heros (why watch of they aren't?)

2. Romantic tension in the sub-plots (because I'm a chick, LOL).

3. Angst factor (I just like angst.)

4. Good mix of action versus, well, action in the romantic tension parts.

5. Good music is a plus. It means I get to find more great JRock artists.

So, the main character in this anime is hot. Swei is both naive and can wield his gun, well, like a good assassin should and he only gets hotter as the anime progresses (sort of like Vincent Law in Ergo Proxy). He's made to live in a couple situation with Ein and there is a good bit of romantic tension in all of this – she likes to take her clothes off  in front of him and for the guys out here, she's got nice jugs;) At the same time, a romantic triangle evolves with an upper echelon member of Inferno, named Claudia, and Swei is seduced by her – really seduced – something you don't see in a lot of animes. There's even a hilarious line in one of the episodes, "He's only staying with you so he can suck on your big titties." Or something like that. At first I said to myself, "Did I really hear that?"  I had to replay it. Yep, I heard it. And guys – she does have big titties, LOL.

Now for the angst factor. You've got a guy with no memories who's being forced to kill people. Think he's okay with all this? Hell no. Lots of angst.

As you can guess, with all this Mission Impossible-style killing going on, the mystery of who Swei really is, the underground mafia, the seduction and growing romance between Swei and Ein, I'd say there's a good mix of action in all directions.

For the music, although I like the opening theme song, the ending sounds like carousel music gone insane. I have to turn it off immediately, I dislike it so much. It's Jigoku no Mon by Ali Project. I won't bore you with a video;) No, I won't be uploading it to my phone, LOL.

I give it: 4.75 stars

So there you have it. If you're at home wondering what to do while lucky anime fans are toodling around at Anime Expo and you're not, stay home and watch this anime! Let me know what you think of it.

 

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Anime Expo and A Review of Requium for the Phantom

It's the fourth of July. Happy birthday America! And I should be at Anime Expo with all those other lucky bastards. But I'm not. I'm sitting here at my computer while the temperature's rising outside – it's 84 degrees and supposed to get up to 103, pretty balmy for Phoenix this time of year.

So what is an unlucky otaku living in a sauna of a desert to do when they can't go to the biggest freaking anime con in North America (and it's only a 5 hour drive away)? They watch anime on Netflix in the air-conditioned comfort of their own home. Yep, that's right. I'm on a quest to find something akin to Gundam 00, or Fullmetal Alchemist, or even Death Note in it's anime greatness.

I don't know yet if Requiem for the Phantom fits the bill entirely, but it's pretty close. Let's dissect it, shall we?

The opening song, Karma, by Kokia is really cool. I'll probably download it by the end of the day:) Here it is:

The Plot:

A Japanese traveller witnesses an assassination and becomes caught up in a web with an underground organization called Inferno. They take his memories from him and because he possesses extraordinary animalistic survival skills, they train him to be an assassin. The one who trains him? A girl called Ein, the very assassin he witnessed in the beginning. The organization gives the traveller an new name, Swei, and a new life. He' s told that he's not a slave, but if he decides not to kill, he'll be killed.

The Trailer:

My Take:

I'll preface this with how I grade a good anime:

1. Hot heros (why watch of they aren't?)

2. Romantic tension in the sub-plots (because I'm a chick, LOL).

3. Angst factor (I just like angst.)

4. Good mix of action versus, well, action in the romantic tension parts.

5. Good music is a plus. It means I get to find more great JRock artists.

So, the main character in this anime is hot. Swei is both naive and can wield his gun, well, like a good assassin should and he only gets hotter as the anime progresses (sort of like Vincent Law in Ergo Proxy). He's made to live in a couple situation with Ein and there is a good bit of romantic tension in all of this – she likes to take her clothes off  in front of him and for the guys out here, she's got nice jugs;) At the same time, a romantic triangle evolves with an upper echelon member of Inferno, named Claudia, and Swei is seduced by her – really seduced – something you don't see in a lot of animes. There's even a hilarious line in one of the episodes, "He's only staying with you so he can suck on your big titties." Or something like that. At first I said to myself, "Did I really hear that?"  I had to replay it. Yep, I heard it. And guys – she does have big titties, LOL.

Now for the angst factor. You've got a guy with no memories who's being forced to kill people. Think he's okay with all this? Hell no. Lots of angst.

As you can guess, with all this Mission Impossible-style killing going on, the mystery of who Swei really is, the underground mafia, the seduction and growing romance between Swei and Ein, I'd say there's a good mix of action in all directions.

For the music, although I like the opening theme song, the ending sounds like carousel music gone insane. I have to turn it off immediately, I dislike it so much. It's Jigoku no Mon by Ali Project. I won't bore you with a video;) No, I won't be uploading it to my phone, LOL.

I give it: 4.75 stars

So there you have it. If you're at home wondering what to do while lucky anime fans are toodling around at Anime Expo and you're not, stay home and watch this anime! Let me know what you think of it.

 

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Yaoi Novels versus Manga – Which do you Prefer?

I have to admit, I like yaoi novels better than manga. What??? you say? Yep, I do. Maybe that has something to do with why I write yaoi and m/m romance novels instead of drawing comic panels (which I think takes way more talent than I have). Although my eyes certainly appreciate the man candy action of a good yaoi manga, I find they're too dang short. I like quite a bit more meat (pun intended) in my stories. More back story, more character development, more man loving and certainly more plot development.

Now I know some of you might want to flame me right now, but hear me out. Yaoi manga definitely have their place and yes, I do enjoy them. I just like to read a book with little or no pictures more than reading panels. For some reason, my imagination flies when I read a novel and not so much with a comic. I'm always trying to figure out which way, left or right, up or down, I'm supposed to be reading the darn thing. Okay, maybe I'm just a spaz. But the other thing is the limitations of manga – you just can't fit as much in as you can with a book. You see this in film all the time. If they actually put everything from the Lord of the Rings books into the movies, they'd each be 5 hours long and we'd probably have 20 of them.

There are a few manga/webcomics I can't live without – Starfighter being the main one. I mean, who doesn't like that? Hot headed, evil dark hero(?) paired with innocent blond hero who needs hard, passionate sex… I wonder sometimes what that would look like in a novel form or if it would even work. If that's the case, I wonder if the medium drives the plots in found yaoi novels versus yaoi manga? Can they be interchanged?

What do you prefer and why?

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Yaoi Novels verus Manga – Which do you Prefer?

I have to admit, I like yaoi novels better than manga. What??? you say? Yep, I do. Maybe that has something to do with why I write yaoi and m/m romance novels instead of drawing comic panels (which I think takes way more talent than I have). Although my eyes certainly appreciate the man candy action of a good yaoi manga, I find they're too dang short. I like quite a bit more meat (pun intended) in my stories. More back story, more character development, more man loving and certainly more plot development.

Now I know some of you might want to flame me right now, but hear me out. Yaoi manga definitely have their place and yes, I do enjoy them. I just like to read a book with little or no pictures more than reading panels. For some reason, my imagination flies when I read a novel and not so much with a comic. I'm always trying to figure out which way, left or right, up or down, I'm supposed to be reading the darn thing. Okay, maybe I'm just a spaz. But the other thing is the limitations of manga – you just can't fit as much in as you can with a book. You see this in film all the time. If they actually put everything from the Lord of the Rings books into the movies, they'd each be 5 hours long and we'd probably have 20 of them.

There are a few manga/webcomics I can't live without – Starfighter being the main one. I mean, who doesn't like that? Hot headed, evil dark hero(?) paired with innocent blond hero who needs hard, passionate sex… I wonder sometimes what that would look like in a novel form or if it would even work. If that's the case, I wonder if the medium drives the plots in found yaoi novels versus yaoi manga? Can they be interchanged?

What do you prefer and why?

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