Aleksandr Voinov's Blog: Letters from the Front, page 21
July 16, 2012
The genetics of our writing
Once upon a time, it was received wisdom that, as a young writer starting out, you should use a gender-neutral or male pseudonym (I'll talk about pseudonyms later). Some female authors even invented the rest of it - the whole gay identity (fuelled, in part, by the desire of readers to "know about us" - in some small way, we're public people, we need to blog, and we need to talk about us, because to some degree, being a writer is almost as much about "being cool/interesting" than it is about writing half-way readable stuff).
Thankfully, that's a discussion that appears to be over. While there are gay biologically-male authors (the ones born with a penis) that have a celebrity status largely because they have a functioning penis and balls that they've been born with (and some know that and are a bit embarrassed that that seems to be a huge factor) - no longer is being female and/or using a female pseudonym an impediment to large sales.
For every reader who chooses to read "from bio males only" (assuming greater "authenticity", which is a fallacy), there is at least one who will avoid it because "gay porn" has a slightly different "flavour" than explicit m/m romance.
The "flavour" of the author's writing is, in my theory, dictated by whatever writing tradition s/he belongs to. It's the beauty of our genre that there's a great deal of influence from gay/queer fiction, slash fiction, and het romance, and hence we have a huge range of flavours and traditions and attitudes to choose from.
To explain: People who read a lot of gay porn (male-written for male-reading) will use the terms and phrases and traditions of that. I used to joke that if you learn the exact number of inches and circumference in play in the first paragraph or, at the very least, on the first page, it's written by a biological gay male (that's the tradition as far as I'm aware of it). There are simply things in gay porn that are very rarely picked up in explicit m/m stuff (like underwear-sniffing and watching a man piss as a voyeuristic pleasure). That said, I know that non-genetic males have picked up on those traditions and crotch-sniff and pee-watch with the best of them, so take anything I say here with a grain of salt.
Other traditions are from het romance. My favourite? What I call "The Bruising Touch" - you've all read it - it goes like this: "he gripped her so hard she'd be bruised in the morning".
That's a "tell" (as in Poker) that either, the author is biologically female and speaks from experience (because women on average bruise much easier - the connective tissue is simply not as strong. OR, the author comes from the het romance tradition, where this kind of bruising is very romantic, somewhere between a hickey and overall soreness "to remember him by". The alpha male is so strong he can't control his strength, but she *loves* it.
These are just a couple examples of traditions. "Cool stuff" we catch in what we're reading ("Oh, wow, he's got 1111!!!!eleven inches! Need to put that into my next story!" or "God, that brusing thing - SO HOT!"). We're learning how to write sex and intimacy from the material we read. Few of us make notes while getting down and dirty with our partners, because ideally, we're too busy to notice exactly how his balls draw up or that even a firm grip doesn't have to lead to brusing. Also, there's the stereotypical gay porn dialogue: "Are you ready for me, baby?" - "Yes! Give me!" - "Ungk!" - "Groan!" - "Are you all right?" - "Yes, I need more!", which by now makes me laugh. Seen it too much, read it too often, it's been done so much for me it's absolutely dead and boring.
What we read and how we read defines who we are as authors and how we handle our material - FAR more than the biological gender or even our pseudonyms. The biggest sellers in our genre are women. There's no difference in talent - or emotional content. I think some of the cruellest, psychologically most fiendish authors are biological women (Manna Francis, I adore you!) and some of the sappiest, saccharine, "he kissed me and I asked him to marry me and adopt three orphan children!" books were written by biological males.
On a personal note - the reason why I'm sometimes accused of "not really" being a romance writer (I can disprove this with a rock-solid argument drawing on my literature degree) - I haven't actually read much het romance - hence I don't have that "flavour". I don't know how it's done, the traditions of "what to do/not to do" was never absorbed into my creative DNA. (One of the reasons why I read "Dear Author" religiously? Filling in that gap in my education.) I was never aware that you get bruises during sex, for example.And I can say I've never read enough slash fanfiction - beyond what my friends wrote and the few stories that were recommended to me - to know those rules and tropes. Essentially, I wrote fantasy and sci-fi (and horror) and mainstream fiction that happened to be about characters who happened to be gay or bisexual and happened to have a love interest that they pursued. The only difference in what I'm doing now to what I used to do? Look more at the relationship (far more), have more happy endings, and put the sex on the page.
Thankfully, that's a discussion that appears to be over. While there are gay biologically-male authors (the ones born with a penis) that have a celebrity status largely because they have a functioning penis and balls that they've been born with (and some know that and are a bit embarrassed that that seems to be a huge factor) - no longer is being female and/or using a female pseudonym an impediment to large sales.
For every reader who chooses to read "from bio males only" (assuming greater "authenticity", which is a fallacy), there is at least one who will avoid it because "gay porn" has a slightly different "flavour" than explicit m/m romance.
The "flavour" of the author's writing is, in my theory, dictated by whatever writing tradition s/he belongs to. It's the beauty of our genre that there's a great deal of influence from gay/queer fiction, slash fiction, and het romance, and hence we have a huge range of flavours and traditions and attitudes to choose from.
To explain: People who read a lot of gay porn (male-written for male-reading) will use the terms and phrases and traditions of that. I used to joke that if you learn the exact number of inches and circumference in play in the first paragraph or, at the very least, on the first page, it's written by a biological gay male (that's the tradition as far as I'm aware of it). There are simply things in gay porn that are very rarely picked up in explicit m/m stuff (like underwear-sniffing and watching a man piss as a voyeuristic pleasure). That said, I know that non-genetic males have picked up on those traditions and crotch-sniff and pee-watch with the best of them, so take anything I say here with a grain of salt.
Other traditions are from het romance. My favourite? What I call "The Bruising Touch" - you've all read it - it goes like this: "he gripped her so hard she'd be bruised in the morning".
That's a "tell" (as in Poker) that either, the author is biologically female and speaks from experience (because women on average bruise much easier - the connective tissue is simply not as strong. OR, the author comes from the het romance tradition, where this kind of bruising is very romantic, somewhere between a hickey and overall soreness "to remember him by". The alpha male is so strong he can't control his strength, but she *loves* it.
These are just a couple examples of traditions. "Cool stuff" we catch in what we're reading ("Oh, wow, he's got 1111!!!!eleven inches! Need to put that into my next story!" or "God, that brusing thing - SO HOT!"). We're learning how to write sex and intimacy from the material we read. Few of us make notes while getting down and dirty with our partners, because ideally, we're too busy to notice exactly how his balls draw up or that even a firm grip doesn't have to lead to brusing. Also, there's the stereotypical gay porn dialogue: "Are you ready for me, baby?" - "Yes! Give me!" - "Ungk!" - "Groan!" - "Are you all right?" - "Yes, I need more!", which by now makes me laugh. Seen it too much, read it too often, it's been done so much for me it's absolutely dead and boring.
What we read and how we read defines who we are as authors and how we handle our material - FAR more than the biological gender or even our pseudonyms. The biggest sellers in our genre are women. There's no difference in talent - or emotional content. I think some of the cruellest, psychologically most fiendish authors are biological women (Manna Francis, I adore you!) and some of the sappiest, saccharine, "he kissed me and I asked him to marry me and adopt three orphan children!" books were written by biological males.
On a personal note - the reason why I'm sometimes accused of "not really" being a romance writer (I can disprove this with a rock-solid argument drawing on my literature degree) - I haven't actually read much het romance - hence I don't have that "flavour". I don't know how it's done, the traditions of "what to do/not to do" was never absorbed into my creative DNA. (One of the reasons why I read "Dear Author" religiously? Filling in that gap in my education.) I was never aware that you get bruises during sex, for example.And I can say I've never read enough slash fanfiction - beyond what my friends wrote and the few stories that were recommended to me - to know those rules and tropes. Essentially, I wrote fantasy and sci-fi (and horror) and mainstream fiction that happened to be about characters who happened to be gay or bisexual and happened to have a love interest that they pursued. The only difference in what I'm doing now to what I used to do? Look more at the relationship (far more), have more happy endings, and put the sex on the page.
July 14, 2012
Incursion tour and new book
Lots of stuff happening - yesterday I was out to meet my ex-team from my previous job, but before that I posted about the new book I've committed and how that came to be. It all started with Reese Dante challenging me. By now, I have a plot and am currently working out the finer plot points. Might even be a series, who knows at this stage, but I'm going to reactivate some of my favourite old characters who never made it over into m/m.
Then the Incursion blog tour is wrapped up. Here's the round-up of the post.Amara's PlaceJoyfully JayWords of WisdomJadette PaigeBitch Factor 10Ms ConditLong & Short ReviewsAll I want and MoreJenre Well ReadThe Pen & Muse Miz Love Loves Books
I'll check in tomorrow and Monday and draw the winners, so you can still comment.
To all my hosts, thank you! I had great fun and hope to be allowed back. :)
July 13, 2012
More blog tour for Incursion
Today is the last day of my blog tour for Incursion. I'm at Miz Love, talking about the unsung heroes of making books. And I'll be here (once the post goes up), at All I Want Is More. And finally, at The Pen and Muse.
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
July 11, 2012
Two interviews about Incursion
Today we're having two interviews on the tour. Stop buy and leave comments to win swag and an AMZ gift certificate:
I'm definitely over-sharing at Bitch Factor 10 here:
And talking about the message and my favourite restaurant (and future writing plans) at Mrs Conduit. (She also has a very nice review.)
Come by, let's have a chat (I'll be checking in from work, flitting in and out as I find time - I might to get to some comments after I'm back home.)
I'm definitely over-sharing at Bitch Factor 10 here:
And talking about the message and my favourite restaurant (and future writing plans) at Mrs Conduit. (She also has a very nice review.)
Come by, let's have a chat (I'll be checking in from work, flitting in and out as I find time - I might to get to some comments after I'm back home.)
July 10, 2012
Today's Incursion blog stops
The blog tour continues! Drop me a comment at Words of Wisdom. (The entry before that is a bvery nice review.)
Or Jadette Paige (where I talk about the inspiration behind the story some more).
I'll be flitting in and out all day answering comments. :) Every comment will be in a prize drawing.
Or Jadette Paige (where I talk about the inspiration behind the story some more).
I'll be flitting in and out all day answering comments. :) Every comment will be in a prize drawing.
July 9, 2012
Incursion book tour
This week, yo're going to see a great deal of me all over the internets to talk about Incursion, my newest release from Riptide. Come along, drop a comment, get a chance to win swag bags and an AMX gift certificate.
Today, I'm at Amara's Place, answering questions.
And at Joyfully Jay, you get to read another exclusive excerpt (first meeting of Kyle and Grimm).
And find the other dates here.
Today, I'm at Amara's Place, answering questions.
And at Joyfully Jay, you get to read another exclusive excerpt (first meeting of Kyle and Grimm).
And find the other dates here.
July 1, 2012
Editing is the punishment for writing
There are writers who love editing. I'm not one of them. I have a friend who claims that the editing part is when the book happens that she had in her mind, as the draft/s before are just "raw material". I wish I had that disposition. I'm a one-draft writer. I may tinker and tighten and expand as I go from first draft (V.1) over several versions (V.1.1, V1.2...) to the draft I submit (V.2), and I rarely have much stuff left to deal with, because my first draft is *the* draft. I rewrite and edit as I write (which is one of the reasons why I'm physically unable to write 5k or 10k a day), and work in feedback from my test readers and peers, but generally speaking, it's rare that I rewrite a great deal.
And then my delusions of grandeur ("I'm a strong self-editor") hit reality in the shape of a hardcore editor. Riptide employs nothing but hardcore people. Incursion really became a totally different beast under Kristen's (and Rachel's) care, and my new story, Skybound, which I'm editing right now, is changing in subtle ways as Tiffany and Rachel challenge everything that's not totally watertight. Once a good editor went through the text, I feel like a bloody beginner, a complete greenhorn.
Could I really be repeating "face" fifteen times on a single page? Could I really have five hands involved in a sex scene, even though we only have two guys in bed? The answer is usually yes. At some point, I get blind to the text, and then shit goes wrong, and that's when an editor catches me out before a reviewer catches me out and tells the world what a lazy idjit I am. Seriously, editors are my last line of defence against disgruntled reviewers and readers. Opening up my edits from Riptide is always a test of faith and courage. As I scroll through the thousand comments and all the bits where I've been an idjit on the page, my heart sinks and I need a strong drink. Coffee, because it's going to be a long night.
Skybound is special, because it's short, and it's dense, with metaphors and images and meaning layered on top of each other in one tight, poetic package, and tinkering even with a sentence feels like it affects the whole. At just over 13k words, it does. Stories that are that short are much more like poems. As a friend who writes everything from novels to haikus once said: A novel can survive one bad chapter, a novella can survive a bad scene, but a short story really suffers from one bad sentence, and one bad word can kill a poem. I've found that to be very true (the reason why I don't write poetry? I'm not good enough to crystallise so much meaning into such a small space).
Skybound is like that short story. Editing this feels like brain surgery. It's going to be a tough sell in any case, so I'm working hard to get it just right, knowing that's impossible. But my editors at least nudge me into the right direction.
In vaguely related news, the co-project is moving along, my penicillin course is done (and funnily enough, once the pills were done I became productive again - maybe my Muse manifests as little bacteria in my blood - kill too many of them and I'm simply not writing...), I feel a great deal more perky. I've also started something short for the Blood in the Boardroom call from Riptide (I HAVE to, I already flaked out of the Warriors of Rome call) that, I hope, readers and fans of Special Forces are going to enjoy.
But now I have to tackle the last 15 pages of Skybound.
And then my delusions of grandeur ("I'm a strong self-editor") hit reality in the shape of a hardcore editor. Riptide employs nothing but hardcore people. Incursion really became a totally different beast under Kristen's (and Rachel's) care, and my new story, Skybound, which I'm editing right now, is changing in subtle ways as Tiffany and Rachel challenge everything that's not totally watertight. Once a good editor went through the text, I feel like a bloody beginner, a complete greenhorn.
Could I really be repeating "face" fifteen times on a single page? Could I really have five hands involved in a sex scene, even though we only have two guys in bed? The answer is usually yes. At some point, I get blind to the text, and then shit goes wrong, and that's when an editor catches me out before a reviewer catches me out and tells the world what a lazy idjit I am. Seriously, editors are my last line of defence against disgruntled reviewers and readers. Opening up my edits from Riptide is always a test of faith and courage. As I scroll through the thousand comments and all the bits where I've been an idjit on the page, my heart sinks and I need a strong drink. Coffee, because it's going to be a long night.
Skybound is special, because it's short, and it's dense, with metaphors and images and meaning layered on top of each other in one tight, poetic package, and tinkering even with a sentence feels like it affects the whole. At just over 13k words, it does. Stories that are that short are much more like poems. As a friend who writes everything from novels to haikus once said: A novel can survive one bad chapter, a novella can survive a bad scene, but a short story really suffers from one bad sentence, and one bad word can kill a poem. I've found that to be very true (the reason why I don't write poetry? I'm not good enough to crystallise so much meaning into such a small space).
Skybound is like that short story. Editing this feels like brain surgery. It's going to be a tough sell in any case, so I'm working hard to get it just right, knowing that's impossible. But my editors at least nudge me into the right direction.
In vaguely related news, the co-project is moving along, my penicillin course is done (and funnily enough, once the pills were done I became productive again - maybe my Muse manifests as little bacteria in my blood - kill too many of them and I'm simply not writing...), I feel a great deal more perky. I've also started something short for the Blood in the Boardroom call from Riptide (I HAVE to, I already flaked out of the Warriors of Rome call) that, I hope, readers and fans of Special Forces are going to enjoy.
But now I have to tackle the last 15 pages of Skybound.
June 27, 2012
Under the weather
I'm currently on a course of penicillin, which has some interesting effects. Mostly, I'm just really, really tired and unfocused, which means anything more complex than a Twitter conversation or watching football is way out of my mental league. Thankfully, work at work is currently slow.
Writing is even slower, though. I have ideas, but they somehow don't make it onto the page. Any page. There's a co-project I need to tackle, there's my own novel that has been sitting for two weeks, and there's a short contemporary I want to write. Right now, I don't seem to be able to find the emotional grit to push through, so I'm excusing myself with watching football (which was fun, though the last game, Spain versus Portugal, was tense, and way long).
The pills run out over the weekend, so I'm hoping to be back to normal in the next three days. Mostly, I'd be happy just to curl up and sleep. I'm also having weird insatiable appetites for red meat and yoghurt. Right now I could just live off a kilo of beef or lamb mince per day.
High point of the week is tomorrow, when I'm having the fitting appointment for my new bespoke suit at lunch. This time, I went for a three-piece dark blue pinstripe (plus a handful of shirts). It'll replace the grey pinstripe and the very dark grey suit, which by now look a bit scuffed and tired. If I like how it's turned out, I'll get another one a bit further down the line. Then on the weekend I'll have a look for a tie like the one on my avatar. So, yeah, looking forward to that--have been for a couple months, actually.
And there's Riptide submission calls that I want to take part in, but it might be extremely tight. There was one call I was really interested in, but the deadline is nearly there and I haven't managed to even properly formulate an idea. That's probably one of the more annoying things: I can't control what I write or how productive I am. All I can do is try to show up, but it's simply not in my power.
Anyway. Suit tomorrow. Bring on Thursday.
Writing is even slower, though. I have ideas, but they somehow don't make it onto the page. Any page. There's a co-project I need to tackle, there's my own novel that has been sitting for two weeks, and there's a short contemporary I want to write. Right now, I don't seem to be able to find the emotional grit to push through, so I'm excusing myself with watching football (which was fun, though the last game, Spain versus Portugal, was tense, and way long).
The pills run out over the weekend, so I'm hoping to be back to normal in the next three days. Mostly, I'd be happy just to curl up and sleep. I'm also having weird insatiable appetites for red meat and yoghurt. Right now I could just live off a kilo of beef or lamb mince per day.
High point of the week is tomorrow, when I'm having the fitting appointment for my new bespoke suit at lunch. This time, I went for a three-piece dark blue pinstripe (plus a handful of shirts). It'll replace the grey pinstripe and the very dark grey suit, which by now look a bit scuffed and tired. If I like how it's turned out, I'll get another one a bit further down the line. Then on the weekend I'll have a look for a tie like the one on my avatar. So, yeah, looking forward to that--have been for a couple months, actually.
And there's Riptide submission calls that I want to take part in, but it might be extremely tight. There was one call I was really interested in, but the deadline is nearly there and I haven't managed to even properly formulate an idea. That's probably one of the more annoying things: I can't control what I write or how productive I am. All I can do is try to show up, but it's simply not in my power.
Anyway. Suit tomorrow. Bring on Thursday.
June 20, 2012
Reader letter - thoughts on success
I'm just quickly updating to share with you a couple sentences from a happy-making reader letter (I shouldreally share more of them, I think they just spread the love and job). I'm always a bit concerned about being seen to brag (personally, I think it's sharing the love and appreciation) or anonymity (so I'm not going to attribute these to anybody but a "Reader").
So, A Reader wrote:
"I find that knowing what I want or need isn't always necessary; if I know it when I see it, I know where to look, and chances are it'll be there again, and again. So it is with your work, all of which I've read and not once come away empty-handed."
Isn't that awesome? Empty-handed is a fantastic expression for that hollow, "I just had too much sugar" feeling I get when I read empty texts (call them texts without soul or energy or art - regardless of the genre). Walking away empty-handed. Perfect. Full-handed isn't really a concept, though. Nourished? I often compare texts with food - feeding our brains and souls and hearts with fiction. Sustaining us during real life events or stresses, allowing a kind of guided tour of the imagination - making a different world if just for a few hours.
But the "not once come away empty-handed"- that means a great deal to me. I always strive to "deliver", to "give" something, and always throw in muy best effort, even though I can never be sure (in fact, it's one of the most torturous doubts), whether I manage to do it. It's awesome when it works. To keep delivering (and satifying "my" readers, even if they did'nt know they'd like it, even if it's totally unexpected to them) - this for me is the yardstick of success.
Thank you, Reader.
So, A Reader wrote:
"I find that knowing what I want or need isn't always necessary; if I know it when I see it, I know where to look, and chances are it'll be there again, and again. So it is with your work, all of which I've read and not once come away empty-handed."
Isn't that awesome? Empty-handed is a fantastic expression for that hollow, "I just had too much sugar" feeling I get when I read empty texts (call them texts without soul or energy or art - regardless of the genre). Walking away empty-handed. Perfect. Full-handed isn't really a concept, though. Nourished? I often compare texts with food - feeding our brains and souls and hearts with fiction. Sustaining us during real life events or stresses, allowing a kind of guided tour of the imagination - making a different world if just for a few hours.
But the "not once come away empty-handed"- that means a great deal to me. I always strive to "deliver", to "give" something, and always throw in muy best effort, even though I can never be sure (in fact, it's one of the most torturous doubts), whether I manage to do it. It's awesome when it works. To keep delivering (and satifying "my" readers, even if they did'nt know they'd like it, even if it's totally unexpected to them) - this for me is the yardstick of success.
Thank you, Reader.
June 9, 2012
Incursion ready for pre-order
My sci-fi novella has just gone up on Riptide's website, so it's kind of time to lift away the blanket. I used to call it "Glyrinny Incursion", or "Glync" for short. Written after Dark Soul finished, this is the story I wrote for a reader who asked me to write a disabled hero.
Here's the blurb:
When the local authorities ask Kyle Juenger to hunt a shape-shifting Glyrinny spy, he can’t refuse. After all, he can use the reward to replace his paralyzed legs with cyberware, and maybe even to return to his home planet. Besides, he hates the morphs—those invasive, brain-eating monstrosities whose weapons cost him his legs.
Kyle’s best lead is the Scorpion, a mercenary ship armed to the teeth. Grimm, the Scorpion’s pilot and captain, fascinates Kyle. He’s everything Kyle lost with his legs, and he’s from the same home world. He’s also of the warrior caste—half priest, half savior. But Grimm’s been twisted by life as a merc, and Kyle’s stuck undercover as a criminal on the run.
That doesn’t stop Grimm from coming on to Kyle, or from insisting he’s more than the sum of his past and his useless legs. But Kyle has other concerns—like tracking a dangerous morph who could be wearing anyone’s face. And as if things weren’t complicated enough, Kyle can’t tell if Grimm is part of the solution . . . or part of the problem.
---------------------------------------------------------
Just to make things more interesting, Kyle is a bountyhunter with paralysed legs who's hunting a morph - an alien who can change shape at will. My partner, sharp-tongued as he it, has described this story as "Disabled German-Named Space Maori in a Haunted House IN SPAAAACE with Polymorphing Monster". Yes, I thwapped him for it.
Any story has many parents and influences, and in this case, fittingly, I can tell you more about the DNA of this (this may be spoilery, though I'd assume most people will have forgotten this blog post by the time this comes out on July 9).
"Incursion" started life as "Scorpions in Space!" (harkening back to my fantasy novel "Scorpion") and was in part triggered by Reese Dante's concept art for Scorpion, consisting of brushed, aged steel with an abstract scorpion on it. That art made me think "damn, that's sci-fi" - something that hadn't occurred before. Then there's the whole Scorpion concept messing with my head while I'm trying to assemble the prequel and sequels in my head. What's left from that, in the end, is the name of the ship and the mercenary crew. Again, the main character is an outsider.
Then a reader asked me to write a disabled hero. I hope I did a decent job - of all things, that's the bit I'm most nervous about. More stuff that got into the book was a fairly recent discussion on what constitutes a "real man" (thank you, JW - much food for thought), because the jump to "real human" wasn't far - yes, this is how my brain works. And two movies are in there somewhere, too, namely District 9 and the latest Terminator movie. Pour in, stir, serve.
Kyle is a scarred, broken hero like I love them, though Grimm has my heart.
This also has the loosest connection to Dark Edge of Honor - it's set in the Commonwealth, which has some issues with the Doctrine on one end and the Glyrinny shapeshifters on the other end. I can totally see writing more in that 'verse. For the record, the connection is so tenuous that it's really just a nod in that direction, so reading Dark Edge of Honor is not necessary to get this story. I just like to connect stories in my mind to build much bigger things from individual blocks. This appears to be my space opera setting, which is grittier than others. I assume there are more stories there - I'm fascinated by the Glyrinny, and there's the Doctrine looking for trouble, too, and Winter, and the warrior caste of Tamene (which is a Maori word and means "be assembled" - perfect name for a planet).
You can pre-order this now on Riptide's website.
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