Wacky Writer Wednesday: An Interview with Michael from "Unassumed"

Michael Prosace…oops, Michael Lourge-Marshall, affectionately called "M&M" by the other mates, agreed to sit down for an interview with me for my Wacky Writer Wednesday post and I must tell you, I thought that his appearance today was very…kismet.When Michael first showed up, he was about fifteen minutes late and he came in with his youngest daughter Valerie on his hip and HJ (Howell Jr) walking next to him, holding his hand. I didn't really know how to respond to that. I mean who brings kids to an interview? But, since I love kids, I merely smiled at them, handed them some paper and a few pens and invited Michael to sit across from me in the Purple Fantasy Den so that our interview could begin. I'd asked Howell to come and sign for me since Michael is deaf but at the last minute he'd been unable to do so. So I called on a dear friend of mine who knows sign language and she agreed to do the signing for me instead.
Vicktor: So Michael, tell me, how's your relationship going with Howell?Michael: It's going great. I was so in love with him when we were kids, or at least as much as someone can be in love at that age and I'm so glad that even as kids we knew we were meant to be together. Being together now just makes things so much better.Vicktor: It hasn't always been great though right? You guys just recently had a huge fight and you took off with Maurice and then-Michael: (jumping up from his seat to cover my mouth and signing frantically) That's in the Tate Pack Anthology that's coming out soon. Are you sure you want to continue that question and give away what happened?Vicktor: OH! Yeah, you're right. Good looking out Mike.Michael: It's Michael. And by the way, when are you going to put out that anthology? We've been waiting patiently. Very patiently I think.Vicktor: Ohhhhkay. And it will be very soon. Either the last day of this month or the very beginning of next month (clears throat in embarrassment). So one of the things that I've had a number of readers write to me about is your "gender." At the beginning of Unassumed you identified as a transfemale, but by the end of the book you identified as gender fluid. Can you tell me why that is?Michael: Because that's how you wrote me. (laughs) No, seriously, it's because when the story first began I was still struggling with my identity. I did feel as if something about me was off but not completely wrong as is the case of many transgender people. There were days when I woke up and I wanted to have breasts and feel very feminine, then there were days when I woke up and I was very proud of my dick and I felt very masculine. One of the biggest problems that I think humans and even those of us in the paranormal world have, is the fact that we think gender and sexuality are very fixed. That you can really only be one thing, straight or gay, male or female, when I believe that we're all very fluid. It's the reason why as kids we don't see something as being "male" or "female", we're a lot more innocent as children. It's only as we get older that we become obsessed with labels and lines and nice, tidy boxes to contain people in. When someone doesn't fit in just one label or won't stay behind the line or doesn't fit into a box, well then we automatically say that the problem lays with that person and not the system that tries to restrain them.Vicktor: You make a very good point.Michael: Thank you.Vicktor: Another thing that many readers wanted to talk to you about was the fact that you're deaf. How is that possible with you being a wolf shifter? Aren't you all immune to everything that humans can suffer from?Michael: Yes, that's true to a certain degree. We're not complete animals though. We are simultaneously wolf and human, you know? We don't fit into labels or boxes, so don't try to stick us into one. As far as my being deaf, as far as I'm aware I'm the only wolf shifter in history to be born this way. I'm also the only male child born to Alpha Alfred Prosace, so perhaps it's because my birth father was so evil? Or because he used to abuse my mother while she was pregnant with me? Or maybe it was a decision made by Fate. I see a lot more than hearing people. I'm more observant of the behavior of others, the subtle facial tics and cues that a person expresses when they're talking, I notice those things. Or perhaps Fate did it because of who my mate was going to be. Howell is a special man, able to not only accept my being gender fluid but to embrace it wholeheartedly, makes him a rare, but exquisitely special person indeed, but not being able to physically talk to me, makes our relationship a little more intimate than a lot of others. We speak through sign language sometimes, but it is mostly through our mating bond and each time it gets stronger and stronger, I have a weird feeling that's going to come in handy down the road.Vicktor: With me as your author (looks at ceiling innocently), that's a very good feeling. (innocent smile) And you're also in an interracial relationship, what's that like?Michael: You know, race or rather, color, is just like gender and physical appearance. People put way too much emphasis. Just because Howell's skin is darker, that doesn't mean that he's any different from any of the white men that I have dated before. Just like Howell sees the person that I am, I see the person that he is, regardless of how light or how dark his skin is. But as far as having to deal with other people as an interracial couple, well, it's different. Some people have more problem with us being a "gay" or "alternative" couple, but we actually had a man tell us that he was more upset about us being an interracial couple than us being a "rainbow" couple. I think that dealing with people's ignorance is a way of life. We grow from our interactions if we remember that ignorant, mean, nasty, and hateful people who refuse to learn, to grow and change are just like sandpaper. They may scratch and rub those of us who are constantly growing and changing, those of us in the minority, those of us who are oppressed, but when it's all over, we'll be smooth and polished and they'll be all used up. I think that's a refreshing thought.Vicktor: That's a line from "Fighting Temptations."Michael: (laughs) Yeah, Howell made us all watch it last night.Vicktor: So you watched it with the subtitles on?Michael: Of course we did.
I opened my mouth to ask another question when Michael sat up straight and turned to look behind him. At that moment Howell walked into the room with Katharina, Michael's sister behind him. Seeing Michael's sister reminded me of another question I'd been asked about Unassumed.Vicktor: Um...Michael?
While my friend, the translator, tried to get Michael's attention he completely ignored us. He merely stood up, turned to wave at me and walked straight into Howell's arms. I watched, like a voyeur, as the two of them begin to make-out right there in front of all of us. Howell's hands came down to squeeze the globes of Michael's ass and I found myself shifting in my seat watching the two of them together. Katharina smiled at me and carried the two children out of the den and I found myself once again impressed by her strength. She was truly as strong and fierce as the female wolves out in the wild, truly the most vicious of the species, I had written her well.It wasn't too long before Howell lifted Michael in his arms and carried him out of the room, without stopping to say good bye to either me or my translator friend. Did I really write him to be that rude to his creator? Then again, he was about to take Michael to their home to have hot, wild, mansex and I know for a fact that I wrote their addiction to that.So that's how my interview with Michael ended. I'd say that the next time I want to interview him that I should probably have Howell there as well, but the whole interview would be me sitting and watching them have sex while I try to ask questions…Maybe that's not such a bad idea after all.
Unassumed can be bought from ARe at: Buy Unassumed Michael and Howell's story continues in A Tate Pack Anthology, releasing at ARe soon.