Kaje’s answer to “What initially inspired you to write M/M books? After you began what were some challenges you encou…” > Likes and Comments
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Beautiful answer!
Great answer. Your name on the title is enough to make it something I want to read!
Excellent answer. I absolutely loved your story about Carlos btw.
I read a lot of SF and Fantasy, so the whole idea that authors should write what they know has always had my eyes rolling a bit. Of course a writer's experiences will inevitably influence their stories to some degree, but to put some weird restrictions on what people write just makes no sense. The whole 'write what you know' thing should be limited to beginning writer workshops for people who need some exercises, exploration and structure, perhaps.
And writing characters of the other gender... If an author can't do that, then that's a definitely limitation. Some can't and do just fine depicting characters of mostly one gender or the other. But I would hope the whole cultural appropriation business won't go overboard so that writers start worrying about having characters of the opposite gender! Yikes.
I'm a racial minority and if I insisted on only Asian writers creating Asian characters, that would cut down on them a lot and would be sad. And I probably would have some insight on being Asian, but there is just so much variation that I wouldn't feel comfortable ever speaking for anyone other than myself. Personally, I don't care about that whole business (cultural appropriation). Although others are free to worry about it, of course. I do think it's something to consider, just being a decent, careful writer... but as with anything, it should be done in a balanced way.
"I realized that although some of the past criticisms were justified - because yes, I can screw up my research or fail in my empathy - nonetheless, gay men are as varied as any of us, and no one gay man is a perfect arbiter of gay culture or representation either." Well said that woman. I do so agree.
Excellent. I loved reading how you started! What cool parents you have.
Most M/M Romance writers are married heterosexual women. It was so nice to hear what drew you to the topic. The Persian Boy was so mind blowing when it first came out!!! What a great book. I can see how it affected you. Thanks for the backstory.
<3 Those two books made a lifetime impression on me. And the hugely varied reaction to them, back in that day and age, made an impression of another sort--motivation that has lasted a lifetime.
I happen to be cis, het, and married to a cis-man. And there are definitely other M/M authors like me. But I also think it's important to not look at female pen names and author pictures and make assumptions either. I know quite a few authors who are writing M/M under female pen names who are bisexual or pansexual even if married to a man, several are lesbians, some with female spouses or SOs, a couple are asexual, one I know is pan and poly, some are genderqueer, at least two have since come out as trans men, (and at least one popular female pen name is a gay man, who also writes under his own name.) And of course, there are also plenty of other trans and cis and genderqueer guys writing M/M.
Mary Renault and Patricia Nell Warren were both lesbians. Warren said that the reason she wrote "The Front Runner" about two men, when she actually wanted to make it a lesbian story, was that in that era there were no female running coaches at the elite Olympic level of the sport. None. Runners, yes, but the coaches were all men. There are a variety of subtle ways that misogyny and gender expectations play into women writing M/M even to this day.
The more I hang out in the community, the more aware I become that many folk in it really represent a spectrum, a rainbow, across arcs of both sexuality and gender. And while I happen to be that stereotypical cis het married female reader/writer of M/M, I try not to make assumptions about the other folk out there until they tell me who they are.
Great to know that about Renault and Warren. Of course I LOVED their books. I had no idea. Thanks for taking the time to write to me. So far I am pleased I joined these discussions!!!
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Tamara
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Sep 26, 2015 11:52AM
Beautiful answer!
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Great answer. Your name on the title is enough to make it something I want to read!
Excellent answer. I absolutely loved your story about Carlos btw.
I read a lot of SF and Fantasy, so the whole idea that authors should write what they know has always had my eyes rolling a bit. Of course a writer's experiences will inevitably influence their stories to some degree, but to put some weird restrictions on what people write just makes no sense. The whole 'write what you know' thing should be limited to beginning writer workshops for people who need some exercises, exploration and structure, perhaps.And writing characters of the other gender... If an author can't do that, then that's a definitely limitation. Some can't and do just fine depicting characters of mostly one gender or the other. But I would hope the whole cultural appropriation business won't go overboard so that writers start worrying about having characters of the opposite gender! Yikes.
I'm a racial minority and if I insisted on only Asian writers creating Asian characters, that would cut down on them a lot and would be sad. And I probably would have some insight on being Asian, but there is just so much variation that I wouldn't feel comfortable ever speaking for anyone other than myself. Personally, I don't care about that whole business (cultural appropriation). Although others are free to worry about it, of course. I do think it's something to consider, just being a decent, careful writer... but as with anything, it should be done in a balanced way.
"I realized that although some of the past criticisms were justified - because yes, I can screw up my research or fail in my empathy - nonetheless, gay men are as varied as any of us, and no one gay man is a perfect arbiter of gay culture or representation either." Well said that woman. I do so agree.
Excellent. I loved reading how you started! What cool parents you have.
Most M/M Romance writers are married heterosexual women. It was so nice to hear what drew you to the topic. The Persian Boy was so mind blowing when it first came out!!! What a great book. I can see how it affected you. Thanks for the backstory.
<3 Those two books made a lifetime impression on me. And the hugely varied reaction to them, back in that day and age, made an impression of another sort--motivation that has lasted a lifetime.I happen to be cis, het, and married to a cis-man. And there are definitely other M/M authors like me. But I also think it's important to not look at female pen names and author pictures and make assumptions either. I know quite a few authors who are writing M/M under female pen names who are bisexual or pansexual even if married to a man, several are lesbians, some with female spouses or SOs, a couple are asexual, one I know is pan and poly, some are genderqueer, at least two have since come out as trans men, (and at least one popular female pen name is a gay man, who also writes under his own name.) And of course, there are also plenty of other trans and cis and genderqueer guys writing M/M.
Mary Renault and Patricia Nell Warren were both lesbians. Warren said that the reason she wrote "The Front Runner" about two men, when she actually wanted to make it a lesbian story, was that in that era there were no female running coaches at the elite Olympic level of the sport. None. Runners, yes, but the coaches were all men. There are a variety of subtle ways that misogyny and gender expectations play into women writing M/M even to this day.
The more I hang out in the community, the more aware I become that many folk in it really represent a spectrum, a rainbow, across arcs of both sexuality and gender. And while I happen to be that stereotypical cis het married female reader/writer of M/M, I try not to make assumptions about the other folk out there until they tell me who they are.
Great to know that about Renault and Warren. Of course I LOVED their books. I had no idea. Thanks for taking the time to write to me. So far I am pleased I joined these discussions!!!
