Rosy
asked
Kaje Harper:
While there is a lot of positive feedback for your beautifully written stories and the content within them, how do you approach the negative reviews that you may receive for their M/M content?
Kaje Harper
I haven't had a lot of negative feedback for the M/M in my books, probably because they're fairly clearly positioned and tagged as gay, so they're not often read by someone homophobic. I did have a couple here and there - someone on Amazon said they couldn't get past the awful first page that had two men in bed together. (I think Mac and Tony kissed on page, before getting up.) And I've had a few emails or messages from people who hate all things LGBT. Those comments I usually set aside and don't dignify with an answer. You can't force a closed mind open, and anyone who would be influenced by those people's opinions is not likely to enjoy my books anyway.
Occasionally I've responded in some discussion context, with a statement of my belief that any kind of mature, mutual love in the world makes it a better place for all of us. But arguing with strangers about beliefs is seldom useful. I instead appreciate the readers I've had who say one of my stories was their first M/M but won't be the last. Every person who does come to appreciate a love story that isn't between a straight man and a straight woman adds to the LGBT allies and the expanding pool of acceptance.
The other thing I sometimes get, related to the M/M content, is people who think something about the way I've written a gay couple is unrealistic. Sometimes that's just one person's opinion. (I've had two different gay men express exactly opposite opinions for the same thing they thought was "unrealistic".) Sometimes I do have it wrong, or at least not right, and I try to do better next time.
I used to get very flustered and mad at myself with that kind of criticism. I'm aware that I'm expropriating an experience and culture that is not my own. I try to do it in a plausible way, since realism is one of my writing goals, and I hate when I don't get it right. But now I am aware that sometimes the commenter, even if it is a gay man, is expressing his own experience and not always a universal truth. And if in fact I screwed something up, I'm trying to let myself be fallible and vow not to mess the same thing up again. (There are, after all, an infinite number of new mistakes waiting for me to make them.)
I've actually been amazingly fortunate in the majority of my reviewers, who focus on the positives in the stories, and make publishing them fun.
Occasionally I've responded in some discussion context, with a statement of my belief that any kind of mature, mutual love in the world makes it a better place for all of us. But arguing with strangers about beliefs is seldom useful. I instead appreciate the readers I've had who say one of my stories was their first M/M but won't be the last. Every person who does come to appreciate a love story that isn't between a straight man and a straight woman adds to the LGBT allies and the expanding pool of acceptance.
The other thing I sometimes get, related to the M/M content, is people who think something about the way I've written a gay couple is unrealistic. Sometimes that's just one person's opinion. (I've had two different gay men express exactly opposite opinions for the same thing they thought was "unrealistic".) Sometimes I do have it wrong, or at least not right, and I try to do better next time.
I used to get very flustered and mad at myself with that kind of criticism. I'm aware that I'm expropriating an experience and culture that is not my own. I try to do it in a plausible way, since realism is one of my writing goals, and I hate when I don't get it right. But now I am aware that sometimes the commenter, even if it is a gay man, is expressing his own experience and not always a universal truth. And if in fact I screwed something up, I'm trying to let myself be fallible and vow not to mess the same thing up again. (There are, after all, an infinite number of new mistakes waiting for me to make them.)
I've actually been amazingly fortunate in the majority of my reviewers, who focus on the positives in the stories, and make publishing them fun.
More Answered Questions
Merrik
asked
Kaje Harper:
Hi, I hope I am not bothering you. I am student and I am writing thesis on sexual minorities rep in YA novels. To make my research better I need to conduct survey about that and I kind of struggle with amount of answers. So, I have question if it would it be possible for you to share link to the survey with your readers?
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