Caitlin asked H. Paul Honsinger:

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H. Paul Honsinger I have not yet made sexuality an issue save a brief mention in my self-published novella "Deadly Nightshade," there is a mention of Max being involved with Admiral Hornmeyer's beautiful red-headed niece and that being the reason he was sent alone in a tiny ship to the edges of known space. Whether I make it a factor and, if so, when and how, are bridges I have not yet built, much less crossed.

There would certainly be some homosexuality on naval vessels, but I suspect not much more than in the general population today as sexual orientation seems to be a matter of brain architecture and not learning (but I'm no brain scientist). I can guarantee you that the young boys are sacrosanct and that anyone who touches them improperly is dealt with very severely, if he survives the wrath of the old chiefs who watch over the lads to be brought to trial. Such a man is just as likely to have a "tragic airlock accident."

The navy likely provides some kind of outlet for the men on shore leave by means I would probably leave vague.

The bottom line is that these books are not about that aspect of the human experience, much as the novels of the "Ships of Wood and Men of Iron" genre on which these books are patterned made little or no mention of sex (save some discussion of romances, women pursued, etc., but no description of their horizontal activities). I may take things in a different direction as the series develops, or I may write a different series that is put together along a different set of themes.

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