I’m releasing a book of short stories called “Tales of Love and Emeralds”. One of such stories is called “The Emerald Statue of Saintete”.
This story is not a romance. It does have some romantic elements when it comes to Alan (come on, my tag line is ‘love stories larger than life’) but it’s not a romance. In fact, the story has only one kiss (the main characters are fourteen, you guys, which technically makes it an YA.)
Did I mention that this one kiss happens between two boys?
Yup. It was sweet, romantic, and filled with the insecurities that come with a first kiss.
Personally, it was a scene I was immensely proud to write.
But two of my Betas were put off by this and actually refused to read any further. I will quote, “The writing and world building were extraordinary, and I loved the characters, but what really put me off was the fact that Alan is gay teenage boy.”
I felt shocked for a moment, and then so very sad.
It was just a kiss! An innocent, beautiful kiss!
Until when will we ignore same-sex prejudice; tell ourselves it’s not really there, when it clearly is, everyday, in the smallest of comments, in the tiniest of interactions? You might not even mean to hurt anyone, but if you keep thinking that way, you will.
Someone out there might argue, “Oh, silly C.S. Your demographic is hetero. You can’t write a story with a gay main character.”
Look, if I had written a gay FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY (Omg: FIFTY SHADES OF GAY, how cool would that be?), I might (double emphasis on the might) give you the demographic argument. And even if I did, I’d hope this argument would cease to be valid in a few years from now.
But all I wrote was a first kiss.
Sure, I write hetero love stories, but it saddens me that the one time I tried to write just a tiny little bit of gay romance, I got bashed.
I’d just like to state a simple fact here:
That is really sad – what is wrong with reflecting reality in a story – for too long stories have reflected a very skewed hetro, white, masculine world as far as I can tell – not the real world.
Very true
I wrote a gay scene once, they only kissed once too. My tutor told me I was brave to do it, but advised against sharing. Why I don’t get, as it wasn’t like I was describing sex (which would be guesswork as I am female) Why is a kiss such a big deal?
Makes me angry to think we should not write about something that everyday as it may offend, grr!
Keep writing!
Right? Glad I’m not alone ^_^ Thank you <3
I hop one day soon that those sorts of attitudes are in the past and gone. Love is love. I write lgbt, and include hetero romance. No one would probably bat an eyelid at it. So why should we the other way around? I’m glad you’re standing up for yourself here and not bowing into pressure. Go you. 😀
Thank you so much. It means a lot!
Most of our characters are gay. We write urban fantasy and have a mix of characters- gender, race and sexuality, and yes, we’ve had the odd negative review, but mostly the feedback has been positive. We’re lucky to have found some wonderful readers and a niche we are comfortable with. Unfortunately, there will always be the odd reader who doesn’t like the gay characters, or their storylines, but then our books aren’t for everyone. It’s sad that a reader could be so put off by a gay kiss that they refused to read further, but at least know which beta readers would be comfortable with you taking your writing in that direction. I say good on you for keeping it real.
Much obliged ^_^
Hah. The main character/romance in my novel is not hetero.
Basically, fuck them.
Pfft! Who needs prejudicial beta readers anyway?! Not moi and definitely not a kickass author like yourself <3 Stay strong girl, there's a reason everyone knows the likes of Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King or even how every country on the planet is snickering but secretly wishing they were Ireland at the moment. ANTI – PREJUDICE people, it's not just a nice word to say -_-
Amen, sister!
Go you!
I am currently writing a YA novel that has both hetero and homosexual characters, but I don’t think of any of them as different from the other.
LOVE IS LOVE.
I think you should write a book with fifty short stories on gay love and call it fifty shades of gay. Keep on blogging in a free world – The False Prophet
Not a bad idea ^_^
People who only read to reinforce some inner prejudice are pretty pathetic. Makes you wonder what else they ‘disapprove of.’
Reminds me of Cath’s Simon and Baz:)
And kisses are always beautiful – unless you happened to be mauled by a grizzly bear of a person in which case, they are Terri-frigging-ble!
Lol definitely!
Who are extremely cute. I’ll say it forever!
And there’s your proof, right there in what those beta readers said, that it’s something you should do. Go you! 🙂 In fact, you seem pretty awesome, so I’ll just go ahead and follow your blog.
Thank you so much ^_^
I don’t know, does the fact that they didn’t like the gay angle necessarily make them prejudiced, as some have implied? I had a story where two fifteen year olds were exploring sex and it put some readers off. Can’t it be a religious thing? Or something else? Meanwhile, I’ve read a story with a gay character as a main secondary/second lead, and written gay characters. I’d be miffed if somebody stopped for that reason if they loved everything else about the story.
You know better than I what the betas said and what they meant, and you probably knew it wouldn’t fly with everybody. The problem with betas is they don’t necessarily know what’s coming, and may have assumed things about the rest of the story that weren’t there.
They missed out on a great read, by their own admission.