A Better Teacher: Finding That Common Bond

Very, very cool: the very first post of my new, on-going column, "A Better Teacher," just went up on Romance Beat.  Here's a tease - for the rest just click here.

A Better Teacher: Finding That Common Bond

“Love is a better teacher than duty.”–Albert Einstein

I’m a writer … well, of course, or I wouldn’t be here, right?  And, like a lot of writers, I write a all kinds of things: mysteries, non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and quite a lot of erotica.  Surprisingly, what I write that gets a lion’s share of attention is my queer stuff … both erotic and otherwise. 

More than likely because I’m straight.

Now, I’m very straight about being heterosexual (giggle), and I pride myself in that I always tell my publishers the truth of what I am – which is hardly not a problem as they are the ones who are usually commissioning my books – but there are still a remarkable number of people who are more than a tad shocked that I like girls.

Which, to be honest, I consider a huge compliment.  In addition, I’ve also penned quite a bit of romance … which gets me to my point: many people have asked me how I can write gay fiction so convincingly that there’s far too often that shock about who I like to sleep with.

The answer, I’ve come to realize is actually very simple – and can be very informative to writers of pretty much anything … especially romance.   To put it simply, I don’t think about writing gay characters, or women, or African American characters, or older characters, or anyone else for that matter: instead I write about people.

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