A Better Teacher: Step Off The Cliff

 

This is very fun - especially with the re-release of my erotic romance Brushes by the wonderful Sizzler Editions: a brand new column on romance writing by myself just went up at Romance Beat.

Here's a tease - for the rest just click here,

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

It’s unfortunate that romance has been labeled … well, let’s be blunt and say ‘formulaic.’ Part of this, of course is more than a bit true – but then it’s the truth for every genre in every form of entertainment: the audience wants what it wants and so the business side of things wants to give them that.

From comic books to television, from science fiction to erotica, from movies to food … if you want to create it there always seems to be ‘the way’ to do it. In the case of romance, though, ‘the way’ for many authors/editors/publishers seems to be been boiled down to such a A to B to C to D formula that there’s little, or absolutely zilch, room for innovation. Even more than quite a few publishers of romance have taken to spelling out this recipe for success in their Call For Submissions or on their Write For Us websites.

Now there’s nothing wrong with knowing your audience – in fact it’s a universal key to success both critically and financially: if you look, say, at blockbuster or bestselling [Insert Genre Here] you can see, in hindsight, how the creator(s) looked right into the heart of their readers/watchers/eaters and delivered exactly what they were looking for.

Which is where those formulas always seem to spring from: hindsight. But the problem with hindsight – and I know this is an old chestnut – is that it means looking backwards. The books/movies/TV shows that rocket off into the stratosphere, yes, may have known and respected their audience but they also did something that’s even more important:

They took risks.

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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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