Would It Bother You If Toni Morrison Were A Straight, White Male? Sexy Hot Guys Over 50; Stonewall Riots 1969; Hillary Clinton's Discomfort With Gays

Would It Bother You If Toni Morrison Were A Straight White Male?

Of course that question is both hypothetical and rhetorical. I'm posting it because there's been a great deal of discussion in the m/m romance community about authors coming from places of privilege masquerading as gay men.

If you are straight and white, male or female, you're still coming from a place of privilege *compared* to anyone in the LGBTI community. I didn't say women don't have it harder than men. They do and I've always supported them. I said "compared" to anyone in the LGBTI community. Before you get into that debate with anyone, remember we were just allowed to legally marry a few months ago and that controversy is still happening. They are still kicking us out of restaurants and bars.

Toni Morrison is one of the most prominent, respected authors in the African American community and the entire literary community. I've read all her books more than once. She's really who she says she is. She's not a fake. People have seen her. 

I'm not talking about a straight white male writer using the pen name, Toni Morrison. I'm not talking about a straight female author openly using a pen name in the m/m romance genre. There are many authors using pen names and they're doing a fine job at it, especially the women writing gay romances.

This is not about pen names.

I'm talking about what if a straight white male used the fictitious name and fictitious identity of an African American woman to portray himself to the public for praise and monetary gain?

I'm not talking about his writing, or whether or not his books are good. Clearly, Toni Morrison's books are wonderful.

Hypothetically, I'm talking about how you would feel if you found out Toni Morrison were really a straight white male after all this time.

Would you be thrilled with him?  

Sexy Hot Guys Over 50

This is great article because it diminishes that ridiculous stigma all gay men face about getting older, and it does it with excellent examples. Personally, I've always been more attracted to men over 40...even when I was in my twenties. Of course there's nothing wrong with twinks either.

The “Men Over 50 Project” celebrates hot everyday guys who have made it past the big 5-0. The project features both photos of the men as well as accompanying one to two minute audio clips.

You can check out the photos of hot guys here. 

Don't forget, hot guys over 50 take you out to nice places in nice cars, not to the flea market or Walmart. And unless you're doing something wrong, they usually pay.

Stonewall Riots 1969

Here's an article about the Stonewall riots and about what life was like for gays back then. I think it's significant, given the huge discussion that's been sparked by the new film release, Stonewall.  We have fought long and hard and I think we're just beginning to realize that. In other words, many are saying don't screw around with our history or our culture through your appropriation for monetary gain. Give us the respect we deserve just as you'd give any other minority.

This alone is gutting: 

Forty-five years ago here is what you could expect as an LGBT person in the United States :

• Your name (along with all of your friends and family members) would be put on a list by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, because as a homosexual you were ?prone? to blackmail and "overt acts of perversion"
• The United States Post Office also kept your name on a list to monitor any homosexual "paraphernalia" you were receiving so they could tip off the police and have you arrested

 You can read the rest here.  

I'm going to continue to post about Stonewall in gay history as I see more information. I honestly don't know much about it, or what things were like back then, but I never take anything for granted.

Hillary Clinton's Discomfort With Gays

Now this I do know about. As a registered Democrat, I've been watching it for many years. I've watched Clinton turn from a silent non-supporter of gays to a huge supporter when the time and opportunity suited her. She's a politician and I expect that.

The quotes date back to 2000, when Hillary was running for the senate in NY. Allegedly, a historian did tons of interviews with Bill Clinton about the Clinton White House and this all allegedly came out during the discussions.

Bill Clinton warned a close friend in 2000 that Hillary’s New York Senate run could suffer because she was not “comfortable around gay people who were kind of acting out, or pushing her to the limit,” and that she had a “general discomfort” around gay rights issues.

And then this quote:

 “[Bill] came in and he said, ‘You know I’ve had much more contact in my life with gay people than Hillary has,’” Branch says in the audio recording. “He said, ‘I think she’s really a little put off by some of this stuff.’”

Here's the source. It's a long article that gets a little annoying in the end, considering the source. But the comments are interesting. As one person pointed out, virtually no one supported gay marriage in the late nineties. The saddest part of all this is when I realize that straight people, human beings, actually had to "evolve" to a point in time for when they thought I was ready to deserve the same equal rights as everyone else.

So, you had to "evolve." Well, thanks for that. But I don't think you get extra points for "evolving" on an issue that I should have had all along. The same equal rights as everyone else. I'm just not that gay guy who is going to praise you for "evolving" so well. I think a few apologies are in order, not pats on the back for evolving.

New Release 

When A Man Loves A Man

Something I learned This Year...Thanks to Toni Morrison

I know everyone is busy writing end of the year posts, and this might not be the kind of post that falls under that category. But I'm always interested in anything that has to do with books and publishing. And for me, personally, I learned something interesting that I'd like to share with other authors and readers.

In almost twenty years of publishing I am proud to admit that I've only had one incident where I didn't agree with an editor and pulled the story from publication. It happened about five years ago, with a short story I'd submitted to a print publisher for possible inclusion. The odd thing was I'd worked with this editor before on other books and I thought I knew him. However, when the story came back and I had to review his edits, I was amazed at how much he'd cut, how many words he'd changed, and how he'd slanted the entire story in an entirely different direction. Ultimately, we couldn't reach a compromise and I politely asked him to pull the story from the anthology. Three days later, I sold the same story to another print publisher and they didn't edit a single word. They copy edited a few things, removed a couple of commas and removed a few superfluous words. But the story remained in tact. And, I eventually went on to work on something else with the first editor, and all was fine.

Since then, I haven't had any other problems and don't anticipate any. I love all the editors and copy editors I work with. I've always viewed their changes and suggestions as assets to my books or stories. And I've always agreed with them when they suggested minor changes. In many ways, working with an editor and copy editor is a collaboration between author and editor. It's fun, we joke around a lot, and the e-mails keep flying back and forth. And if both remain open to all suggestions, the final edit of the book or story only gets better.

Then one morning this year I opened an e-mail with copy edits for a book I'd submitted a month earlier. In this case, I wasn't worried. I'd always worked with a specific copy editor for this particular publisher and I'd always looked forward to reading her edits. In fact, I've learned a lot more from her, I'm sure, than she's learned from me. But when I started reading the edits this time, I knew from page one something was different. And I knew this wasn't my beloved copy editor, whom I'd always loved working with. This was someone new, with a snarky voice, who didn't seem familiar with any of my books...or books in my genre. There were remarks and questions in the margins I normally don't receive from my usual editor. One particular word that was integral to the book that I thought should have been capitalized throughout the book had been changed to lower case.

I always try to research as much as I can and I try never to assume anything, and I'd already researched this particular word the new copy editor had changed and found that readers, magazines, and most other publishers believe, very strongly in most cases, this particular word should be capitalized. So I went through all the edits with an eagle eye this time, addressed each comment and question. I made a few of the suggested changes and refused to alter a few other suggested changes. I was polite when I refused to take the suggestions. I used little smile faces. I've always believed it's important to be a professional as possible, and still get the point across.

When I submitted my review of the edits (actually, she'd missed a few important copy edits I'd had to go back and fix myself), I was told the word would not be capitalized and given a good, solid reason. This was the only area where the publisher wouldn't back down, and I didn't mind at all. This particular word can be capped or not capped, depending on the style a particular publisher uses. And, though I personally would have preferred the word to be capitalized for the sake of the readers, I didn't have a problem agreeing with the publisher this time. And, the publisher agreed with all my other replies to the copy edits. So I was fine; the publisher was fine; a compromise had been reached.

But, I couldn't stop thinking about one particular phrase the new copy editor had questioned and I'd refused to change. I'd used this phrase in a steamy romantic scene in the book and the copy editor didn't think it was real enough. She even went as far to say, "I don't think there is such a thing." I'd used this phrase before in other books. It's about as minor a phrase as "The back of his neck." But I disagreed, politely, with the new copy editor and refused to make the change on principle. But then started to question my own instincts the next day. Did the snarky new copy editor know better? Should I have agreed to make that particular change? At that point, though, I didn't want to confuse anyone and decided to leave it alone.

The other night I sat down to read Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I'm a huge fan (she's one of the few authors I'd bow to...lol) of her work and I hadn't read this particular book in years (if you haven't read this classic, run out and get it). By that time, the edits from my own book were way in the back of my mind and I was only interested in reading about the sad life of Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye. And then I came across a very touching scene that involved sex, where Toni Morrison used the exact same phrase to describe a particular body part that the new copy editor had questioned in my book. I put The Bluest Eye down and stared for a few minutes. I'd come across this phrase before in other books, but never by an author with Toni Morrison's excellent reputation. And then I took a deep breath and smiled. I realized that if Toni Morrison can get away with using this phrase in a book like The Bluest Eye, so can I.

And I learned something new this year: trust your own instincts when it comes to edits and revises. No writer does anything by accident, especially when it comes to certain words and phrases. Although some copy editors think they know it all, they don't. I know I'm only talking about a phrase that was a simple as, "The back of his neck." And it could have been changed without altering the intent of my book. But I didn't think a copy editor, who probably has about eighteen years less experience than I have, should have even questioned it in the first place, at least not in such a bold way. Of course I didn't do it...but I felt like sending her a copy of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye just to prove a point.

RIP Ann Crispin; Toni Morrison Responds to Book Ban

RIP Ann Crispin

The blogging world lost a long time member this summer, Ann C. Crispin, who founded Writer Beware with Victoria Strauss.

Ann Crispin, best-selling author, Writer Beware co-founder, fearless fighter in the scam wars, beloved wife and mother, my friend, died this morning after a two-year struggle with cancer.

You can read more here. The post was written by Strauss, Crispin's co-founder.

Writer Beware was a blog I used to follow more regularly, but as things in the publishing world started to change I stopped following it as regularly because it wasn't something that was directly related to anything I've been doing for the past five years. Though I haven't always agreed with everything on WB, I have learned a great deal through them and Crispin was another consummate blogger who was passionate about what she did.

If you are a new writer and you haven't read WB, I would advise checking it out. As I said, I do think that with many of the changes happening in publishing some things should be rivised (like warning authors about literary agents and other authors who are working together as e-publishers and not disclosing this up front...and yet still claiming they are self-publishing so everyone thinks is just another simple self-publishing venture), but there's still a great deal of good information that might help keep you from getting screwed over by shifty editors and e-publishing services, among other pitfalls that prey upon good unsuspecting people, that seem to be popping up all the time. The e-mails I get from scammers daily would turn this blog into something completely different if I started posting about them daily.

In fact, Tony and I are planning to start an e-publishing service in the future, and one of the things I pay close attention to are posts on WB about other e-publishing services. Our goal is to create something affordable, and that has quality books, where the author always maintains control, and his/her rights at all times. The last thing I would want to see happen would be to get slammed on WB as an e-publishing service. So far, I haven't seen anything at WB with regard to e-publishing services that I haven't agreed with. Most of what they've posted makes sense...and I come to this thinking as a writer, not a publisher or agent. I know what I wouldn't want happen to me.

In any event, Writer Beware will continue on.

Toni Morrison Responds to Book Ban

One of the things that sometimes frustrates me about writing gay fiction of any kind, even gay romance, is when people who are NOT gay challenge what I know to be true and to be fact as a gay man. When I write gay fiction I don't try to turn it into a heteronormative frolic through suburbia like you see on TV shows like The New Normal. I do use heteronormativity sometimes in books because I think there are many gay people who are leaning toward that as we gain more equality. Just look at the marriage proposal video that went viral this weekend and you'll see what I mean. And look at all the gay couples who want children and the typical heteronormative family. But what I never do is fake gay culture, and some things that are rooted deeply in gay culture, and I've been slammed for doing that more than once by non-gay people who *think* they know all about gay people.

And this is exactly how Toni Morrison seems to be responding to comments made about her book, The Bluest Eye. Some have even gone so far as to call the book "porn," which I've posted about on this blog several times. I have read the book more than once and it's not only literary masterpiece, but also an account of African American culture we don't see often. For me, as a gay white male, to even begin to criticize anything about Morrison's personal knowledge when it comes to the African American experience would be ludicrous. It wouldn't even occur to me.

“The book was published in the early seventies and it has been banned so much and so many places. That I am told I am number 14 on the list of 100 banned books,” Morrison told Columbus TV station NBC4.

“I resent it. I mean if it’s Texas or North Carolina as it has been in all sorts of states. But to be a girl from Ohio, writing about Ohio having been born in Lorain, Ohio. And actually relating as an Ohio person, to have the Ohio, what- Board of Education? Is ironic at the least,” Morrison, a Lorain native, told the TV station.

I understand exactly how she feels, from a slightly different POV. Though I would never even suggest that my books be in schools, or read by minors, I feel the same kind of resentment each time I see someone question something I've written about gay men, as a gay man. I'm not the only gay man who feels this way either. It's something we discuss often in private, yet there's nothing to do about it because there are some who don't really want to hear gay voices as they really are. They support gays, they support equal rights, and they support the concept of all LGBT people. But when it comes down to *listening* to gay people they go dead blank and think what they want.

I'm glad Morrison responded to all this, and I'm glad she's not just sitting back and taking it. You can read the entire article in full, here.

She also deserves the last word on this topic, as an African American woman, and a writer.

A Halfway Through the Book Review: Jonathan Franzen's FREEDOM

I have to admit that after reading three Toni Morrison books in a row, which I just did last month, any author or book that follows is going to have a rough time convincing me Toni Morrison isn't the best author in the history of the planet.

But I started reading FREEDOM, by Jonathan Franzen, after finishing Morrison's, JAZZ, and it wasn't easy to switch gears. This has nothing to do with Franzen's style or his book. It's just that Franzen is so different from Toni Morrison it was hard not to compare the two authors. The easy part was I'm a fan of Franzen's CORRECTIONS, so I've been looking forward to seeing what Franzen has been up to in the last ten years.

Right now I'm halfway through FREEDOM. (I know no one gives halfway reviews, but it's a long book and it's my blog so I can do whatever I want here.) I've read Patty's autobiography, I've watched her transition from a young adult to a college student to a housewife and mother. I've seen Walter and Richard through their ups and downs. And I've read about Joey's kinky little escapades with phone sex and observed his peculiar little wench of a girlfriend. And if I had to rate FREEDOM on amazon right now, I can safely say I'd give it five stars without even knowing the ending.

I wouldn't rate it this way because I love the characters. In this particular case, I don't think I've ever despised characters in a book quite this way before. They are vapid, self-indulgent, and absolutely fascinating in all their dullness. I'm not even sure I can explain this clearly, but I actually love them because I hate them so much. These characters are everything for which I do not stand and never will stand. The only character with whom I can remotely relate is Joey, because he seems so eager all the time.

And right now, though I can't even begin to predict the ending, I couldn't recommend this book more to anyone looking for good fiction. I also like Jonathan Franzen's writing style. I've seen reviews of FREEDOM where readers have blasted his dialogue. But I disagree. I like the way he pulls it off, and I can't help wondering which character Franzen is most like. If I had to guess I'd say he really wants to be like Richard, in reality people see him more as Walter, but deep down, he's all Joey.

Still Reading Toni Morrison...

Actually, I just re-read Toni Morrison's THE BLUEST EYE. I read it back in the late 80's, and wanted to go back and revisit the characters this winter. It's probably the book that has had the most impact on me both personally and professionally.

Right now I'm in the middle of BELOVED, and then I'm moving forward with JAZZ. But I wanted to post something a lot of people may or may not know about. It was something that I didn't know about until I read BELOVED. Morrison describes the use of an iron bit as a torture device used for slaves. Though it's painful to read, not to mention comprehend that human beings would ever do something like this, I think it's important to know.

Below is an excerpt from a web site that goes into far more detail.

Morrison writes candidly of "the iron bit" (70) in describing Paul D’s slave experience, and carefully details the horrific nature of its use as a torture device. Marilyn Sanders Mobley writes of Paul’s "personal stories of enduring a "bit" (69) in his mouth – the barbaric symbol of silence and oppression," (196) outlining the item’s cold, constraining capabilities. Morrison uses the symbol of the bit, carefully woven into the novel’s interchange between Sethe and Paul D, to represent Paul D’s slave experience, and, taken on an allegorical level, to represent also the slave experience in general. Her introduction of the bit into Paul’s "rememories" ushers in comment on the iron’s structural qualities, i.e. "how offended the tongue is, held down by iron," (71) indicating the metal’s constraining, unyielding nature. The author’s inclusion of rich imagery in explaining the bit to the reader aids in delineating the iron’s less obvious characteristics aforementioned. She writes of "The wildness that shot up into the eye the moment the lips were yanked back," (71) a reminder of the metal’s unyielding, thoroughly rigid conformation and related effects. Immediately following, Morrison affirms "Days after it was taken out, goose fat was rubbed on the corners of the mouth but nothing to soothe the tongue or take the wildness out of the eye," (71) thus reinforcing the concept of metal’s hard, unyielding nature. Essentially, the metal symbol of the bit becomes the slave experience through the shared characteristics of metal. Rigidity of the slave experience, represented by the metal in the bit, with Paul’s "own mouth jammed full of iron" (96) earns its own symbolic explication, as does slavery’s physical and mental constraint, itself discussed by Trudier Harris as "confining them in bits" (330). Even more importantly, the context of Paul’s "licking iron" (72) generates the symbol’s analogous context with slavery, as Paul literally cannot speak to Halle, whom he discovers freshly delusional as a result of witnessing Sethe’s rape. The animalistic nature of slavery reveals itself in the metal bit’s confining nature, with Paul kept from communication with his friend and forced into inhuman silence by the rigidity of the cold metal. The bit renders Paul incapable of sharing his friend’s grief, itself brought about by the nephews of schoolteacher, themselves representative of slavery.

Read More...

New Zealand Sings for Gay Marriage; Challenged Books of 2012; Transgender Banned from Store; New York's Income Inequality

Everyone broke out in song after New Zealand became the first place in the Asian Pacific to legalize gay marriage. This would make them number thirteen, in the world, to recognize gay marriage legally. One lawmaker mentioned how her own daughter took another young woman to the prom last year. She spoke with pride about this and received huge applause.

As the announcement was read out, spectators watching in the gallery spontaneously started singing the New Zealand love song "Pokarekare Ana."

It's an amazing thing to see, and you can get there by clicking this link.  You don't see that kind of emotion often.

Challenged/Banned Books of 2012

The American Library Association came out with a list of the 10 most challenged books of 2012...those that were talked about being banned. I've had a book banned myself (Skater Boy), and for reasons that were strictly related to search engine issues. I posted a lot about this when it happened. In my case, the word "Boy" in Skater Boy was considered taboo because it implied underage characters involved in sexual situations. And there was nothing like that in the book. I don't do that. It was just one single word that got me banned.

I'm surprised to see The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, and Beloved by Toni Morrison, on this list. I've read both and can't believe anyone would want to ban either of them. In fact, if you haven't read Beloved and you're a writer, shame on you.

The most challenged books of 2012 are: “Captain Underpants” (series), by Dav Pilkey; “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie; “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher; “Fifty Shades of Grey,” by E. L. James; “And Tango Makes Three,” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson; “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini; “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green; “Scary Stories” (series), by Alvin Schwartz; “The Glass Castle,” by Jeanette Walls: and “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison.

You can read more here.

Transgender Banned from Store 

A transgender person was banned from a grocery store in Idaho this week for using the "wrong" restroom. He identifies as a woman and he used the ladies room. A few women in the ladies room freaked out and complained. The transgender was banned from the store.

I've actually always wondered how it worked with transgenders and public restrooms. Is there some kind of law that states he or she must use a specific restroom...male or female...and would those same laws apply to a transgender who has gone through a full change as opposed to a partial change?

"The store employees didn't want any further problems, and they chose to exercise their right to trespass this individual from the business," said Lanier. "Anyone who owns or controls their property can make that decision."

You can read more here. This is a tough one for me. As a former small business owner who owned and controlled my property, I had to exercise my right to ban certain people from my store on occasion. Though I never did this based on discrimination of this kind like the incident above, I did like knowing that I had the power/freedom to do it. Frankly, I've always wondered why there weren't unisex bathrooms designed, with completely private stalls where doors can be locked, for everyone. Maybe that sounds a little way out there to some, but I've never been too fond of urinals myself, and I rarely ever use them. And maybe men's rooms wouldn't look so awful compared to women's rest rooms.

New York's Income Inequality

The New Yorker recently published a piece about how incomes vary in New York City, and they titled it with the word "Inequality." They should have chosen another word.

I know there are variables here, and sometimes personal circumstances come into play over which people have no control. I'm also not fond of the fact that professional sports players make millions of dollars compared to cops and teachers, however, I do think that if someone works hard enough in life to enjoy the benefits of more money they shouldn't be penalized for it. And I know a lot of people in New York who do work hard, damn hard. I also know many who don't and complain about not having money all the time.

 “It’s particularly bad in New York City—according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, if the borough of Manhattan were a country,” the magazine explains in its “Idea of the Week,” “the income gap between the richest twenty per cent and the poorest twenty per cent would be on par with countries like Sierra Leone, Namibia, and Lesotho.”

It's true, and that can't be disputed. But New York City has always been like this, so it's not something new. As far back as I can recall everything was more expensive in Manhattan, and the differences between those with grand wealth and those in poverty hasn't changed all that much. But then again you can find this anywhere in the world, and this also isn't something new. So I'm not quite sure where they are going with this, but I do think the New Yorker should get over itself. If anything their own elitist attitude promotes inequality.

This article links to another article that talks about people who've lost their jobs. One in particular is about a small town sports writer who worked for his local newspaper. I have to wonder where this sports writer has been for the last ten years. I was told, about ten years ago, by editors that if I didn't make the switch to digital I wouldn't work in the future. Up until then, I'd only worked in publishing with hard copy, phones, and snail mail. I didn't even own a computer until ten years ago. But you know what? I did what I had to do in order to survive.

You can read more here.

The Fran Lebowitz Documentary on HBO

I went to a holiday party last night and three of the guests were discussing a recent HBO documentary with Fran Lebowitz. Being a fan, I went home and watched the entire documentary On Demand late last night.

She's known for sardonic wit and she's been compared to Dorothy Parker by many critics. She doesn't own a cell phone or blackberry, but she drives around Manhattan in an old checkered cab. I've always found her to be refreshing...in a rough, honest way you don't see very often. Especially nowadays, when everyone is so worried about being politically correct and not offending anyone.

I also loved part of the documentary where Toni Morrison asked a few questions. Both women are icons and both represent a period in American Literature that I've always loved. And it just so happened I'm re-reading Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye right now (Read. This. Book.), which made the show even more interesting.

I also laughed at a few of the comments Ms. Lebowitz made about the state of publishing these days. She did it with both wit and humor (I think there's a huge difference). Her comments on smoking had me snorting at two in the morning. And when she started discussing New York thirty years ago compared to New York today, I just shook my head and smiled. Though I'm not old enough to remember New York thirty years ago, I do remember the city when it wasn't quite such a tourist attraction.

So if you have a cable package and you get HBO, check this one out. It's worth watching just to see how Fran Lebowitz works the room.

New Release: BIG BAD AND ON TOP

BIG BAD AND ON TOP is a book about two gay men in the military who find each other, fall in love, and have to deal with their furtive situation. The live in fear they will be discovered, and sneak around so no one will find out about their relationship. It's loosely based on the old movie, Top Gun, with Tom Cruise. And, once again, I didn't write it as fan fiction. Personally, I didn't even like the film when I first saw it. If anything, my book is more like anti-fan fiction. And because the main characters are two gay men in the military during DADT, the characters in this book, not to mention the ending of the book, don't follow the original storyline of the film.

Growing up when movies and books like Top Gun were released in the mainstream, I would have killed to have had something I could identify with. And there was nothing but the same old arty, over-written, gay fiction that satisfied a small sub-culture of the lgbt culture. The books I read about gays were elitist and far too political, with creepy titles and long drawn out narrative, and I couldn't identify with any of the characters. The books I read in the mainstream never went near the topic of gay men, so I couldn't identify there either. (This is one of the reasons I love Toni Morrison's books so much...though I couldn't identify with characters of African descent, I could identify with oppressed characters.) But if there had been a book like BIG BAD TOP GUY I would have read it for sheer pleasure. To feel good and to be entertained without having to think too hard. And sometimes that's what reading is supposed to be all about.

Warning Label: Rape; Davey Wavey: The Worst Part of Gay; NYT Paid Content

Warning Label: Rape

In the 1950's television shows were subjected to some of the worst kinds of censorship in the history of the arts. Censors forced producers like Desi Arnaz to use twin beds at all times on I Love Lucy because the thought of two married people sleeping (not actually having sex) in the same bed was found to be offensive and harmful to some people. Today television shows like American Horror are still being censored, and obviously the kinds of censorship Arnaz had to deal with in the 1950's has changed drastically. But American Horror (and other shows like it) is still forced to put up warnings before each show if there's anything considered questionable or harmful content.

There's a blog post, written by an author I don't know, about warning labels on books that's created more than a few in-depth discussions in the past week. The post begins with a comment about how there's an interesting trend now, especially with small niche presses.

 No, this disturbing trend is far more insidious. It’s the infantilization of the reader.

The riff goes something like this: “Oooh, that content is objectionable! It might upset someone! We better warn people away! Quick, tag it! Oh, how dare that author not include warnings! What a terrible, insensitive person! I bet they wrote it because .”

You can read more here.

As I stated, this post has created interesting discussions, to the point where one person left a comment on a thread at another blog posting on the same topic that went like this, in part:

She said she wished she could stop reading it but she couldn’t because she had to see if the rape victim (heroine) was going to survive but it was a horrible experience for her.

I felt terrible for that reader and frankly if a warning prevents someone like her from going through that experience I’m all for it. There is far more harm that can be done without warnings than with warnings.

I hate to see anyone harmed, but I'm not so sure more harm can be done without warnings. Should we start adding warning labels to classics? In Toni Morrison's, The Bluest Eye, one of the most important pieces of literature of the twentieth century, there's rape and incest portrayed as it applies to both the story and the culture of the main characters. As far as I know, I've never seen The Bluest Eye come with a warning label. The Bluest Eye, however, has always created a certain amount of controversy, especially in schools, and many want it banned in spite of its literary qualities because they claim it is harmful.

There's always going to be something that offends or is considered harmful to someone, in books, films, music, and visual arts. I've heard there are people harmed because of gay content. Does that mean all books with any gay content should have warning labels? I've even heard where people are offended by certain dances. Unfortunately, the less sophisticated reader is usually the one who will be the most offended and harmed.

In the same respect, I don't have as strong of an opinion on this topic as I probably should. Part of that is because I've become jaded with the abuse of search engines and censorship and I've had to learn how to avoid simple words in order to keep perfectly innocent books from being targeted for the wrong reasons. So if all books everywhere, in every single genre, including The Bluest Eye, were required to come with warning labels I wouldn't complain. But I want them ALL to have labels, not just certain books with certain small publishers, in certain genres. ALL of them. I want them rated for content like films with labels...even Debbie Macomber books would have labels that read: No. Sex. At. All. Ever. And until that happens, or I'm forced otherwise, you won't be seeing any warning labels on my books.

Davey Wavey: The Worst Part of Gay

I think what I find most interesting about Davey Wavey is that he comes up with things no one else would ever consider. In this case, he's come up with the theory that the worst part about being gay is that a gay guy can have two ex-boyfriends start dating each other. And he's right. Women can't relate to that...unless they've been dating two men who turned gay. I'm sure that's happened somewhere, at some point, but it's not common. At least I hope not anyway.

In any event, here's how Davey Wavey puts it. You can check it out here on his web site, too.



New York Times Paid Content

A lot of newspapers are now charging for online content. And when I saw this ad for The New York Times I thought I'd share.

http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp5558.html?campaignId=3F3FU

It's not something I would do at this point, but I hate to say never. I can get all the free info I want on the web from other sources that are just as good, if not better than the NYT. I find the NYT to be highly slanted, filled with spin, and patronizing to gays at times.  But I also think this paid content thing is going to be a trend that continues and it will be interesting to see what's next.

Quilts, by Joyce Carol Oates

In a recent issue of The Saturday Evening Post (I still read that one in print, too), there's a wonderful article by author, Joyce Carol Oates. Here's a short description:

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. “Quilts” is from the anthology What My Mother Gave Me: 31 Women Remember a Favorite Gift, edited by Elizabeth Benedict, to be published by Algonquin Books, Spring 2013. She is also author of the forthcoming story collection Black Dahlia & White Rose (September, 2012, Ecco). A professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since

I've read most of her work. I was supposed to hear her speak at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, but came down with the flu and couldn't go. She lives in Princeton, NJ, so I'm hoping I'll get another chance, eventually. When I came across this piece I'm linking to now I wanted to share for those who aren't familiar with her work.

I've heard it said that authors don't need to be readers in order to write. I don't get that and I never will. If you don't read authors like Joyce Carol Oates and Toni Morrison and Anne Tyler you're not only missing out on great fiction but missing a chance to see how a proven author does it right. I think if more people did read these authors, and others like them, we'd see less horrible writing issues, like said bookisms and dialogue tags with bad adverbs. I remember a very dumb business owner when I owned my art gallery in New Hope. He had this idea he would turn his low end gift shop into a high end gallery with upscale merchandise. His shop turned into a ticky tacky over-priced boutique with some of the gaudiest, ugliest merchandise I've ever seen. And that's because you can't run a high end gallery with upscale furniture unless you've actually shopped in a few to see what they are like. This guy never got past WalMart.

In any event, here's an excerpt from The Quilt, followed by a link where you can read the article in full.

It is not a large quilt but very beautiful, I think: comprised of numerous brightly colored knitted-wool squares of every imaginable color—red, yellow, green, blue, purple, magenta, brown, cream.

The pattern is neither simple nor complex. It isn’t, like some quilts, a labyrinthine design.

Read more here.

Photo from Morguefile.com.

How Do Other Authors Promote Their Books?

I'm always curious about how authors promote their books. And I'm not even talking about one genre in particular. In this regard, because my own personal reading tastes are so eclectic, the ratings and reviews on my goodreads profile swings in all directions. In fact, I'm not fond of reading m/m romance for professional reasons. And that's not because there aren't plenty of great m/m romances out there. It's just that I'd rather read books that aren't in the genre in which I write because I don't want to be influenced by anyone else's work. Right now I'm finishing up the last of three Toni Morrison novels I've been reading since New Year's Day...The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Jazz. All of which are well outside the realm of the m/m romance genre and safe from influencing me.

To be honest, I rarely ever concentrate hard on promoting my own books. I post info about them here in the blog. And I do this mostly so readers have a place to go to get more product description. I read other blogs just like I've always read them and often leave comments. If anyone reads the comments I've left and discovers my books, it's purely by accident.

I'm pretty bad when it comes to yahoo groups. I've tried getting into them, but I'm usually so busy writing and trying to live a fairly normal life I find it difficult to wade through e-mails in yahoo groups and that don't seem to have much significance. I'm also part of all the social networks, from Digg to facebook to twitter. However, I'm one of those people who really enjoys the social networks and I post more personal info there than I do book info. I have one of those facebook fan pages, but I haven't updated it months. I find more enjoyment interacting with facebook friends on my own personal page and the my fan page bores me to death. I've always been very social in this regard. I have fun with it.

And I write mostly e-books. All my books can be purchased as print books. But from what I've seen and heard from readers, it's all about the e-books. So I try to make myself as accessible as possible, and answer every single reader e-mail I receive. I've done blog talk radio interviews, which I love. I recently blogged with several other m/m authors on Jassewave, and enjoyed that just as much. In essence, I'm usually game for anything, from giving personal online interviews to taking them. When an Italian journalist contacted me last summer to do an interview in print about m/m romance and e-books, I was more than happy to oblige.

But the one thing I do turn down are those author readings, usually in New York. First, I'm not a fan of public speaking at all. I'm a writer, a behind the scenes person and I have no interest in speaking before a group of people, especially reading my own work. I've done author book signings, and I love them. I love getting to meet readers in person. But to stand in front of a group of people in some tiny little place in NY and read just isn't my bag. It's also an ordeal as well. I live in New Hope, Bucks County, PA, and it takes two hours or longer, with traffic, to get to these readings. It costs upward of one hundred dollars by the time I factor in gas, tolls, parking and food. And this comes out of my own pocket. I have a mortgage and bills just like everyone else...in spite of the fact that book pirates think all authors are making tons of money. And frankly, I think my time could be spent in more productive places, like writing and editing more stories and books. I know there are people who would disagree with me. They love these author readings and they think it helps promote books. For some, it is part of their social life. But if the majority of my readership lives all over the country...the world, in fact...I honestly don't see how reading an excerpt from one of my books in a small, unheard of bistro in New York is going to help anyone.

If anyone would like to share how they promote...or even share how they feel about the things I've mentioned in the above post, please feel free to comment. I encourage anon comments here, and take privacy very seriously. And, if I don't post a comment right away it's because it probably went to spam and I didn't notice it.

Even though I Love to Read Fiction by Black Authors I would NEVER Attempt to Write Black Fiction, Ryan Field Books

 Even though I Love to Read Fiction by Black Authors I would NEVER Attempt to Write Black Fiction

I think my love for reading fiction by black authors started with James Baldwin, a gay black author who wrote Giovanni's Room. Giovanni's Room is about a confused ex-pat living in Paris in 1956, and the men in his life. It's probably one of the first books to bring "homosexuality" into the public during a time when anything "homosexual" was considered off limits.  

I have also read every single book that was ever written by black author, Toni Morrison. Some I've even read more than once. 

I've read all Maya Angelou books as well. Plus, there is a long list of other black authors that aren't as famous but write just as well. 

Even though I love all contemporary fiction, I've always been interested in black culture and the challenges and bigotry that black people have faced over the years. But I know my place. My job is to read, and just read. It's not my job to comment and it certainly is NOT my job to ever, EVER write black fiction. 

My point here is that it's fine to read books and stories about other cultures that were written by those who are part of these cultures. In other words, I would never read a book about the black experience that was written by some pushy, dumb white author with privilege. That would make me a supporter of cultural appropriation. When a white author does this it is the equivalent of wearing blackface. 

And I feel the same way about gay fiction. Gay men are a marginalized group. We are still very criminalized in many parts of the world. Matt Healy of the 1975 band was just banned from Malaysia for speaking out against the way gay men are discriminated against in Malaysia. And countries in Africa continue to discriminate and criminalize gay men. 

It's okay to read gay fiction if you're not gay. It's okay to love gay fiction even if you're not gay. But it is NOT okay to appropriate gay culture and write gay fiction for monetary gain if you are not a gay man. That doesn't mean that non-gay writers can't write gay fiction. It means that they should NOT be writing gay fiction. Leave that up to the gay male authors. 

The days of Annie Proulx and all the flaws in Brokeback Mountain are over and we have all entered into a new era.  If you don't like it, that's just too bad. 

Amazon Link 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

 Amazon

Happy Pride to the Women Who Read Gay Romance, 50 Years For Philadelphia's "Gay" Pride March, Ryan Field Books

Happy Pride to the Women Who Read Gay Romance 

I sometimes post about cultural appropriation and the women who write gay romance novels. If you believe that gay men have their own culture, and if you believe that gay men deserve the same respect as any other marginalized group, then you can clearly see the cultural appropriation going on with gay romance. 

In fact, no other marginalized group of people has had to experience anything quite like the cultural appropriation gay male authors deal with on a daily basis. There was one straight white woman writing gay romances and it was discovered that she was stealing her work from another straight white woman author who writes excellent hetero romances. This thief in m/m romance was not only appropriating, she was stealing another author's work and getting away with it. 

With that said, I sincerely want to clarify that none of this has anything to do with the women who read gay romances. Over the years I've met many women who read gay romance and I find them to be bright, empathetic, and strong allies to everyone who falls under the LGBTQ umbrella. 

It's a very different thing when you want to read about another culture. That only makes you curious and smart. I find that reading about different cultures helps me to understand the obstacles they've faced and the long roads they've taken in order to survive. I especially like reading African American authors like Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. But I would never dare try to write a novel that's focused only on African American characters. That would be cultural appropriation and I leave that to the many wonderful African American Authors out there who are struggling hard to be published.  

Once again, I just want to give thanks to the many women who are curious about gay culture and who want to read about it. I think they have a great deal in common with gay men, too, on certain levels. But that's for another post.

 50 Years for Philadelphia's "Gay" Pride March

I put gay in quotes again because it is NOT Gay Pride anymore. It's LGBTQIA Pride and so many people still don't even realize that. Trans people and everyone else who falls under the umbrella have been fighting for years for equal rights and respect. So why the media can't get this right passes me by. 

In any event, it's now 50 years of Pride Marches in Philadelphia and that helps you define LGBTQIA history a little. 50 years ago was about the time we started to become recognized by the mainstream and it's also around the time the word "gay" was used for gay men. Up until then is was just a long list of pejoratives that included the word "homosexual." And yes, "homosexual" is a pejorative now. 

Some dropped masks and chains into coffins, symbolically shedding the guilt and shame they’d been taught to carry for simply being who they were. “There are an awful lot of gay people,” one marcher said that day, “who feel alone.”

Here's more.  So you see that we still have a long way to go in many respects. So many of us still haven't even come out. 

Amazon E-book or Paperback

The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

Don't Be Afraid of Virginia's Woolf




Once Upon a Castle by Ryan Field

A Different Kind of Southern Love Story




What readers are saying about "Uncertainty"

Amazon

"A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he'll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who's husband died last year. I enjoyed this story."



What readers said about "Altered Parts"
"Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina."
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

Chinese "Rotten Girls" Escape Into Gay Erotica With Straight Women Authors who Culturally Appropriate Gay Men, Ryan Field Books

Chinese "Rotten Girls" Escape Into Gay Erotica with Straight Women Authors who Culturally Appropriate Gay Men

Danmei is mostly straight women who are appropriating our culture again. I'm not talking about the readers. I'm talking about the authors. I love the women who read and embrace gay romance. Personally, I would never write black fiction, but I adore the works of authors like Toni Morrison and other black authors. But I don't feel that way about the women who write gay romance. I've seen too many scammers over the years. 

They mention one book titled, Heaven's Official Blessing, that I'm sure it about as authentically gay as cheap Chinese food in the US. Why is that? Because women writing gay romance put their own spin on what being gay is like and it is never authentic. And I don't care if they have a gay best friend, a gay brother, or even a gay son. It's always written from a straight woman's POV. 

“They like the fact that it’s not a girl who is suffering in love … They like that the jeopardy and the heartache and the risks associated with illicit relations aren’t played out upon a girl’s body.”

So the use gay men instead for their own amusement with illicit relations. 

Here's more. 

They even go so far as to consider these danmei stories as feminist. Stories about men from a feminist POV. Some actually consider the characters a 3rd gender. Now that I can understand. I don't mind anyone writing about a 3rd gender...just DON'T call it gay romance.

Sadly, though, we as gay men are always being turned into something that we are not. 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

 Amazon