we/I ARE/AM acquainted, only with a m/m pairing, and that publishers like Loose Id (yay!) are now providing a resource that was back in the day pretty much not widely available, and so one CAN be a romance writer, just a particular type of romance?
I think this is it, absolutely. I did grow up reading het romances (though I have no interest anymore--slash all the way, baby!), and I think they're very comparable thematically/emotionally to some slash stories. My only stumbling block in writing original-character m/m is that the characters I'm interested in are "my" boys (whether RPS or FPS). Nonetheless, I've every intention of one day writing an RPS AU and then changing the names and trying for publication. Once it's AU, I'm the only one who needs to know who the characters are supposed to be played by, after all.
I think filing off the serial numbers is absolutely awesome. Why not? The RPS story itself is WHOLLY original, you know? I mean, for argument's sake. Hell, all these different plotty ideas I have, I cast with various RPS characters, just to have some faces in mind. Whatever inspires!
I've read *lots* of romance genre pro fiction in my time and I see no reason whatever why you couldn't write one, with whatever kind of pairing you like! You could write *anything*, my dear! You're a writer!
As for an "original character" prompt: I've always wanted to read a story about one guy who owns a bookstore and another guy who comes to work for him (or audit him, or hostile takeover, or connects with the first guy somehow!). They're different types of men, very different, but they complement each other. They fall in love, have their ups-and-downs, conflict, whatever, and then a romantic genre resolution. You could write *that* story, dear, if you like! I'd read it! Love, max P.S. - You don't have to *read* romance genre fiction - you're saturated in it! It's in so many movies, so many tv shows, your entire life long! As the woman once said, "you're soaking in it!"
So weird that you should make this post. I'm not sure about Loose Id, but I've read a couple of "gay romance" novels, and recently decided to give it a shot. It's Regency, of course, since that's the period I love, but once I got a handle on my original characters, I really started to enjoy writing again, despite a few bumps here and there.
I read het romance in my teens and still enjoy very specific authors. I like the idea of taking het cliches and using two men, which makes all the difference. How serious were you about wanting bunnies?
Extremely serious. I'm at the point of saying, Hmm, an architect and a postal worker meet at a coffee house.... Or a violinist and a university professor collide at an intersection... Or -- Well. Etc. :-?
Well, most of mine are historical, so you get young reformer because seduced by the rake. The clerk going to work for a duke who for some deep dark secret is pretending to be deformed, etc--Beauty and the Beast.
If you go to Amazon and look under gay romance, you'll see that stories with a paranormal side to them are also very popular. So maybe your architect has accidently built a building that mimics some arcance pattern and he has to deal with a edgy psychic dude or a stuffy university professor. I like the architect, so I'll keep going...maybe the guy who hired him turns out to be his secret (jock) crush from high school/college and this is fifteen years later.
Give me a day, and I can come up with 20 more. *g*
Aw man. I just bought two Loose Id novels, and -- I dunno if I could do that. It seems -- It just jumps reaaaallllly fast to thoughts of sex, tons of physical description, both of them. I don't even know the characters yet, but I already know they're 1) hunky, 2) horny, and 3) about to meet/just met some other hunky, horny guy.
I am DEEPLY worried about giving offense somwhere, talking about these. But it's like, This fascinating guy, broken-hearted after losing the love of his life ten years ago, now faced with Some Huge Other Crisis -- and OH! BTW, he's a werewolf! Or stuff like that. I... ::squirms:: I can't explain! Nothing wrong with werewolf stories! Or whatever.
I guess I don't like going SO fast to the sex -- like that's what ultimately counts the most. It isn't so romantic to me, you know? Sex is vital, no doubt! But there's...more to it.
Odd you should say this. Last night in chat with mab_browne and sara_merry99 I said that when I'm done with the current story, I'm going to write some poetry. I haven't written anything like a poem for manymany years, but I need to clear my head. I feel like I'm writing parodies of myself. No sex. No pretty gay men. Classic sonnets.
It's as different a thing as I can think to write.
*nod* I'm just kinda feeling -- like a retread. I want to branch out. And sometimes -- fandom gets too prescribed. It's in its nature -- it's based on something that already exists, there are canon rules.... Just feel like doing something where there are NO rules, you know?
(Hey, I'm sorry I missed you earlier! I'm home now, juuust in case. *hugs*)
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I think this is it, absolutely. I did grow up reading het romances (though I have no interest anymore--slash all the way, baby!), and I think they're very comparable thematically/emotionally to some slash stories. My only stumbling block in writing original-character m/m is that the characters I'm interested in are "my" boys (whether RPS or FPS). Nonetheless, I've every intention of one day writing an RPS AU and then changing the names and trying for publication. Once it's AU, I'm the only one who needs to know who the characters are supposed to be played by, after all.
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As for an "original character" prompt: I've always wanted to read a story about one guy who owns a bookstore and another guy who comes to work for him (or audit him, or hostile takeover, or connects with the first guy somehow!). They're different types of men, very different, but they complement each other. They fall in love, have their ups-and-downs, conflict, whatever, and then a romantic genre resolution. You could write *that* story, dear, if you like! I'd read it!
Love, max
P.S. - You don't have to *read* romance genre fiction - you're saturated in it! It's in so many movies, so many tv shows, your entire life long! As the woman once said, "you're soaking in it!"
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I read het romance in my teens and still enjoy very specific authors. I like the idea of taking het cliches and using two men, which makes all the difference. How serious were you about wanting bunnies?
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If you go to Amazon and look under gay romance, you'll see that stories with a paranormal side to them are also very popular. So maybe your architect has accidently built a building that mimics some arcance pattern and he has to deal with a edgy psychic dude or a stuffy university professor. I like the architect, so I'll keep going...maybe the guy who hired him turns out to be his secret (jock) crush from high school/college and this is fifteen years later.
Give me a day, and I can come up with 20 more. *g*
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I am DEEPLY worried about giving offense somwhere, talking about these. But it's like, This fascinating guy, broken-hearted after losing the love of his life ten years ago, now faced with Some Huge Other Crisis -- and OH! BTW, he's a werewolf! Or stuff like that. I... ::squirms:: I can't explain! Nothing wrong with werewolf stories! Or whatever.
I guess I don't like going SO fast to the sex -- like that's what ultimately counts the most. It isn't so romantic to me, you know? Sex is vital, no doubt! But there's...more to it.
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It's as different a thing as I can think to write.
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(Hey, I'm sorry I missed you earlier! I'm home now, juuust in case. *hugs*)
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