gay fiction

[hank]

Fist the idea of gay fiction perplexes me. I guess they call it that so straight people who may be offended can steer clear.

I kind of have a bone to pick. I have read a few novels that fit that genera, and some are porn novels others are less explicit, I haven't RAF one that didn't give a blow by blow of sex. Cool if it is needed for the story, but in some cases it seemed unnecessary, and detracting, some focus way too much detail in the explicit love scenes and lack detail in story line.

[Puck]

Fist the idea of gay fiction perplexes me. I guess they call it that so straight people who may be offended can steer clear.

I kind of have a bone to pick. I have read a few novels that fit that genera, and some are porn novels others are less explicit, I haven't RAF one that didn't give a blow by blow of sex. Cool if it is needed for the story, but in some cases it seemed unnecessary, and detracting, some focus way too much detail in the explicit love scenes and lack detail in story line.

Its usually called gay fiction to separate it from the heterosexual romance section. The only time I have encountered a "gay" section in a bookstore is near the romance selections, so I don't think its meant to segregate or discriminate.

Secondly, most romance novels are usually nothing more than flimsy masturbatory aids to begin with. They're trash to be quite honest so yeah, a good plot and believable characters are not something you're going to find.

You usually have to sift through a lot of crap before you find the jewels. As for mainstream fiction that involves gay characters, may I suggest the following link to help you in your search?

http://www.glbtq.com/subject/literature_a-b.html

Happy hunting mile: I read quite a lot as well. If there's a specific kind of book you're looking for, I can probably suggest a couple of good ones for you.

[writerken]

[QUOTE=Puck;208154 They're trash to be quite honest so yeah, a good plot and believable characters are not something you're going to find./QUOTE]

That's a rather sweeping statement. You can write erotica with a good story and believable characters. I think I've been doing so for years and why my novels still sell daily. Someone once said, 'If you can write erotica and write it well, you can write anything.' It happens to be harder than you might think.

[Puck]

[QUOTE=Puck;208154 They're trash to be quite honest so yeah, a good plot and believable characters are not something you're going to find./QUOTE]

That's a rather sweeping statement. You can write erotica with a good story and believable characters. I think I've been doing so for years and why my novels still sell daily. Someone once said, 'If you can write erotica and write it well, you can write anything.' It happens to be harder than you might think.

I meant no personal offense. I'm sure you're a fantastic writer and that it is much harder than I think. Again, I apologize if my comments insinuated something mean-spirited, I didn't mean for them to come out as such.

[writerken]

No offence taken, Puck. Just wanted to balance things.

[writerken]

Regard the 'gay fiction' tag, I'd say it was more to do with the main character being gay, or the subject matter being gay based.

[Blue]

I've had better luck with armature, fan fiction and the like. At least that tells you if it has "lemons" or is explicit.

[writerken]

There is usually some blurb that will give you an idea of the content. And with the 'see inside' on Amazon it should be clear what you are getting. Often the title will hold a clue, or the author and his/her bio.

[GossamerMoon]

Here's a YA book with a gay protagonist: Hero, by Perry Moore

And about romance...

Puck, WriterKen is right. There is a lot of well-written romance. I saw you already stepped back from that comment, but I have to add my two pennies. I've been a member of a Romance Writers of America chapter for almost a decade. I went in thinking "I got this down," because I'm a damned good writer. I thought I'd write smut and make money. I got another thinking! LOL

I've had the honor to get to know and befriend some published authors, and believe me, they put a lot into each novel. It's not easy to get published, and the houses are getting pickier all the time. Sure, romance has an overarching formula of boy meets girl (or b meets b/g meets g), conflict, resolve, bigger conflict, big resolution, epilogue. This may or may not involve sex. A lot of the most popular romance falls under sweet to a little spicy. Yes, they can get too formulaic, but it's the journey, as they say.

Of course, you absolutely *do* have erotica, then porn. They're out there, but less common.

I've been thinking to try writing gay romance for women. I have a story in my head, but it's yet another "shiny toy" I'm shelving until I finish my steampunk novel.

[writerken]

My latest novel Cowboys Can Fly is also YA and a coming out love story.