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Tag: m/m romance author

I write M/M Romance… What?

Reaction to writing M/M Romance

When people find out that I’m a writer, usually from a friend who can’t wait to say something about it, I always get asked, “Really? What do you write?” Seeing as how I’m a Yaoi, M/M Romance author, I’m always a bit taken aback. I usually start out with saying, “Oh, romance.” Most people just nod at this. Of course, the friend or acquaintance I happen to be with always has to blurt out, “She writes gay porn!”.  I can’t tell you all how dang annoying that is. Not only do I now have to explain that what I write is not “porn”, though it is erotic, but I also have to explain what many of you who read my work or my blog already know – there is a large audience for gay romance written for women (mostly) by women. It’s not all that strange and hey, wasn’t Brokeback Mountain hot?

But wait, this gets even better. Since I was first published in 2008, I’ve been on three job interviews. Now these interviews were specifically for high tech marketing jobs, where being a published author is an advantage. So of course my resume has a section on this fact. Now I didn’t really think much of it, until the last two interviews I had wanted to know specifics about my writing. They asked, “What do you write?” I gave them the standard answer, “Romance books.” But they wanted to know, specifically, what did I write? And they wanted to know my pen name, so they could look me up and see my website! Ah, the horror!

Although I’m pretty proud of my website, because all the design and such is by me:), I really did not want these engineering-type geeks, although they were probably fans of Star Wars and maybe even anime, looking me up and seeing that I write M/M Romance. I mean come on, I’m trying to get a job here! I’d love for everyone in the world to be open minded, nonjudgmental and all that good stuff. But this is real life and it’s my livelihood. I’ve got two kids to support – wait, and a dog and now two Guinea Pigs. So what did I say? No, they could not have my pen name. It’s private and they wouldn’t like it anyway, LOL.

I got the job:) And now some of my co-workers do know what I write and they like it.

Who would M/M Romance author, Xavier Axelson, want to see in bed? Find out!

I’m very pleased to welcome M/M Romance author, Xavier Axelson, to my blog. We had a little Q&A session and here’s how it all went down:

Tell us about yourself:

I’m a writer of erotica for Silver Publishing and Seventh Window Publications.  I also write the Los Angeles Sex Advice Columnist for Examiner.com, and a column for All Bear Online Magazine.

If you could pick any two male characters from television or film to get together in an M/M Romance novel, who would they be?

Tony Soprano and Mr. Big

What do you think is the hottest M/M Romance sex scene and why?

A sex scene that is true to what the characters are feeling is what I find most arousing.  I think it’s hot when a writer can infuse a sex scene with honest sexuality while maintaining the sensuality.

Alpha or beta? Who’s your favorite? Why?

I’ve never written a story with a distinct alpha or beta character, so I guess I don’t have a preference.

When and how did you start writing M/M Romances?

I probably started writing sexual stories when I was in High School, maybe even before, I’ve always been of an erotic nature; born this way! 

Do you tell acquaintances about what you write? Why or why not?

I’ve worked in the adult industries for over 15 years; I’m pretty sure the jig is up.

Tell us the story about how you became published:

I answered the 25 Days of Christmas submission call over at Silver Publishing, and the rest is history.

Tell us about your latest release:

When Pryor’s daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods.  He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?  When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn’t when Lily was taken but it’s when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

Which character is your favorite in this book and why?

I’ve come to really appreciate Pryor for his endurance and bravery.

If you could pick a song to describe the love story in your latest book, what would it be?

The only thing that is coming to me is More Human Than Human by Rob Zombie; somehow it’s fitting.

And there you have it. You can find Xavier Axelson at the following websites:

http://www.facebook.com/xaviersaxel

http://www.twitter.com/xaviersaxel

http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/francis-xavier

http://www.xavieraxelson.com

Please check out Xavier’s latest M/M Romance book, Lily.

M/M Romance Book - Lily

Blurb:
When Pryor’s daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods.  He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?  When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn’t when Lily was taken but it’s when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

Excerpt:

I am Lily’s father, my name is Pryor. It was a year ago last Father’s Day when she was taken from me. I still believe being Lily’s father is the most important thing in this world.

Unfortunately, my daughter dwells in another world.

* * * * *

I glanced at the necklace. Ned’s pressed close to me, but the necklace I hoped would bring Lily back to me felt closer. Ned was soft in his sleep; not the bull of a man he was when he’s awake. I loved him soft and I loved him hard. It was his hardness that grounded me, that brought me in from the darkness. The necklace caught the light of the fading moon and I wondered where Lily was tonight.

The old clock on the nightstand hummed quietly; its vintage florescent glow a pale mockery of the necklace that lay beside it and yet I heard the clock, it won in that department. Time always does.

Ned moved against me, I could feel his arms pull me close, felt the bulge of his muscles, his arms thick and powerful. He had never loved a man before me. I had only loved Lily. Once she changed, I had little left to love; in fact, I was certain love had disappeared from my life all together.

The clock still hummed, never quiet; it’s old and made noise as if time itself wanted us all to know that it was passing and with each minute Lily fell farther and farther into the darkness. The tears came then and at the same time Ned’s cock pushed more firmly against my back. He grumbled, pulled me even tighter so that I could truly feel his penis–not hard, not entirely soft–on the edge of wanting. A tear fell and I gasped a little. Seeing the necklace; hearing the clock, feeling Ned’s cock, his muscles, I fell away into him and closed my eyes.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I was,” I replied softly.

“No you weren’t,” his voice was sleepy; distant and yet he knew things, he knew I was awake, thinking about my lost daughter.

“It’s Father’s Day,” I answered, skipping over my lie. “Do you think she will come?” I felt him nod and nodded in return against my pillow. Another tear fell.

“Come closer,” he whispered.

“How much closer could I get?”

“Closer,” he said again, a growl, a grunt; there was the bull I knew.

His lips brushed on my neck, a hand on my thigh stroking, touching, pulling a sigh from my mouth. I wiped a hand across my face.

“I never get sick of touching you,” he whispered wetly, his tongue tracing my ear.

Smiling, I turned in his big arms and I could feel my thoughts ease. Ned had that way about him. ‘Magic arms’ I called him because he had this way of holding me that made me feel completely safe and for one man to be able to do that for another was amazing.

I kissed him and was happy to discover his breath was not bad but sweet, the trace of his toothpaste before bed still there and I smiled even as I kissed him. Ned sighed gently, his cock fully hard now, urgent, pressing. I reached down and stroked him through his boxers; he was already wet. I tried to pull my tongue from his mouth but he only pulled me closer, deeper; at one point I was almost certain one of us was going to stop breathing.

He finally relented but only because I jokingly squeezed his balls a little too tightly.

“Fuck, you make me nuts,” he grumbled, we both laughed at his joke.

His hand reached for my cock; I slept naked so there was no flimsy cotton between his rough hands and my skin.

“You like that?”

I nodded, I did like it, I’d thought I wouldn’t ever be able to like sex again, or any intimacy after Lily disappeared.

His hands were rough but I relished his edges; he touched me as if he knew me and, after a year, I guess he kind of did.

“You want me to suck it?” His voice was hoarse with his question; there was still a shy embarrassment behind it, as if he couldn’t really believe he was going to suck cock.

“What do you think?”

My response excited him. I could see it in his eyes, even in the dark; the fading moon told me just enough.

When you had a daughter like mine, you learned a lot from the moon.

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Should a M/M Romance writer pretend to be another gender?

Male or Female AuthorWow, this is a tough topic these days. I just found out about AJ Llewellyn being a woman. Yes, a woman, not the gay man she pretended to be.

We both started out at eXtasy Books writing M/M Romance, though I prefer to write more of the Yaoi variety:) I’ve had plenty of banter back and forth with AJ about writing, the M/M genre and the like and I must say I feel a bit… shocked. I know that women have taken male pen names in times past in order to get published and all that. And I know that some female M/M Romance authors have male pen names currently and keep hush about their true identity. I suppose it is no one’s business but their own. Or is it?

Here’s the deal. If I read a M/M Romance book by a particular author with a male pen name, I assume certain things. The first being, that they have first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a gay man and maybe I’ll learn a few things. Of course, that’s the author in me. And if and when I encounter this author in a chat or on some social media site, I speak to them as if they’re the gender of their pen name. I take into account their opinions on writing and other topics based on what I think their gender is, right or wrong. I can’t help it. We’ve all been programmed to think a certain way based on our upbringing as a particular gender and have preconceived notions about the opposite gender. I hope that makes sense:)

As far as author gender and writing M/M Romance or even Yaoi for that matter, my question is this: Should authors be straight up about their genders? I mean, we’re writing about gay men for a predominantly straight female audience. M/M Romance is not the same (at least in my eyes) as gay romance – presumably written by gay men with a target audience of gay men. So it seems to me that author gender might matter. Women in general put more emotion into their romances, especially if we’re targeting a female audience. Again, my freakin’ opinion;) But women are emotional creatures. Emotion is what we crave, right?

I’m also wondering if the female authors writing under a male pen name are doing the rest of us authors a disservice. It’s hard to go about telling people who aren’t familiar with this genre that you’re a straight woman writing gay romance. I’ve blogged about my follies with that a few times. You need a thick skin and a hardy sense of humor. Maybe if more of these women writing gay romance for other women were more up front about it, it would normalize the situation a bit more and make it easier for all of us. Stand proud that you’re a straight woman writing about gay men, damn it:)

So now that I’ve said my piece – chime in here. What do you all think?