Are You In The Closet About Reading Gay Fiction?
Once
again, this is Sharita L aka Rawiya, Michael Mandrake, BLMorticia, otherwise
known as the multi-personality author or the confused one. If you like, we can
just call me crazy. I don’t mind. *grins*
Today,
I’m blogging about being in the closet or on the down low about reading gay
fiction. I’d like to thank, fellow gay fiction author, ChristopherKoehler for this idea since it came up in the recent interview
I did with him a while back.
Are
you, as readers, ashamed to admit you enjoy gay fiction or erotica? Does it
bother you that you have it in your library? I’m wondering because there are a
lot of people out there with opinions or valid reasons and since I’m one of the
authors contributing to the Its RainingMen blog, I decided to bring it up.
A
while back on one of our blog posts, we had a commenter say she wouldn’t be
able to join the Facebook IRM page because her friends or friends of friends
not liking the fact she reads gay fiction. In other words, she was concerned
that she’d receive even more flack if the page profile showed up on her
personal page.
Now,
let me preface this by saying I will not
get into anyone’s personal business by getting involved in discussions between
friends or relatives. However, I’m miffed as to why what you read would bother
someone that claims to care about you.
Here’s
another example. Does it bother those same people that you read Steven King,
who often writes stories about murders, horror, and such or are they concerned
about the vampire stories by Anne Rice who have homosexual overtones?
Again,
it’s only an opinion but I really would love to understand why someone would be
offended by what you read. DO they think you’ll become gay by
reading it? *laughs* OH SHUDDER. Will you become a psychopath by reading Carrie?
Hope not!
Why
is it when we talk of something unacceptable by friends or family, it involves
the gay community? The bottom line is, the hetero women, married ones
especially, love gay fiction! In the few months that we’ve ran the IRM blog,
the majority of visitors to our Facebook are women. UNREAL right? It shows up
on our insights. Yep, Facebook is following you! Gay writings are very “hip”
these days. And the number of female gay fiction romance authors and readers
increases by leaps and bounds everyday which means lots of ladies love it. Why
be ashamed? Why let your friends dictate what you are and what you enjoy? In my
opinion, they aren’t people who care about you but again, that’s only my
opinion.
Even
if this were true in my case, I wouldn’t allow my friends or family tell me
what to read or write. My mom is a Jehovah’s Witness and is very aware that I
read and write gay fiction. So is my husband, my 12 year old son, and my little
brother. My friends are my fans, even those who don’t read gay romance. Do they
understand that I read and write it? Probably not. Do I care? NO!
I’m
sure this blog will piss a lot of people off but the bottom line is, everyone
has their own thoughts and these are mine. I’m sure a lot of people who write
and read some blogs aren’t into gay fiction or m/m but as a writer, the
internet, specifically blogs, is a perfect place to express our thoughts. In no
way is my intention to change anyone’s mind, only to invoke conversation.
So,
in closing, how do you feel about it? Are you hiding your enjoyment of gay
fiction? Are you concerned about what your family and friends think about
our choice? If so, why? Your enjoyment is your pleasure. It shouldn’t have to
be hidden. You are your own person and should be able to like what you like.
Now
go out there and support your gay fiction authors. *laughs* I’m joking. Do what
you feel you need to but, in my opinion, you should “come out” from under the
cover’s ladies and gentlemen because no one should be able to
steer you away from the simple pleasures you enjoy.
Live
your life for you!
Author
Sharita Lira: The Triad, otherwise known as the characters in the
head of Sharita Lira are three separate muses that are the driving force behind
her small amount of success. Misses Lira sees her own life as one that is very
ordinary, so instead of presenting herself out to the world, she created three
personalities that continue to haunt her all hours of the night to get several
WIP’s done at the speed of light, and push her to the brink of sheer
exhaustion, but she loves it and that’s the reason she hasn’t told them to get
the hell out her head.
Michael Mandrake, BLMorticia, and
Rawiya collectively have written over 30 stories published in e-book and or
print through 7 different publishers. Right now as it stands, Mrs. Lira and the
muses have 6 sole author books with much more to come in 2012 and beyond.
She is a happily married mother of two that writes m/m, m/f, ménage,
paranormals, contemporaries, and for fun some fan fiction. She is a proud
member of the Erotica Readers & Writers Association, as well as an advocate
for rights of LGBT citizens, and a big fan of 80′s and heavy metal music. She’s
also a contributor to the heavy metal ezine Fourteeng.net.
For more information, please visit http://www.thelitriad.com
as well as her Facebook fanpage, The Literary Triad.
The Literary Triad - http://www.thelitriad.com/#!
Michael Mandrake – http://tabooindeed.blogspot.com
BLMorticia – http://blmorticia.wordpress.com
Rawiya - http://rawiyaerotica.wordpress.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/rawiyamikembl
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TheLiteraryTriad
Thanks for the great post, hun! ~Blak
Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI'm totally out when it comes to both reading and writing gay romance/fiction. All of my family and friends know about my love of it. I've even gotten both my mother and sister to read it. :)
TY. I know a lot of people who are still ashamed of it. Not sure why. Love is love in books too.
DeleteTY for the comment!
Thanks for stopping by, Andi, and I agree, great post BL! Thanks hun!
ReplyDeleteTY so much for having me as always!
DeleteLoved the point of view and my opinion is the same as yours. I'm completely out as well when it comes to reading/writing gay erotic romance. Even my 13 year old son knows (and teases me about it). I have ALWAYS read exactly what I wanted. I was never limited and am grateful for that. Reading has always been a very essential outlet for me. I write because I love to. I read because I HAVE to.
ReplyDeleteI hear that. Great comments there. I do love romance, especially gay romances. :D
Delete