Welcome to Romancing the Naked Hero, where today, we’ll be talking about two-fers..jpg)
What could be better than one naked hero?
Why, two, of course.
And on that note: I’ve been reading a bit of m/m lately.
I’m sure you all know what m/m is, but in case you don’t… m/m is gay romance, or romance featuring male characters. Homosexual romance, although m/m sounds a lot nicer and not so clinical, if you ask me.
Male/Male romance.
And what I ought to say is that I’ve been reading a lot of Josh Lanyon, because that’s how I roll. I pretty much have one favorite author in every sub-genre and I read that one author, but I don’t branch out a whole lot. Except for mystery, where I have a lot of favorites.
As it happens, Josh Lanyon is a mystery writer. Of gay mysteries. And gay suspense. With a little bit of gay fantasy thrown in for good measure. And as also happens, we’re friends. I don’t think my adoration for the books is influenced by my adoration for Josh, though. They’re damn good books, and I think I’d think so even if I didn’t know Josh from Adam.
And – confession time – although Josh and I go back a decade or more, to before the first Adrien English mystery was published, certainly a long time before any of my books saw the light of day, it’s taken me until now to read them.
Yes, I admit it, I was nervous. It’s always a bit worrisome when someone you know in a different context writes a book, because there’s always the chance that the book might be crap and then you won’t know what to say. Your friend will be upset if you tell him the truth, and you’ll be bothered if you don’t, because you have to continue to hide your feelings from your friend.
That wasn’t actually a big concern this time, though, because anyone who spends any time at all around Josh, knows that he can write. Blog posts, Facebook updates, messages on Yahoo loops – which is where we hooked up originally… You can tell the writers from the non-writers. Josh is a writer, and it shows, even in Facebook status updates. I didn’t doubt that the quality of the writing would be good. I doubted my own comfortability level with the subject matter.
Let’s just put it out there, shall we? Gay sex.
I’m about as heterosexual as they come. We have gay friends, of course, and used to have more than we do now. I spent my twenties inNew York City, trying to break into theatre, and when you’re around a bunch of wannabe and upcoming Broadway performers, chances are the incidence of gay guys is going to be higher than for the population at large. At the moment we live inNashville, and we’re your standard nuclear family with two kids, so most of our friends are also your standard nuclear family with kids. But we live inEast Nashville, which is one of the more diverse neighborhoods in the city, and that diversity extends to homosexuality. We have gay friends. And I do know what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom, thank you very much, even if I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about the details. I just never wanted a front row seat, you know? And that’s pretty much what reading a book is, isn’t it? A front row seat to someone else’s life. Including their sex life.
So yeah, I was a bit worried about the gay sex scenes and how I’d feel reading them.
I was pleasantly surprised when the only sex scene in Fatal Shadows, the first Adrien English book, came late. And it wasn’t what I’d expected it to be. By that point, I was so invested in Adrien and wanting Adrien to be happy, that the fact that he had sex with someone I didn’t want him to have sex with – instead of the person I did – bothered me immensely.Reading about the sex was no big deal, but the emotional punch – it was with the wrong guy – was deeply disturbing.
By the time he got around to having sex with the right guy, the guy I wanted him to have sex with – toward the end of the second book – my only thought was, “Finally!”
I still don’t read the books because of the sex scenes – just like I don’t read straight romance because of the “good parts” – but they don’t bother me. To tell the truth, they’re some of my favorite parts of what are now some of my favorite books.
(Confession: I read all five Adrien English books in four days back in November. And turned around the next day and started over.)
Josh manages to do what any good romance author does: move the plot forward by focusing on the emotions rather than the mechanics. Yes, the sex is explicit. Yes, if I sat down and thought about it, it might feel just a big squicky. No, m/m sex is not a personal turn-on. I don’t go to bed and jump my husband after reading. But that’s OK. I read for the mysteries and the characters and the writing, same as I do with any other book I pick up. The sex is part of that, and as it turns out, a part that doesn’t bother me.
That fact makes me very happy, since if I hadn’t gotten over my apprehension, I would have missed out on what has since become one of my favorite mystery series – and favorite characters – in any genre. The plots are satisfying, the character development is stellar, and the writing is gorgeous.
In fact – and I can’t give anyone a bigger compliment than this – I think I might like to try writing an m/m mystery myself, one of these days.
So what about you? Do you read m/m? Do you write it? Why or why not?
About Jenna Bennett
I confess I haven’t read any m/m romance yet. While I can understand its popularity, I tend to place myself into the main character’s shoes when reading a book. I can’t relate to m/m romance since I lack the proper equipment, and that’s deterred me from reading it so far. That said, I’m sure I’ll pick it up eventually, and I’m sure I’ll love it. There’s a reason it’s so popular, right?
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Jenna Reply:
February 21st, 2013 at 6:37 am
See, that’s what I was thinking. Couldn’t relate, would be uncomfortable. But it isn’t. You’re in the head of someone in love with/attracted to a guy, just as you would be. The mechanics are a little different, yes, but at least in the case of Josh’s books, the characterization is so good – and the love scenes so heavy on emotion – that you don’t really notice all that much that the main character’s equipment is different from yours. You (or I) relate fully to the POV character, and it’s not as weird as you’d think.
Now, f/f I don’t think I’d be comfortable with. I read a couple f/f mysteries once upon a time – mysteries in which the MC happened to be a female cop in San Francisco, with a female life partner – and I didn’t like them. There was no explicit sex, but I just couldn’t relate. Could have been the writing too, of course. But I have no plans of going back there to see if I was wrong.
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Hey there, Jenna! Thank you for the kind words. Frankly, I would love to see what you might cook up if you were to attempt a male/male romance. And if it makes you feel better, I don’t jump into bed with my SO either after writing these scenes! I guess because while the sexuality is certainly intrinsic to the characters, the sex itself is not. If that makes sense.
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Jenna Reply:
February 21st, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Awww, darling, thank you! I think I could do it, if I had the right story. It would have to be the right story, though. I don’t think I could write m/m just because it’s m/m, you know what I mean? It would have to be one of those stories that grabbed me, that I had to tell, that would only work with those characters. But one of these days, I might just come up with one of those! And if I do, you’ll be the first person I tag for help.
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Nice article, Jenna.
Reading M/M isn’t for everyone, but there isn’t a better author to give it a try with than Josh Lanyon. He was the first M/M author I read, still my favorite M/M author. He’s the one whose books inspired me to indulge the desire for two heroes and give writing M/M a try.
I’d recommend everyone give reading M/M a try–and you can’t go wrong with The Adrien English series for an introduction. It’ll take the fear of reading M/M intimate scenes right out of the reader as these books showcase the mystery genre and the sex is secondary to the relationships.
I read Fair Game first, and consider it to be an excellent mystery where the characters just happen to be gay–the plot isn’t driven by that fact, it’s driven by the fascinating mystery.
Josh will stay one of my favorite overall authors.
BTW, he’s got a great backlist for readers to check out once they become addicted. ;~)
Whitley
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Jenna Reply:
February 21st, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Whitley! I’ve read Fair Game too, and I agree, it’s very much a straight suspense where the characters happen to be gay, but that’s not the thrust of the story. That book could easily have been written with a heterosexual couple, as well, and wouldn’t have lost anything of the story by it. I must admit, though, that while I have nothing against m/m books where the m/m relationship isn’t a problem for the characters, I do adore the high emotion that Jake’s issues bring to the Adrien English series. I feed on angst, I’m afraid.
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The first M/M romance I read was actually non-fiction. I read Dan Savage’s books, The Kid and The Commitment, because I was working on a story about two gay men who find themselves parenting a four-year-old girl. I hadn’t heard of M/M romance at the time — my characters just happened to be gay (the story was part of a series set in a summer theater). One of my chapter-mates mentioned Josh Lanyon’s books at a meeting and I tried one. And then another. And then ALL of them! Holy moly! (I must say that there’s one moment in Death of a Pirate King that remains one of my all-time favorite emotional gut-punches — I’ll be you know which one I mean!
). I’ve read well over a hundred M/M books since then, in varying degrees of heat and literary merit. My first book, contracted to Entangled and scheduled for October release, is a M/M romance/ghost story. I also write M/F romance, but my life has both gay and straight characters. Why shouldn’t my stories?
–E.J.
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If it’s the scene on the boat, then yes. Absolutely gut-wrenching. Gives me a sick feeling when I read it. That whole book is one long, drawn-out dark moment. But very satisfying at the end.
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I’m actually reading one as part of a mentoring class I’m giving and I must say, I didn’t know what to expect and I, too, am pleasantly surprised. This woman’s a top notch writer, and her characters are wonderful, and that’s what it’s all about, M/M, M/F, or whatever. I can’t wait to see what you come up with as a writer, Jenna! You knock whatever you hit out of the park.
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Jenna Reply:
February 23rd, 2013 at 8:16 am
Awww, thank you, sweetie! So which is the book/author you’re reading? Share! Share!
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