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Feb. 13, 2005 (The author has penned five published romances — under female pseudonyms; three of which were Harlequin SuperRomances). Any romance writer who can anticipate a readership trend is at a decided advantage. If I know Hispanic readers will suddenly be hot to read Hispanic romances a year from now, I can start writing a Hispanic romance now and have the book in print and ready for them when the rush begins. Less perceptive romance writers (those who misinterpret the market and decide to write Chinese romances, before the Chinese readership is interested), won’t fare nearly as well. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we writers can sniff a trend on the air. Which I did a couple of years ago when “something” insinuated that gay readers just might have become weary of how they were so often being portrayed (by gay writers and by straight writers) in the literature of the time, possibly ready for something by way of gay Harlequin-like romances. I received yes/maybe input from my contacts in the romance industry; with six successful straight romances already under my belt, I provided hope that I might “be there for them” if and when the possibility of interest in gay romances did become the reality. I received additional yes/please from my gay contacts; I’d written a number of gay novels in the seventies and eighties (many of which have since become classics of the genre); gays who had read my previous output expressed interest in seeing what I might come up with by way of a boy-meets- boy, boy-loses-boy, boy-gets-boy book. I took the hints, went to ground (with computer in tow), and began typing. Firstly, I dabbled my feet in the gay-romance waters by including gay- on-gay romance as background for my adventure novel SS MANN HUNT and, then, did it again, in my Irish-vs-Brits mystery, A CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS. Both books were published to my sales advantage by beating to the stands the soon- expected gamut of gay romances, some of the latter scheduled for release under a “RoMENtics” [capitalization, mine] imprint, about which I’ll possibly write more at some later date. [My full- blown gay romance novel BEYOND MACHU is due out from Haworth in the spring of 2006]. Because of my background and “insider” contacts, I’m not nearly as surprised by my successful early jump onto the gay-romance bandwagon as I’m surprised to see who’s sitting there right beside me. I’m talking about author Ruth Sims, cookie- baking grandmother, born and raised a Fundamentalist Christian in conservative Middle America, whose Victorian gay romance, THE PHOENIX (think WUTHERING HEIGHTS, JANE EYRE, TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES, MADAM BOVARY, only with male protagonists), is receiving a good deal of well-deserved press, lately. Ruth having begun writing THE PHOENIX over twenty years ago, no clue (to hear this suspected channeler-of- Nostradamus tell it), that gay romances would be “in” when her book just happens to hit the stands. “Really, I didn’t consciously start out to write a gay novel,” Ruth insists when I talk with her to offer congratulations. [She prefers “gay novel” to “gay romance” by the way]. “THE PHOENIX was going to be a heterosexual book ‘in the Victorian style’. Except, the characters took on a life of their own and soon demanded to be gay, though I fought them for virtually years to prevent it, before finally giving in to their demands (to the resulting horror of my family).” Whether by mysterious ESP (cue in the theme music from “The Twilight Zone”), or via sheer luck, Ruth’s book appears on bookshelves at just the right time to advantage the present increasing swell of gay-romance interest. Her book has the additional advantage of being genuinely good — I know, because I always make it a point to check out whatever MY potential readers are reading (besides MY stuff) at any given moment. Of course, I also, admit to reading it with the hopes that some of Ruth’s insight and/or good luck will rub off on me for the future. In the romance business (or in any business), you just can’t be too rich, too thin, too insightful, or too lucky. ------------ About the author William J. Lambert III: Take a look at his books: Written under his pseudonyms, William Maltese: http://www.williammaltese.com Email: the.lambert.iii.laager@worldnet.att.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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