LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poiama — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:43:56 -0500

I am writing a historical romance/LGBTQ fiction novel. My three main characters are gay. George enlists into the Army to fight in WWII and while he is away his boyfriend Harry passes away. Years later George is at an anti-war rally and meets Jack who is drafted to Vietnam. That's the short & sweet of it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Kia_Zi_Shiru — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:53:56 -0500

most of my cast are gay or bi men. why? because I'm lazy and power struggles in a story are easier of people with the same gender. Also I know more of the fanbase of gay romance than lesbian romance. Also, gay vampires are hot ;)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

baka_kit — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:28:08 -0500

I'm writing an alphabet soup book: it's YA-SF-LGBT. ;) The main character is a transgender teen. She's one of 20 defiant* kids who are kidnapped onto an illegal deep-space boot camp. *Failing to conform to parental expectations. This includes 1 lesbian, 2 gay kids, 3 bi kids, and 3 trans kids. But it also includes kids who fail to conform to gender expectations, who are considered to be "dabbling in Satanism," or who are dating the wrong people.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

keolah — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:34:45 -0500

I wasn't intending it, but the main character if the fanfic series I'm working on has turned out to be gay, or perhaps bi... he's so far shown attraction to two different men, but I don't think he's looking at gender so much as general personality traits, and the ones he's attracted to tend to turn up slightly more frequently in males. Strong, violent, confident... He's pretty much decided he's gay at the moment -- though I've half a mind to throw him in with a tough, badass female character of the aforementioned personality type, just to mess with his head. (I do so love tormenting my characters, hehe.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

WiresInABox — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:01:06 -0500

My main character is a transsexual lesbian girl. And there is also her future girlfriend. It probably will be more queer characters, I'm not finished with all the planning yet!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:42:12 -0500

My 2009 Nanowrimo novel was a lesvian historical novel.. and is published! _Beloved Pilgrim_ about a woman who chooses to go to the Crusade of 1101 as a man. My profile picture is the cover of the book. For 2011 I am doing something quite different, an M/M historical romance set in the 1850s-60s on and near the Mississippi River. Frankie deramus, a riverboat gambler, will find his true lovve, then lose him, then bam, the Civil War will make reunion impossible until the end. Fascinating to ve researching everything from the battles of the Civil War, railroad development, and what terms people used to refer to gay men at the time. Really looking forward to it. A story based on the main character has been accepted by Wilde oats Magazine www.wildeoats.com for the December issue! Nan Hawthorne www.nanhawthorne.com

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:46:06 -0500

Sounds great! When it's published, make sure you ppost about it on www.speaksname.com ... they feature gay historical fiction. The lesbian counterpart is Bosom Friends at http://lesbianhistoricalfiction.blogspot.com Nan, also writing gay historical romance.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Tsuki-chan — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:06:40 -0500

Mine's probably going to be a fanfic, but it will have QUILTBAG characters. Actually, even if I end up writing something entirely different than what I think I might, I can guarantee QUILTBAG characters. Because practically everything I write has one, even if I'm the only one who knows that zie is because I never explicitly said it. Yeah. XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

amandapsychedelia — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:38:21 -0500

I'm writing lesbian YA paranormal wherein my two OFCs bake cupcakes and face demonic horrors together. I've been planning for a while. Can't wait until I actually get to write it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

DebraStang — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:01:08 -0500

I'm so glad to find this section. The book I'm planning is called "The Ghost of George Boleyn." At least one author has speculated that George Boleyn, the brother of the infamous Anne Boleyn, was gay or bisexual. In my story, he is gay and develops a relationship with Nick, an American tourist who can see him. Nick is deeply unhappy with his current relationship and appreciates the comfort and sympathy he receives from George. But does George truly love Nick as he claims, or is he simply trying to find a way to steal Nick's body so that he can resume the life that was so brutally snatched away from him? And will Nick's lover, Adrian, get his head out of the sand in time to realize that his lover is serious danger? (Good questions, by the way. I haven't decided either of them yet.) It will be fun to figure things out as I go along...I think.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

allmylove — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:22:41 -0500

i really like the sound of this and i think i'm gonna add you as a writing buddy once the function is back if you don't mind?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

allmylove — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:26:31 -0500

I'm writing a sci-fi queer romance this year. In the past i've written YA lesbian romance so this is different for me... slightly... Almost all of my characters are in some way same sex attracted, some more so than others. There is time travel in my story which involves a post apocalyptic society where being gay is the norm rather than the exception as a matter of survival.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

KMcNamara — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:13:14 -0500

I'm writing an urban fantasy YA (ish) novel. The main character is a teenager and he is just starting to experiment with romance and sexuality. He is bisexual, or probably pansexual to be more accurate. He has a brief fling with a girl, and when that doesn't work out, he starts a relationship with a boy. The fantasy culture I created does not view sexuality as a sociopolitical standing, it's just a normal part of your identity, so I'm going to explore how coming of age would be different if any type of sexuality was considered acceptable. It's a more minor part of the plot, but I still consider it important to the "message."

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:19:09 -0500

I have NO IDEA where I'm going with my novel...it started off as a joke, but then the idea stuck: THE WERE-DYKE RIDES AT MIDNIGHT. I fully admit to writing it just so I can use that title. Basically you've got MC Justine Heck, a homeless lesbian werewolf with innate Gaydar: the ability to tell if a queer person within 100 miles is in trouble and the ability to pinpoint their location and track them there. After high school she moves several hundred miles away from home to Seattle to escape her parents (who are more concerned about the "lesbian" part than the "werewolf" one) and takes up a day job as a dishwasher. And then she becomes a superhero. She uses her Gaydar to find queer people who need help, uses the Dykemobile ('82 Volvo station wagon and where she sleeps at night) to get around, and if need be she administers justice with her Gay Bar (a crowbar painted in rainbow colors, adorned with sparkles and the word GAY in black block letters.) All goes well for seven years or so, and then through a hilarious turn of events that aren't so hilarious at all she gets roped into being the caretaker for a homeless gay teen named Xandra. AND THEN PLOT STUFF I HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF YET HAPPENS :|

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Captain Lonewolf — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:22:51 -0500

My two MCs for this year are gay. One's a wayward pirate sorcerer whose mind is stuck in the gutter, if you catch my drift and the other is a snobby prince. I think they're going to fall in love sometime during the book, or might leave that out til later.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

doorknobofakender — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:42:02 -0500

My MC considers himself to be bi though I call it more along the lines of gender blindness. He doesn't see the gender of the person, he sees their spirits/souls and that attracts him first. He's a seer/sorcerer and to him bodies are just another layer of clothing.

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MashaBGD — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:19:19 -0500

So, I've got four important characters who are LGBT. The novel itself, though, has got next to nothing to do with LGBT themes.

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CharmedLassie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:59:21 -0500

Those are the books I long to read! Mine will have a lesbian character at the forefront. It's just a case of plucking an idea from the ever-expanding shelf. Failed miserably last year but triumphed in 2009 so who knows what 2011 holds?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

AdrienEtienne — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:11:13 -0500

Pretty much everything that I write picks up various LGBTQ themes just because of who I am (bisexual transgender man). This year is no exception, whether I write the novel that I am planning on or my backup novel. The novel that I'm planning on writing is SF, set a few centuries in the future, and sexuality/gender stuff has mostly stopped being an issue. It's not really a big deal in the story itself that several of the central characters are somewhere in the not-straight part of the sexuality spectrum. I have been sort of trying to figure out how to work a trans character, at least in passing into this story, but it's not entirely cooperating because in the setting, it is such a non-issue that, well, it's a non-issue... I could have trans characters that I wouldn't even know where trans because it just wouldn't come up... If I go with my fall back (which is one of the sequels to the fantasy novel I wrote last year), my three central characters will be a young (very powerful) shaman who is gay and in a relationship with a channel who also helped with putting the central character of the first novel on the throne who is probably bisexual, and their best friend who is an aesexual and pretty much aegender warrior dedicated to some of the gods in this universe. Basically, this novel in the sequence focuses on the queerest characters from the first novel. :) Adrien Etienne

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Beccah — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:23:11 -0500

This sounds great - I would love to read this! :)

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Beccah — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:25:22 -0500

I love your idea! Very interesting and unique and I would love to read that :D

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J.E.Blackworth — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:44:31 -0500

My main character is a trans*woman and the antagonist is a very androgynous male who doesn't really fall to the gender binary. But the LGBTQAI-themes aren't that present in other ways.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:36:20 -0500

I'm currently stuck between two plots (one high fantasy, the other modern supernatural/satire), but both feature gay characters- either has the main character, or the main character's brother. I'm currently leaning towards the supernatural/satire one, which features a demon who buys souls for the devil, and happens to be gay himself. I don't want to say too much and jinx myself, but there's a giant heaping of humor on the subject matter itself. Basically the selling and buying of souls has a very capitalistic twist on it. I was wondering if any writers here have any good creative writing book, sites, et cetera that are pertinent for LGBT writers?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:38:13 -0500

I really love the idea of a book set in a time where gender and sexual identity have been 'normalized' in society. It's such a hopeful idea, even if it's just a small facet of the work.

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qwertz — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:52:24 -0500

Though my MC is not queer, one of her friends is a transman and closeted; he, sadly, ends up killing himself.

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Clare-Dragonfly — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:54:51 -0500

That sounds extremely awesome. I haven't decided what I'm writing yet, but I know there will be queer characters... because there always are.

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lovely_sparkle — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:44:52 -0500

I'm writing a Glee fanfic, so that almost automatically guarantees some LGBTQ characters. So yeah, of the people I'm focusing on, I have three gay characters, one lesbian character, one bisexual character, and one straight character. One of them is a drag queen. One of them is a stripper. One of them is pregnant. Four are canon characters, two are my own original characters. It sounds absolutely crazy when I write it out here XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Lalatin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:53:33 -0500

I try to throw a bit of LGBT into every one of my stories, but have one story fully, deeply, and revolved around the relationship of lesbians and society. :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:51:18 -0500

I love reading and writing LGBT characters! This thread makes me so happy. :) My MC in my NaNo last year was a gay attorney, and my MC this year is also gay. (Though he's definitely on the other end of the criminal justice system!) I'm so determined to get a lesbian character in this year's novel. I've only ever written a lesbian once before, and I really want to get better at it. I love LGBT characters because they're so interesting already, and so diverse! I'd make a whole cast queer~

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:51:43 -0500

That sounds... beautiful. :'D

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typingmouse — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:50:19 -0500

I love seeing a gay criminal! I can't think of any tv, movie, or book characters off the top of my head that were 'villains' who happened to be gay. Unless you count stories where someone was a criminal because they were gay, but that's old Victorian stuff.

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typingmouse — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:55:13 -0500

I would love to read this, or even beta it if you don't have someone in your pocket.

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author-person — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:14:42 -0500

My plot is loosely based on a messed up version of Romeo and Juliet that my friends and I made up over the summer. The entire thing is translated to the modern day, and set in a spy cell called Verona, with a lot of international intrigue and explosions thrown in. My MC's best friend (the Mercutio of the story) is gay with a husband back home. And to think, all this awesomeness cams out of a comment a friend made about Mercutio and Benvolio being gay lovers... :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:59:47 -0500

I know, right? It's a really cool idea, and I'm surprised there aren't more stories that feature a character like that! I'm really excited to see how this turns out. Ohhh, silly Victorian stuff. Hohoho.

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luna_the_shiekah — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:32:10 -0500

I want to read this book. It sounds amazing.

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Chibifukurou — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:39:56 -0500

I'm still trying to decide what kind of story I want to write, but gender!queer and ace main characters are likely. So I thought I'd just drop a quick line introducing myself. It's always nice to meet other people writing in this genre.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:53:18 -0500

Th-thank you! :'D I really want to write this book, but I'm not sure I'll manage to finish it this year with how busy I've been with class, but I'll definitely finish it someday!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

lovely_sparkle — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:55 -0500

*nervously looks around* I'll see how happy I am with it. It could be total crack based on the setup I've got XD Thank you for your interest in it, though! I'm glad I'm not just totally insane over here.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

gardenswing — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:55:48 -0500

I'm considering writing a fantasy novel where one of the MCs is a genderqueerish gay man. He lives in a society where same sex relationships are considered acceptable, but still are not viewed the same as straight relationships. People can only marry the opposite gender, and are expected to be faithful to their spouse, but can have as many same-sex lovers as they wish because it doesn't really "count". Being transgender (MtF or FtM) is accepted. They don't have the ability to do physical transition, but society accepts people defining themselves as the gender they wish, although they still think in binaries. My main character baffles them because he is a man who definitely identifies as a man, but who wants to behave in a way that only women are typically allowed to. I think he's going to end up with one of the first gay marriages among his people. I totally did NOT intend to write it as a political analog for modern times. The story just ended up turning in this direction. At first I wasn't sure if it made sense to have a society that was so open minded in some ways and not in others, but it does feel "true" to me. Hopefully I can make it work. I'm not 100% sure if this is the story I'm going to go with for november. I won't make up my mind until the last minute.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:47:58 -0500

I'm in a Victorian Lit class and we just went through "Jekyll & Hyde" and now "Dorian Gray", so I might have subtle homoerotic evil doers on the brain right now. Well. "subtle" in Wilde's case. And, do I dare to hope that you're a francophone? I took a peek at your author info and cant' help but hope!

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A.J.Horn — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:53:49 -0500

It sound really great!

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A.J.Horn — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:03:56 -0500

My main character is gay. I'm not sure yet how much it's going to be an issue in the book... I know he is on a date in his first scene, but it's cut short when my MC'S children are kidnapped by my antagonist's minion. I'm pretty sure the minion is gay too, but in complete denial. Not sure either how I am going to play that one... The novel itself doesn't have LGBTQ theme because I believe there is not enough important, queer character outside the LGBTQ genre.

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LillianCrow — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:09:41 -0500

Thank you so much! 8D

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baka_kit — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:34:13 -0500

Awesome! :D

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baka_kit — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:34:56 -0500

OMG, I so want to read that!

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yaniguchi — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:27:53 -0500

Ah, both are such great stories! I'm such a fan of Oscar Wilde. Man, it sounds like you're in an amazing Victorian Lit class! I'm so envious. Oui, je peux parle un peu de francais. :) I took French through high school, and I'm taking it in college as well. (I'm also just a big fan of the Les Miserables musical, haha.) I'd love to live in a place where I could use it!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

musicismymoirail — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:45:07 -0500

Oh, definitely. Most of my story have LGBTQ characters in them and this year is no different! Simon is happily gay and out, Anatole is bisexual (though he'd say biromantic if anyone asked, no reason why) and Jenny is aromantic pansexual. But their sexualities are taken very much as a non-issue throughout the story.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

anachronisma — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:53:34 -0500

My narrator is asexual, though he is from a quasi-medieval society and wouldn't see it that way -- he is just completely lacking interest in sex. It's background to the plot -- he's traveling through time and space trying to avoid the issue of being married off by his father to perpetuate the family line. He encounters several men with whom he has very intense emotional relationships with, including a pseudo-Victorian (steampunk!) whose homosocial friendship conventions read a lot to us moderns as very queer. He encounters a woman on an alternate earth who is some kind of genderqueer; her job title descriptor is "king" and she crossdresses a lot, though she uses female pronouns. Whether sexual politics beyond asexuality will enter into the text itself I don't know yet -- that's for the NaNo madness to decide.

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animeHrmIne — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:08:45 -0500

I have absolutely no idea what I'm writing about, but my stories seem to always have a queer theme. Two years ago the FMC was bisexual and the MMC had two gay moms. Last year, one MMC was gay, and so was the younger brother of the other MMC (they would have ended up together two years from now if I had decided to have that as an ongoing nano plot). I'm pansexual, and for some reason I ended up in the trans* and ace pools of the queer community, so there's no doubt something will be there.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Halo2 — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:40:56 -0500

My MC is definitely bi. Last year my two MC's were gay, but it was incidental to the plot. We'll see how it pans out this time.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

DallonWeekes — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:59:21 -0500

Wow. I realized as I was writing a fanfiction, that ALL OF MY MAIN MALE CHARACTERS WERE GAY. And most of them lived on the same street. To make this seem a bit more normal, I've ended up having one of my characters joke around by calling the area they live in a 'gayborhood'.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

flopart — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:11:38 -0500

I have a closeted gay cis male MC whose got a crush on his sister's husband. He summons a demon by accident who takes the form of the sister's husband in trying to pick a "form most pleasing to" the MC, so I'm going to play around a bit with that romance, but the demon is not, after all, the sister's husband, and I'm wondering what to make him/her/them. The demon used to be human before becoming magical, and I'm considering making them intersex and kind of uninterested in being seen as either male or female, since their background -might- be that their intersexuality is what led to their study of magic since there were few other roles in their original culture they could fill, but I'm not sure if that plays into the Magical Other trope too much or if I should just roll with it.

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Arlequin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:17:19 -0500

Copy-pasting from another LGBTQ thread, hey! Gay trans guy over here. I always have at least a couple of queer characters, because why not? I have to endure enough heterosexual drama in most of the media I consume; if I'm going to write, I might as well write something relevant to my interests. In this year's novel my main character, James, is gay. I suppose one might see some unfortunate implications in the fact that he also happens to be a manipulative bastard, thus making him a sneaky gay, but really, it's far more complicated than that. There's another gay character as well, Richard, who wants to marry James' sister Catherine in order to hide his own homosexuality. I think we can all guess how this turns out in the end.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Tatsuya — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:34:28 -0500

Since January 2007 all of my stories involve a gay, bi or trans MC and this year is no different. It originally stemmed from my hatred of being female (hence why my username is actually a boys name) - but even once I decided I love being a girl I still continued writing the same sort of characters. It's just my genre, I guess. :3 This year I'm writing about the relationship between an alcoholic [former] rentboy (who role-played as a cat for clients of both sexes, but mostly male) and a bi-romantic/seemingly asexual chauffeur.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ilenora — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:23:57 -0500

I'm not sure what all my NaNo will include in terms of relationships, but most of the characters that I've planned so far are somewhat bisexual. Well, one is a prostitute who's expected to serve clients of either gender and I'm not sure yet what she prefers herself. Then there's a bisexual male gentleman assassin, and a part demon of very flexible preferences (when he can be bothered at all, that is). This is still very much under construction ad subject to change, mind. I think sexuality plays a more interesting role in my non-NaNo main project, where I have a gay king. He's obviously married to a queen (or actually marries her about midway through the first book), but has a male lover who's his true love and all that. He does grow to love the queen too, but not in the way that she wants. And yes, the queen is aware of the situation and the lover. All in all, I find it really interesting to write about this trio.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:22:47 -0500

It's a pretty awesome course- we're basically looking at Darwinist and evolutionary themes in Victorian literature (J&H as degeneration, et cetera). It's basically my favorite class at the moment. Ah! Je parle francais avec ma maman, nous sommes Suisse. Mais j'ecrire le langue pas tres bien. I'm seeking a minor in French, since a language minor never hurts you job wise. I love Les Mis! The book is pretty amazing as well, even if it's pretty much a brick made up of paper. Do you mind if I add you as a writing buddy?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:26:41 -0500

What time period are you writing about, in your non-Nano work?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Morigale — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:51:13 -0500

I'm pretty sure I'm asexual myself. Sex is totally fascinating, I love to read about it, I just don't want to get any of it on me. (Video porn does nothing for me. I end up fixating on something like 'Wooow, that is some unibrow' or 'My god can't she afford to get that mole removed?' and completely losing focus on the allegedly sexy bits.) My novel isn't intended to have any big important themes about sexuality or anything, it just turned out that some of the characters are gay and/or asexual. (And of course there's subplots about their relationships because god knows I can't just not have ridiculously complex relationships going on.) I'm not particularly worried about being 'marketable' or anything, so why not. (Though sometimes I freak out because I'm afraid I'm going to be looked at as one of those ~*~yaoi~*~ fangirls who writes about gay characters because they're so kawaiiii desu.) Of the five main characters (and one demon): Eli: Straight. Would like to get married and have kids, but is basically married to his job. Isabel: Asexual, hetero-romantic. Online she uses a male persona exclusively, though she says it's for protection from creeps. Wolf: A creep. Has a giant crush on Izzy's male online persona, but feels the need to constantly reiterate that he is not gay. Is absolutely elated to find out that 'Spike' is actually Isabel and therefore he's NOT GAY WOOO. (Keep telling yourself that, duder.) Nick: Gay. He doesn't consider it a big deal, which means he never thinks to bring it up, so... Vi: Starts out believing himself to be asexual. Sex is just another chore, to avoid if he can and fake his way through otherwise. Then he meets Nick, actually starts to get to know him, and suddenly 'Oh god what is this I would really like to jump this guy's bones' and 'Wait is he even gay, help how do I find out, what is going on'. *snicker* You could just ask him, you know. Demon: Almost definitely a figment of Wolf's imagination, made real. Gender/sex-shifting, seductive, and pansexual.Not actually evil, simply a major troll who wants to cause chaos. Only gets genuinely dangerous once s/he realizes s/he is about to get banished/destroyed. (This... says something about Wolf's deeply-hidden desires. For example, due to the same curse Wolf has, Isabel manifests spiders out of unconscious desire to have their abilities. She would love to be able to climb walls, hang from threads, and get into places normal people can't. I think the only reason she isn't manifesting tiny Spidermans instead is because she doesn't read comics.) I suppose there could be some unfortunate implications in that the only genuinely good-aligned characters in this mess are the straight guy and maybe the asexual girl. Eh, I'll just throw in some scenes to highlight that Eli is pretty sinister when he needs to be. NO GOOD CHARACTERS FOR YOU. Anyway, Vi and Nick mellow way out by the end of the story. In the sequel Nick is actually a pretty decent person.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:39:51 -0500

Wow! Sounds like it'd be my favorite, too. :) Wow, Suisse? Ah, c'est trop chouette! :D It's always a benefit to have a language as a minor. Les Mis is indeed amazing~ I didn't read the book until after I listened to the production, but I love both! Please do add me as a writing buddy! I'll definitely add you back~

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

RionaDaidouji — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:59:18 -0500

I have a pansexual character. I am a little disapointed that she likes to sleep around, because I don't want to contribute to the myth of "all bisexuals are sluts" (even though she doesn't identify as bi, but that's still how people will see it). Unfortunately, that's pretty much how she introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Skye. I want to bang both your MCs." So, after facepalming, I grudgingly let her into the story. She does settle down with someone eventually, though. Her "female Captain Jack Harkness" days are pretty much just in High School and University. She at the very least still identifies as pansexual even after settling down, so I'm proud of her for that.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:33:51 -0500

Thank you! :'D Gahhh, now I really need to make sure I finish it, don't I?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Tsuyunoinochi — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:02:17 -0500

It sounds sooo interesting! I was always intrigued by George Boleyn... when he was depicted losing his handsome head in The Othe Boleyn Girl, I was sad for his character.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

in my spare time — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:15:06 -0500

I had to smile; how many times have characters made me what to twing them, in addition to myself, and yet off they go, nothing you can do but let them run. I'm writing a sci-fi/psychological tale about actor Cade Walton who speaks at a gay rights rally in a society where homosexuality is completely prohibited. He disappears for eighteen months, then turns up in a hospital associated with where he's been tortured. A gay closeted doctor spirits them both to another universe where no such taboos exist. Cade falls for Annie, one of his nurses, while Dr. Drew Clemmons gets involved with Bill, a technician. Both Cade and Drew have suffered from their time in captivity; Cade's is more overt while Drew tries to deny he's been just as traumatized. All the while living in a temperate, rainless dome on a different planet, knowing they can never go home. We'll see how it goes!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Tsuyunoinochi — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:17:03 -0500

This theme never fails to present itself in some way, shape, or form in every single thing I write or read! I haven't confirmed it as my novel yet, but the story I'm toying with writing (for the third time -_-) features a very confused male protagonist who, after sleeping with over hundreds of girls in his teen years and marrying a woman, switches to a male after his wife kills their child and then kills herself. His sexuality isn't particularly a main focus, but it is interesting to see his personality change depending on who he begins a relationship with, and the different ways he acts when they leave him. (It's so sad that it's possible to see so many different reactions from him after each lover leaves him though D:)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

chokeonirony — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:47:02 -0500

what's up! i almost never write hetero protagonists. i mean, heteronormativity gets too much attention already. also, i don't know, i prefer writing relationships which feel more 'true' to my life. so i'm writing about this girl who calls up her old lover just as the world's ending. (literally. the world ends in my novel.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

qwsedcrfvt — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:07:25 -0500

My MC is a lesbian, her girlfriend is a trans*woman (though the reader won't be notified of this until very far into the novel) and many of the other characters are queer but none of them deal with LGBTQ+ issues. My novel is set sometimes in the near-distant (hard to explain) future where my characters do not face the same kind of obstacles as we do today (though they face some, they are just not the focus of my novel).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

N.L. LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:52:24 -0500

While my novel would not be classified as LGBTQ because my characters' sexual orientation is not the focus or even a mildly important part of the story, my protagonist is bisexual. It's never explicitly stated that he's bi, but I'm sure any even SLIGHTLY perceptive reader would be able to figure it out. People who have the "you're either gay or straight, no in between" mindset might be a little thrown off and assume he's straight because he only actually has relationships with girls in the book, but the fact that he's really unhealthily obsessed with one of my major characters, who's (gasp!) a dude, might be, you know, an inkling, a hint of sorts that Mr. Main Character is, you know... NOT 100% heterosexual. :) LGBTQ characters ftw!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Noelle_Winters — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:43:13 -0500

In my original work, the MC is homosexual, however he comes from a culture where it is considered completely normal so for most of the story his orientation is a non-issue. He isn't really closeted, but he is just a very private person so most people don't even know he has a sex-drive, let alone a lover, lol, (Its a fantasy novel.) However, through the book it portrays him as having a very deep, loving relationship with his familiar (in my book, its a half-demon that has entered a sort of Faustian contract with a mage.) He is unique in the sense that he deeply loves and cares for his familiar, unlike most mages who just treats them like slaves, and in the end it becomes mutual, to the point that his familiar never cares to become free of his contract, and is becomes completely heartbroken when the contract is broken.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Serena Darrin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:01:51 -0500

My novel is not LGBTQ, but it's something I'm aware of, being lesbian myself. I don't have any queer characters in this year's NaNo (unless someone surprises me, which can always happen) but I'm having fun with gender expectations. I'm doing a female knight/paladin in a fantasy Arthurian setting. Since the Lady of the Lake is venerated, and there is a good deal of chivalric respect payed to women (and in this setting, only women can be spellcasters), she's confusing a lot of her fellow knights. (And enjoying it, too, I think.) It doesn't help that until she either speaks or takes off her helmet, you won't know her gender. She doesn't try and disguise herself as a man, per se, but she's well aware of the fact that she can get away with stuff by just letting people -think- she's male. It saves her a lot of trouble. Since she's her father's only heir, she does have the legal right to be her father's representative and fight in her father's name. Her father cannot fight due to an old injury, so she is quite within her rights to take up arms in his place. And her father just mentions her as 'his only child and heir.' He's alright with this (as alright as he can be when his only child is forced to put herself in mortal danger.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:16:25 -0500

Well hey, I'd rather read a story where everyone is gay than a story where everyone is straight ;) Gayborhoods are awesome.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

GlassWolf — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:35:26 -0500

I'm planning to write a fantasy novel with a gay couple as the main characters. Why are there so few published high fantasies novels with gay characters? Or characters with any sexual identity other than heterosexual? I'd be delighted to find some writing buddies who are also into this realm. :) In the absence of the buddies feature, please pm me if you're interested.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

flopart — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:48:20 -0500

Yay trans lesbians! :D *represent*

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Aerdysias — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 06:58:27 -0500

Lessee, I have 4 interestingly gendered characters. Vile Loki is technically a man, who just has taken the appearance of a woman, but who is technically Pansexual (I think) as she will and/or has slept with anything. Her reasons for even being female in the first place were because the man she loved as a man, would never be with her in such a way unless she were female. Then there's Belial, who is a hermaphrodite with complete and functioning female and male genetalia and is a whore for all things as he is the King of Perversions. Then there's Set, who is just gay. The last character is Loki, and he doesn't know what his specific gender is, he starts off straight and veers to other corners of fun. :) This is all for my AU Fan Fic for Thor.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

AKimlin — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:53:27 -0500

Mine isn't LGBTQ fiction but the main two characters are gay. They are detectives who came out the closet on me at the beginning of the story I was writing for July's camp.(literally, Joe was fastening up his belt in a cleaning cupboard). By this story the focus is on Tim his civil partner who has become the main suspect in a murder.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:26:46 -0500

I finished reading Les Mis on a plane from Germany to LA a few years ago, and just burst out sobbing at the end. Hugo brilliantly manipulated me into having major catharsis with Jean, and I had a very concerned row mate who didn't speak a word of French or English staring at me. Not one of my best moments. I've added you! I think. I hope.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

N.L. LeBlanc — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:26:11 -0500

I can identify with this one! :P I thought my bisexual main character was straight (I even had a girl (who is still a major character in the story) as his main love interest and had their WHOLE relationship planned out to the minute detail) until about two months into writing my first book about him. He casually came out of the closet while I was taking a shower one day, just minding my own business. Now, while he still has relationships with girls in the story, he never ended up with the girl I had planned (it was just ruined for me I guess, haha). xD And he's in love with a guy. Needless to say, NONE of this went according to plan. But that's writing a novel for you, I guess!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nemaline — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:08:44 -0500

My main character - well, it's far-future SF so people don't conceptualise sexuality like we do, but one of my main characters is asexual, and another is either lesbian or bisexual with a lean towards women, I'm not really sure yet. (They're also married as friends - in the society they're from, poly marriages are the norm and a marriage to a close friend isn't seen as significantly different to marriage to a romantic/sexual partner, so most people do have a couple of marriages like this. They've both emigrated to a society where that's not the case, though!) I'm expecting there'll be other LGBTQ characters, too - the ace main character works as a sort of matchmaker, so I expect there'll be some incidental couples cropping up there, then there's their other spouses back home. No one on the trans* side of things yet, but I've only got two characters so far, there's plenty of time!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Valerian — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:09:54 -0500

That is something I would pretty much love to read. :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

chokeonirony — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:48:09 -0500

That sounds fab, I really wish marrying your friend was a thing in this society

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

marenwah — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:24:16 -0500

My two male MCs are going to end up in a relationship, though it's in the 1800s when GLBTQ as an identity wasn't really on most people's radar. If it were, I'd say one of them would be bisexual, and the other so distanced from humanity in general that he's sort of outside of orientation and isn't really interested in anyone--making the exception, of course, on account of this being the first person who's actually tried to connect with him. While gender expectation issues and cultural/religious prejudices do come into it, if I manage to Do It Right, the focus will be on the fact that they've both managed to overcome their status as outcasts and find someone to care for as a rock in very rough and uncertain times, and how important that is, rather than just that they're both men.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Aeiouna — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:07:14 -0500

I wrote a novel with LGBTQ themes for 2009. Two of my MCs were a gay couple forced to be closeted for work. I'm now expanding that universe for a community on LiveJournal.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Elementalpixie — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:33:31 -0500

Mine are basically mysteries but with a reasonable amount of humour (which tends to give it sort of chick-lit element) but my three MCs (and therefore also several of their friends group) are gay. My main MC, from whose point of view the stories are written has been a character drifting round in my head for many years now although I only started writing him down last year. The great thing is that the three of them are so all "writeable" that I've gone from the "every one has one book in them" thing to thinking "wow, I've got a good few years fun writing about these characters still left to go!"

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poi_son_joy — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:40:39 -0500

Are you me? I'm writing fanfic this year, too, and it's going to have at least a few QUILTBAG characters in it, because I seem to be incapable of writing anything that doesn't! :P Out of curiosity, what are you thinking of writing fanfiction for?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poi_son_joy — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:41:53 -0500

This sounds BEAUTIFUL. Add me to the list of people who definitely want to read it!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poi_son_joy — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:56:37 -0500

I'm not really going to have any LGBTQ themes in my novel -- I have two ideas of what I might end up doing, and in both, there are... slightly more pressing matters at hand! -- but I'm definitely going to have at least a few queer characters and (at least nodded to) relationships. What I'm writing is going to end up either being DEFINITELY fitting for "Other Genre" -- an AU using Batman characters but set in the universe of a magical girl deconstruction series, with the characters being "magical soldiers" in high danger of either dying or turning into monsters (in fact, in this universe, it's taken as read that one or the other will inevitably happen to ALL magical soldiers in a fairly short amount of time! though some of them might subvert THAT too...) -- or falling somewhere in Horror Fantasy, with Batman characters (again) being AU'd into a universe where most of the characters were abducted by monstrous True Fae and twisted into something inhuman before managing to escape. As I said, themes about sexuality won't really have time to come up :P and unfortunately I don't have any trans* characters in either idea.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:39:22 -0500

Ahhh, that's actually a really sweet story! (I'm sure that row mate would understand if they saw the book you had been reading!) I love Valjean as a character-- his story is so sad. My favorite character (other than Valjean, of course) has to be Enjolras. He is such a beautiful and tragic hero. (I always think of him as "ange"-olras in my head, haha. What an angel!) Ahh, how'd you do it? My writing buddy feature still says "coming soon."

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poiama — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:48:19 -0500

I LOVE you all and your ideas and I want to read your books when you're done!! Each and EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! And don't be surprised if you find me adding all of you as buddies!!!!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:44:34 -0500

Ugh, it seems I forgot to hit 'submit' the first time I wrote this. My favorite characters have to be the Thénardiers, both in the musical and book. Éponine has a special spot in my heart, and the others are just so damn funny in the musical. I can even stand Cosette, and usually the perfect female figure of Romance novels make me roll my eyes hard. There's a 2000 miniseries of Les Mis in French that stars John Malkovitch as Javert- he has a surprisingly perfect accent. Gérard Depardieu is a stunning Valjean as well, and a ton of other awesome actors who play their parts just amazingly well. It has my favorite Fantine of all time as well, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. I think that when I tried to add you it showed me the 'old version' of the page. When I reloaded it (after 'adding' you) it gave me the new version. So IDK what happened.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

metteius — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:01:34 -0500

My main character is a lesbian :) In a long term relationship with kids.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

yaniguchi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:58:04 -0500

It's hard to pick only one! All of the characters are just amazing. (Even Inspector Javert! Even though Philip Quast's version of him in the musical really warmed me up to his character, haha!) I thought I wasn't going to like Cosette, but I do! She's sweet. Mini-series? Ooh, must see! (I love John Malkovitch!) Ah, I see. Well, once the site has writing buddies as a feature, I will certainly add you! :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ArtemisLiCa — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:02:44 -0500

I'm adding my name to the list of people who want to read it when you're done! That sounds hilarious! I really hope you get to finish.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

phoenix.spice — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:11:59 -0500

That is beautiful. Add me to the list of rabid fans who must read this book.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

phoenix.spice — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:30:17 -0500

I've got all sorts of LGBTQ running amuck in my novel. It's like if Pride had a baby with a Shakespeare tragedy, and that baby was raised by Dark Shadows and turned into a book. My MC, London, is homoflexible and in an open relationship with Naomi. They meet hertoflexible Frank who becomes their third. Frank then leaves them. Naomi then leaves London for Frank. Frank and Naomi get married and London is the best man. And at the end of it all, there London commits suicide. There is also the Lesbian who pops up in the middle and by the end of it has a wife and is expecting. The old lady downstairs has a trans daughter.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Kaysper — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:10:28 -0500

I'm writing fanfiction this year, but it'll be extremely lesbian centric. The two leads are both gay (even though they don't realize it) and are attracted to each other (even if they don't understand what that means) and their relationship will be one of the major plots of the story. Along with the fact that they turn into cannibal demons, of course. I think that any story where the mains turn into cannibal demons that eat other cannibal demons with their boob mouths is going to need some focus on that aspect.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

typingmouse — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:22:55 -0500

I don't know if the miniseries has an English dub, but my DVDS do have English subtitles as an option! And the same!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Eonism — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:32:37 -0500

I've always had a lot of LGBTQ characters in my short stories, as having a diverse stable of characters to work with is important to me. I'm currently working on the sequel to my first horror/supernatural/dark fiction novel, featuring a gay MC and his boyfriend. The horror genre isn't very open to LGBTQ themes in general, unfortunately. It has been difficult to get readers to push past genre bias and be more accepting of characters other than the Straight White Male Hero, but I have made headway with a small but dedicated group of fans of the first book. My MC, Casey, has been in a relationship with Joel for four years at the start of the first book. Through the second and third books their relationship continues to develop as they work towards marriage and having a child together. It's important to me in the book for their relationship to be the rock in Casey's life, but their sexuality isn't the point of the novels. Treating them with the same respect as any heterosexual couple is something I really strive for.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ayako — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:02:31 -0500

The focus of my novel isn't LGBTQQ&A, but several of my characters are various forms of queer (including my main character, a bisexual girl who's never loved a guy before and totally freaking out about it.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

heatherbee — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:17:10 -0500

I'm doing a Glee fanfiction this year, which means I'll have two gay, one lesbian, and one bi(curious) character. (I think that's everyone? It's set during season 2, so I think that's right). The two MCs are gay. The lesbian and bi characters don't play much of a role in the story, at least not in the first half, because they're not around. I'm sure they'll let me know if they want a bigger part when I get to the second half. I'm writing an AU Fantasy version of Kurt's storyline in Season 2. Sometimes I question what my story really about. Is it about self-acceptance? Or about the depressing fact that life goes on without us? Or a more uplifting story about soul mates? Or a philosophical lecture about altruism? Or some very strange combination of all of the above that's way too deep for fanfiction?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:28:40 -0500

Oh, this sounds good!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Unoriginality — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:33:08 -0500

In '08, I did a story revolving around a gay man living in Nazi Germany (AU Nazi Germany, as the Pustch of '23 didn't fail) and ending up in Dachau. His identification as gay was a very important part of much of the story. Sexuality wasn't as important in my '09 fic, and this year, I think everyone's straight, just about. :|a?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Miss Tips — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:40:26 -0500

The two main characters of my novel this year are lesbians. I'm hoping to take another look at the princess-who-doesn't-want-an-arranged-marriage trope--yeah, because she's in love with her best (female!) friend. ;)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

flopart — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:12:41 -0500

What's the difference between "LGBTQ fiction" and fiction that "has LGBTQ characters but isn't about LGBTQ issues?" Isn't it always LGBTQ fiction regardless of how focused it is on the issues? I ask because the distinction makes me worry that there's a perception that any fiction dealing -strongly- with LGBTQ characters has an "agenda" (scarrre quoootes!), even though people don't think of straight romance as hetero propaganda (well, -I- do sometimes haha, some books and movies seem aggressively interested in straight pairings, see: the totally unneccesary romantic conclusions in harry potter).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sarahlucielle — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:35:03 -0500

Both my MCs are queer in some way and I love it. I play with gender and sexuality a lot. One is androgynous and bisexual for instance.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:29:10 -0500

I would just as soon as call it horror/fantasy - whose main character is a lesbian :) Olivia Sullivan’s life has fallen apart. Her beloved mother has passed away, her girlfriend dumped her for a man, and she just lost her job. With an eviction notice in hand and three minutes left on her cell phone, she stared down into the dark water rushing underneath the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, convinced that things couldn’t possibly get any worse. Just as she’s about to jump, a phone call changes everything and reunites Olivia with a family her mother never even hinted of. Things are not normal at Aunt Char’s mansion. The floor plan seems to change over night, objects disappear and are found in different rooms, the sounds of heavy footsteps walking echo in dark hallways, and the constant feeling of being watched never goes away. It is a house where magic is prevalent and dead relatives come to dinner. There are strange rituals in the woods and rumors of fairy queens. Then there is the locked door at the end of hall that Olivia is forbidden to enter. Room 444

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Laughing Panther — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:10:24 -0500

I'm writing a novel about lesbians. One is a romance or die typw who was terribly in love with her partner when she was stolen away by another woman who ended their brief romance only a few months later. She's pretty bitter about it. The other is the other woman, a free spirit with a take life as it comes philosophy. They end up on a reality tv show similar to survivor and end up having to work together to make it through the show. As time passes enmity becomes grudging respect. The closer to the end they get though, they begin to feel more intensly about eachother. Could it be love? I'm telling the story through both their perspectives and through the perspectives of teir friends as they watch the show while it airs. I like the idea of young, contemporary lesbians like the ones I know with a lot of personality and tons of flaws in their character (not my writing, who they are). Does this sound totally lame? I think it could be a lot of fun.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:19:43 -0500

Personally, I would love to read this! @laughing panther...

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:43:48 -0500

Excellent news, Nan, and congratulations!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:45:59 -0500

I'll buy that! As in, cash money buy, not just buy into your storyline.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:57:43 -0500

Someday SOON! I've promised a copy to my dyke editor buddy. She's grinning all over her face at the title.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:11:11 -0500

One copy sold! Ring me up!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:46:39 -0500

I got blindsided by two opera-composing guys in the 18th century, one gay, one straight-for-pay, and both factual. I had thought to skip NaNo this year, after the zero-word debacle of 2010, but right out of the computer screen came my MC and the man who loves him. I was looking up Stephen Hawking's exact academic title (Lucasian Professor of Mathematics) when out leaped Luca Antonio Predieri, obscure composer of Italian operas in 18th-century Vienna, and his librettist (and lover, in my book) Pietro Metastasio. I know very little of the history of opera, nothing about composing, and am dealing with folks who don't have any conception of gay identity as a public fact. Privately, people of their era did any old thing and just kept quiet about it, if they were smart. But romantic love is then, as now, the game-changer. It will be interesting to see if this story can take wing.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:41:17 -0500

Not sure if that was direct to me or Poiona, but yay... i hope you do. Nan

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ayako — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:54:20 -0500

I think "LGBTQ" fiction is supposed to mean geared for that particular audience and, I guess, about LGBTQ issues or individuals and their lives. Though I personally tend to group all fiction with LGBTQQA secondary characters in it as LGBTQ, since I love how LGBTQ individuals can exist in a world where that isn't a "problem" with other people (or where it is a problem but you get a strait narrator's take on it.) I mean, if a book is labeled LGBTQ then a reader knows there's going to be some gay in it, and I feel like that label is there so that when the reader wants to read something with the gay, they can find something with the gay to read about. Kind of like how teenagers like to read about other teenagers, adults about other adults, kids about other kids, kids in love about other kids in love, etc etc. Am I making any sense or going in rambling circles? (Basically, I really doubt the title "LGBTQ fiction" connotates a gay agenda, but rather helps readers find books with LGBTQQA people contained within them, or stories about LGBTQQA lives.) LGBTQQA = Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, Questioning, Allied (sorry if you know this, I just use a longer acronym than most and sometimes people question the other letters.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

flopart — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:59:54 -0500

Now I'm picturing myself skipping through Barnes and Noble with a basket of pink stickers that say "GAY" and plopping them on any and all books with queero fun times. Hehehee.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:57:45 -0500

Run with it! It would be so interesting to see how they play out!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

uncreativecarly — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:55:30 -0500

One of my MCs is a transman. I've written gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters but I've never written any trans* characters before, so this should be interesting for me!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

uncreativecarly — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:00:04 -0500

As for plot, I have no idea. I have MCs and I know them inside and out, but I still don't know what non-cliche shenanigans they will be up to. And I know it starts in 10 days. klfgaeori

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

visorio — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:48:24 -0500

The main character isn't just dealing with her sexuality, but she's realizing the girl she's falling for belongs to an elite family that's well-connected with some shady characters in the corrupt city of Chicago. Some ethical dilemmas, a looming mystery from the past. So. I suck at summaries, but I'm really glad this thread is here. I always had gay characters in my novels, but this may be my first attempt at not writing noir. There are some noir-ish features, but I can't really call it noir. It's more about self-discovery with some dark mysterious elements abound.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

bubl — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:25:52 -0500

Whoa! Your userpic is like looking in the mirror!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

AdrienEtienne — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:50:50 -0500

...And I've changed which novel I've decided to write to something that hit me completely out of left field... This novel will still be written (probably within the next few months), and the novel that I'm going to write in November also has a good array of queer characters (of all sorts). It's post-apocalyptic/dystopian YA... Science Fantasy? The cast all have supernatural powers of some sort. Several of them (including the majority of my main characters) are some type of queer. My main main characters, are MtF trans and pan, gay, and bi respectively... I think. I didn't originally realize that one of them was trans, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are more surprises in store from them as I continue to plan. Part way through planning, she decided that she was in fact a girl, not a guy who liked to crossdress/was genderfluid to some extent. I'm going with it. Strangely enough, I don't write very many FtM characters, possibly because I try not to write characters who are too too much like me, even though I obviously have to use my own experiences. Adrien Etienne

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

KittyburgerMN — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:44:24 -0500

I love you. So is mine, btw. (more on that in a bit).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

KittyburgerMN — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:53:04 -0500

My novel, Eleusinian (as in the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Greek mythic cycle around the change of the seasons), takes place in the near future (around 15-20 years from now) and three of my MCs are trans women: One who grew up in the 1980s and transitioned in early adulthood; one who grew up in the 2000s and transitioned in adolescence (the main protag, Maia Kendall), and one who grew up in the 1970s and is transitioning during the story. I also have a couple of cissexual lesbians in the cast (including Maia's wife, Sophie), and the story takes place AFTER the two terms in office of America's first gay President.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sandstormkat — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:58:43 -0500

Mine is tragic historical fiction exploring the theme of sibling-y love. The big sib just happens to be an asexual, somewhat androgynous android. And hir/his little sister is a transgender girl with polio.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sandstormkat — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:00:13 -0500

It also may have a subplot about ill-fated gay lovers competing to find the cure for polio.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

KittyburgerMN — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:19:16 -0500

Oops. I remembered I changed the third character - from a 50+ year old late transitioner, to a 20something who was just starting to transition when she lost her home and her business due to the state government cheating her on a land deal.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

leemcleanhoule — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:23:50 -0500

Oh...I would love to read that as well. I will try and keep tabs on you. bwaahaahaa Lee

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ophiucha — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:34:23 -0500

My story doesn't really deal with LGBT+ issues, but nearly every character is some shade of queer, except arguably the protagonist. Olwen, our MC, is heterosexual. And in a polyamorous relationship with Roderick and Gareth, who are both bisexual and have been married for nearly 30 years. Their relationship is... complicated. Magic curse, turns one of them to stone by day, the other to stone by night, so they share a tertiary partner as a way of having a sexual connection with one another. Olwen is their third, at least for the duration of the story (they've had others before, and the story ends with the curse being reversed, though given the fact that Olwen was the one who saved them, they may stay with her for a while to see if it works out). The antagonists aren't really given a lot of screen time, at least not in any way that would give them a chance to talk about their gender and sexual identities, but King Cadwgan is asexual and Lord Arianrhod is implied to be somewhere in the trans* spectrum, though the specifics are never really addressed (particularly since Olwen's only interest in her involves murder).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:01:06 -0500

I've got one helluva stack of books to read for research, but luckily I like history and read fast. **FINALLY** got a title, too, thanks to NaNo's own GlassWolf: "Alexander in India: An Operatic Romance" This was the first opera the men collaborated on, and it's definitely an operatic romance since there are so many obstacles to their happiness. I think it works. Anyone have feedback for me?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:03:30 -0500

*wrings hanky into sink* Oh wow, you are one mean character-owner.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:03:58 -0500

I want to read this. Right now.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

TheWitchingWell — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:51:33 -0500

I'm writing for some F/F loving this year that basically goes along the lines of this: My MC is an assassin/spy and goes after a [*coughcough* very sexy] target. They are forced by extreme circumstances to spend time holed up together and sexy tension/relationship brews, making her second guess her ability to do this. a fellow spy gets orders, kills [*coughcough* very sexy] target, MC goes in for revenge. there are also a bunch of secret twists and turns that I'm not willing to disclose yet. :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

KMcNamara — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:31:57 -0500

I would totally read this. I love stories that are based on real, obscure historical figures. I'm going to wikipedia this guy!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Azzie-chan — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:51:40 -0500

My MC this year is sometimes a human girl and other times a faerie boy. Ze essentially leads a double life, up until the plot shows up and starts complicating things.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

BlueVoltorb — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:54:27 -0500

What community is this? Sounds interesting =]

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

BlueVoltorb — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:09:02 -0500

I'm not writing any LGBT centred stuff this year, well not really anyway. My male MC will wear lipstick and make out with a male guard on the first couple of pages, but this is all with the premise of getting his wife out of prison. Which is a shame really, cause I like the idea of him being gay. Anyway... Being gay myself, I tend to write a lot of gay characters cause I identify with them and their emotions more than I do with straight characters. My main writing plot (which has entered book 2) focuses on 2 gay teenagers who are deeply and desperately in love with one another and all the complicated stuff they go through that tries to break them apart (e.g. in book 2 which I'm writing now my protagonist/narrator acquires a stalker (also male) who breaks him and his boyfriend up for a while but who eventually commits suicide at the end of the story because he's so heartbroken that Mr. Protagonist/Narrator will always love his boyfriend more than him). I'm not ashamed to say that I write in a lot of myself in my work, and several of my protagonists' crushes are based on people I like in real life. I'm also toying with the idea of doing some LGBT historical fiction set during World War 2 with an evacuation theme. Guy from the city gets evacuated to the country and meets guy from the country, they strike up a relationship but city guy eventually ends up getting shot by country guy's dad cause he's appalled by how he believes he has corrupted his son. I find it more interesting to write about these issues in the context of them not being totally accepted by society, but that's just me.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Whes — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:56:36 -0500

I don't know how I feel about queer-labeling or not-labeling, but I figure I might as well just add my two cents to the bucket: My novel this year will be about a straight young man who is sexually abused by his gay, male landlord and any number of straight and gay men (and occasionally straight women) who come in and out of his home to see his druggie, prostitute mother. Later, my MC will become a prostitute himself, seeing mostly male clients. To be honest, though, the whole question of what even is "LGBT" makes me uncomfortable lately.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Whes — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:58:42 -0500

Wow, that's cool! Does she literally transform into a different sex, or does she just dress up? How does this take place?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Rexford — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:04:58 -0500

My MC isn't queer (well, I shouldn't say she isn't; rather, her sexuality has no importance, and while she will be interested in men, her sexuality doesn't need to be confirmed one way or another, so she could be bis/pan if the reader wanted her to be) but I'm a transman and I'm queer, and there will be a good bit of focus on alternate sexualities. My novel doesn't fall under the LGBTQ+ genre, but various characters will be revealed to be non-heterosexual as the story progresses and it will be addressed in a positive manner.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:50:07 -0500

Oh yay! Be sure to check my profile on 11/2, I'll have an excerpt up by then.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:53:40 -0500

The WWII story sounds really interesting.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

CyanGiraffe — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:12:47 -0500

My novel is pretty much an adventure disguised as a coming-out story. My MMC grew up in a homophobic and Catholic environment, and never really realises that he's gay; he's convinced that he's asexual. Throughout the plot, he changes from an awkward, poor, and lonely kid to a slightly less awkward, confident, and fabulous superhero. He even ends up falling in love with with one of his male companions... kinda. The companion falls in love with him, and my MMC goes with it a bit because it's not THAT bad. I always end up incorporating someone in the QUILTBAG/LBGTQA (so many acronyms!) spectrum into my writing.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Azzie-chan — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:17:33 -0500

Thanks! :3 When ze's in 'our' world, ze's a human girl, and whenever ze's in the faerie world, ze transforms into a faerie boy. Ze ends up having to dress up as a boy sometimes, though.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Splash13 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:18:18 -0500

And me, too! It sounds like something I can become a real fan of. :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:31:18 -0500

Aaack real life ate me temporarily, but thank you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:32:22 -0500

Thank you so much! I really hope I get to finish too. I have class all the way up through Thanksgiving week, so I'm not sure if I'll finish it this year, but now I really have to try harder, don't I? XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:32:57 -0500

Thank you! I am okay with having rabid fans! As long as they're on my side, they're the best kind! :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:33:22 -0500

omg stoppit guise my fragile ego is going to explode xD; Thank you thank you thank you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:37:21 -0500

I AM SO OKAY WITH THIS. Also Tacoma. Tacoma is an *excellent* setting for this sorta story, it's sketchy as hell in some districts (Green River Killer, anyone?) and the area is supposed to be pretty heavily haunted anyway. I love when people write about Western WA :')

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

buffalo.girl — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:24:18 -0500

Agreed... ;)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

buffalo.girl — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:29:37 -0500

I seem to write a lot of gay fiction, mainly because I love men, and find relationships (romantic, platonic, familial, antagonistic, passing, whatever) between men interesting. This year I'm writing about two guys who move downstate together from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...That's pretty much all I've got right now.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

starfishandcoffee — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:14:49 -0500

I don't know if what I've got so far counts as LGBTQ novels, but it'll probably have a LGBTQ character or two, if not the main character. The story's about a man who wakes up every day in an alternate universe, falls in love with a person who he keeps seeing one, and ultimately has to decide between a stable life without them or an unstable life with them.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

suchasoftersin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:58:52 -0500

it's kind of hard to avoid making everyone in everything I write queer. so literally about 80% of everyone in what I'm writing this year are gay... haha.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ArtemisLiCa — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:21:50 -0500

Suddenly, I want to write a novel with a gay vampire. I usually avoid vampires, prefering some less used paranomal beings. But now I want to write one.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

heymonster — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:06:23 -0500

Very cliche, I know, but I'm working on a lgbtq fantasy based loosely on sleeping beauty. Restless from the monotony of palace life and an endless parade of potential wives, Young Prince can't shake the feeling that something is missing in his life. Deciding to escape the confines of court and hoping to discover his true identity Y.P. embarks on a quest after discovering the old stories of a sleeping princess in a cursed and forgotten castle may be true. On the way he befriends a feisty red-headed Female Knight who doesn't let her sex dictate her position, and shows Y.P. what it means to take control of your destiny. Together they find the castle, but instead of a slumbering princess there lies a sleeping prince (Other Young Prince?). Y.P. performs the fateful kiss, with conflicted hesitation, and O.Y.P. awakens devestated to find he's been asleep for over 1000 years and the life he knew is gone forever. From here Y.P. and F.K. agree to accompany O.Y.P. in confronting the forces that placed the curse upon him and his former kingdom. Their path proves dangerous and along the way Y.P. and O.Y.P. form a very close bond but Y.P. struggles with the complex emotions that have begun to surface since the kiss. Still so much to work out but that pretty much sums up the main storyline.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ArtemisLiCa — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:03:18 -0500

I was looking through my ideas folder (actually a 2" binder which is almost full) trying to decide on a idea to work with this year and I realized I didn't have any heterosexual romances in any of the story ideas in my folder. (I write romance, mostly fantasy or paranormal romance). Then I come across one labeled F-Het. (Fantasy-Heterosexual) and I was like, really? Wonder what it's about. Turns out I decided I changed my mind about pairing up the MMC and the FMC and had the MMC fall in love with the FMC's male best friend. XD I also have (in another folder) an idea for a high fantasy novel where the focus is NOT on a romantic relationship, though originally I'd decided to pair up the FMC and MMC. I knew I wanted them to end up as work partners, but I've been struggling for YEARS to figure out the romance between them. Reading through this thread, I finally realized what the problem was! They are both gay. It fits their personalities so much better, I can't believe I didn't realize sooner! Add in the fact the FMC is taking on what is considered a male role in their society and it will probably be easier for her to find herself someone. Of course, the MMC being a prince (NOT the heir to the kingdom; and his family only gets back in power at the end of BK 1) makes it harder for him to find a romantic partner. Totally thinking of making his thief best friend more than a friend now and have MMC and FMC being best friends (eventually-she thinks he's very annoying when they first meet). And then there's the fantasy novel I'm currently leaning towards writing. It has three main characters: Winter, Luis and Donovan. Winter is a biromantic asexual, Luis is a biromantic homosexual and Donovan is either a biromantic asexual or a biromantic bisexual (he's not sure yet). They are actually going to end up as a triad, with Winter very much enjoying physical effection but being very 'meh' about sex while Donovan and Luis enjoy a healthy (read: enthusiastic) sex life. So it's mostly a romantic triad and a sexual pairing. (And I should probably apologize for the lengthy post! Sorry!)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

buffalo.girl — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:01:34 -0500

That sounds so cool! I'd looooove to read this story.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

buffalo.girl — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:03:14 -0500

Seconded.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

thelazyafternoon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:25:23 -0500

My story set in 1910's England involves a gay relationship between the two main characters. I'm trying not to make the "coming-to-terms" part a big deal of the story, despite the times. What's going on in the plot, the actual historical events, take precedent over the angst and drama of the self-realization of the one character, even though there is focus on that in a few parts. I'd love to read a LGBT story where it's just part of the story and not a big huge let's-deal-with-this issue.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Whes — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:18:03 -0500

Have you read Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin? Its main character is a girl who literally turns into a boy once a month. :) I quite like it... >u> In that book, the girl and boy become two separate consciousnesses--two people time-sharing one body. It's really cool. Does Ze become two different people, or is she always herself, but sometimes himself?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Illyrias_Acolyte — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:58:05 -0500

Did that for NaNo last year with The Bad Guys and my gay fantasy protagonist. This year, all the major characters are straight.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:39:06 -0500

Winter? Really? I have a mother, a sister, a great-uncle, and a cousin (M) named Winter! My daughter would've been named Winter, too, but her mother got to the registrar first, to my abiding annoyance.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

xXDeaths_AngelXx — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:41:01 -0500

I'm writing a fanficion for an anime that I really like and the two main characters are a gay and a bisexual. Arthur Kirkland is an artist whose fiance just left him because she thought that he was too poor and "wasn't going anywhere in his life" who finds his "muse" in a merman that washes up onto the balcony of his rundown little apartment, Alfred F. Jones. Alfred's not anyone really important but an athlete in the merpeople world. It's a mix of comdey/fantasy/ romance and something I had thought up awhile ago.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:03:22 -0500

I have a book written by josh Lanyaon, i think, called man Oh Man, about writing m/m romance... has lots of creative writing tips.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:05:50 -0500

I so agree... I am gender queer, meaning I don't accept that gender preordains what I am or to whom I will be attracted.. talk about freedom. If the mechanics could just be that free I'd be a gay man.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

nan_hawthorne — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:07:16 -0500

And ain't that the point, ultimately.. to make books that are not for any particular group?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

puddingspace — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:14:33 -0500

I'm freaking terrified, but it's beginning to look like my novel this year is going to be about a gay transboy. Also, it's fanfiction. I'm a straight cis female with zero personal experience with trans* issues, apart from fandom and a couple of people I follow on Tumblr. I feel like I won't be able to do this right at all. *sigh* I guess that's why no one actually has to see my NaNo novel.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:25:57 -0500

Ooh, that sounds very interesting. I'd read that. :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:38:50 -0500

That sounds utterly fantastic. I would totally buy that, being a history buff, an avid reader and a music lover. (I was trained in classical piano so if you have any questions about music notations, etc, feel free to pm me and I'll see what I remember!)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:39:49 -0500

Thirded.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:42:13 -0500

I'm writing book two in my series about Archangels in love (as I affectionately call it), which is Gabriel and Michael and their complicated relationship in a dystopian future Earth after the end of a mildly catastrophic demon uprising. Book one has a publishing home (OMG SO EXCITE I CAN'T EVEN) and so I'm eager to start book two! So yes, two gay Archangels as the MCs, lots of other angels, a few Archdemons, snark, cigarettes and cigars, swimming naked, and the black market. Set in 2081.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:24:00 -0500

I lived in Bremerton for 20 years!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:00:07 -0500

Gay archangels. The Vatican has a hit out on you already, you know. ;->

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ArtemisLiCa — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:44:32 -0500

I love the name Winter for a girl. I'm used to thinking of it as a girl's name though just because all of the season names seem to be girls:Spring, Summer, Autumn and then Winter.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:25:27 -0500

Winter as a man's name doesn't draw more raised eyebrows than as a woman's...not at all true for the other seasons. I've never even heard of a man called Spring, f/ex. If I met one, I'd raise my own brows and silently comment on the cruielty of his parents.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

starfishandcoffee — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:55:19 -0500

God, I love the idea of stone! That's heartbreakingly brilliant. Is that inspired by some sort of legend?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

starfishandcoffee — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:56:13 -0500

Does anyone have any tips on writing trans* characters? I've decided that my MC's younger sister will be MTF and one of the people who guide him through the alternate universe.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ami — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:44:28 -0500

Writing a story about a reparative therapy camp, which has been an excellent excuse to come up with forty or so queer characters. SO fun having a cast of almost entirely LGBT and other non-hetero characters.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ami — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:45:12 -0500

Pff, The Pope's just in denial. Those two are totally doing it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ami — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:48:00 -0500

Oooh! Cliche-smli...che... Retold fairytales are AWESOME. Totally following this story.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Ami — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:49:45 -0500

The official procrastination project of NaNoWriMo 2011, y/n?

Yay! Finally found y'all

sithkitten — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:56:09 -0500

I was poking through forum after forum, looking for the comforting old queer-friendly thread, and had all but given up hope when I finally looked under "other." Granted, I almost never post in the forums, but if I do, it's going to be in this thread, because I always have queer characters of one type or another. This year's NaNo has two main storylines, one of which features a recovering Catholic girl coming to terms with the fact that she's a lesbian. Of course, it's filled with horror and supernatural stuff and all sorts of other crap as well, but I think my young gay characters should qualify me nicely to live in this thread. :) And by the way, every NaNo I've ever attempted or completed has been stuffed full of queerness, too. Gay characters galore! Even had an intersexed character pop up once. That was a bit of a surprise! To me and the other characters both. Anyway, good luck, all!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

RionaDaidouji — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:41:31 -0500

Urgh. SO my brain keeps telling me "Pair one of your MCs with a transgendered character!". Then the reasonable part of my brain goes "Um, you already have a pansexual character, not to mention INCEST. Don't you think your tackling enough 'issues'?" But then I think that my pansexual character would be the perfect character TO pair up with a transman or transwoman. Urgh! But it just doesn't seem like the right story to tackle this with! But if I keep it with background characters, then maybe it's all good. But I might end up needing to cut it out because it'll take away too much focus from the main plot. But I really want to write it in. *headdesk* Let's just see how it goes.

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

RionaDaidouji — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:48:43 -0500

Pardon the double post, but if you need any insight on writing a Catholic lesbian, just drop me a PM! Although I just reread your post and noticed you said "recovering" Catholic, which seems to imply that she'll be leaving the religion... But, if you decide to make her stick with it, and need insight on that struggle, let me know!

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

sithkitten — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:19:39 -0500

Hey, thanks for the offer! I've been researching a lot online, but none of it's quite the same as getting advice from a real person.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sithkitten — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:28:29 -0500

[quote=puddingspace] I feel like I won't be able to do this right at all. *sigh* I guess that's why no one actually has to see my NaNo novel. [/quote] Aw, come on, have some faith! You can do it! :) I don't know if this statistic is still accurate, but last I knew, over 80% of all slashers were straight females. So if that many straight chicks can write slashy fanfiction with hot guys getting it on, you can write about a gay transboy. And trust me, if it's fanfiction, someone out there will definitely want to read it. Just remember, there is no right or wrong, there is only writing.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

onecoolc — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:41:54 -0500

My FMC isn't queer in any way, but my other MC is asexual agender. :) I'm actually having a lot of problems with assigning a pronoun to Ciphor. :/ I'm writing fantasy this year, and Ciphor is a member of a species that reproduces by budding. So, in addition to being mentally asexual/agender they're also physically asexual/agender in an entire species of the same. Obviously, in their native language pronouns are genderless, but then there's the translation flaw because the only widely used agender pronoun in English is "it", which is demeaning. I can't see Ciphor, as a person, caring too much about being mis-assigned the wrong pronoun. They'd let someone call them "he" or "she" (more likely he with their physical body) for the sake of ease. And I can't see Ciphor wanting to be referred to with a singular "they" (as I've been useing in this post XD) because it would be a bit of a pain for some people. But, here's the big one. I don't want to continuously call Ciphor "he" in narration, because it wrongly reinforces the reader's gender concepts on them. But I really, really don't want to use singular "they" because it's grammatically incorrect and thus a pain to write with and make sound fine. And as I said earlier - Ciphor doesn't really care. XD So it's highly unlikely that they'd insist on a separate, gender-neutral pronoun that isn't commonly used in English.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:47:25 -0500

[quote=onecoolc] My FMC isn't queer in any way, but my other MC is asexual agender. :) I'm actually having a lot of problems with assigning a pronoun to Ciphor. :/ I'm writing fantasy this year, and Ciphor is a member of a species that reproduces by budding. So, in addition to being mentally asexual/agender they're also physically asexual/agender in an entire species of the same. Obviously, in their native language pronouns are genderless, but then there's the translation flaw because the only widely used agender pronoun in English is "it", which is demeaning. I can't see Ciphor, as a person, caring too much about being mis-assigned the wrong pronoun. They'd let someone call them "he" or "she" (more likely he with their physical body) for the sake of ease. And I can't see Ciphor wanting to be referred to with a singular "they" (as I've been useing in this post XD) because it would be a bit of a pain for some people. But, here's the big one. I don't want to continuously call Ciphor "he" in narration, because it wrongly reinforces the reader's gender concepts on them. But I really, really don't want to use singular "they" because it's grammatically incorrect and thus a pain to write with and make sound fine. And as I said earlier - Ciphor doesn't really care. XD So it's highly unlikely that they'd insist on a separate, gender-neutral pronoun that isn't commonly used in English. [/quote] If you have already read Ian McDonald's astounding novel "River of Gods" and decided against his solution to the same problem, I apologize for bringing it up. If you haven't done so, however, please hearken to an amazing solution: Set in 2047 India, on the centennial of decolonization, India is the home and hotbed of tech innovation and social change. An entire new gender solution, the nutes, has come into being...neither male nor female, beings without gender or genitals, but not without sexuality. The pronoun for the nutes is "yt", pronounced "eet"...plural "thym" pronounced "theem." Personal pronoun remains "I."

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Editorturnedwriter — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:07:01 -0500

This sounds fascinating!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Editorturnedwriter — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:09:29 -0500

Roll call! I'll be writing a F/F romcom for the third time this year. Now if I could just get a little inspiration!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:05:19 -0500

Heh, I don't know Bremerton too well but I drove through there a couple of times last year. BUT YAY FELLOW NORTHWEST PERSON! :D I lived in Tacoma (Federal Way, actually, horrible name for a town, practically the same place anyway) for around ten years, and even if I haven't lived there in a long time a part of me still considers it "home." Always good to see people writing about it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:43:24 -0500

I would expect nothing less. XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:44:09 -0500

Right? Hey, Jesus was about all love, he didn't have an 'except these people' list. I'm prepared to battle the Pope on this if I must. At dawn. With Bibles. XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sithkitten — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:32:00 -0500

Inspiration? What's that? This time of year, I usually find more desperation... ;)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:18:24 -0500

I'm in for that one! Sounds good!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:18:42 -0500

Love it!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:20:48 -0500

I love that and I would definitely read it! LOL at the Vatican comment...

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

Aeria in Flight — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:03:31 -0500

Your storyline sounds great- I'd love to read it when it's done! I was also scanning through the forums to find a queer-friendly thread and was very pleased to find this in "other". I don't write much but want to begin writing more so Nano is the place to do it. I don't have anything more than a fuzzy idea for a storyline, but my MC is lesbian as most all my MCs in anything I write would be. Lesfic is new to me, like coming home. Good luck :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Poledragon — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:45:48 -0500

That's what I've got - a full complement of a dozen engineers and adventurers, and four of them are gay. But the book isn't inherently LGBT in tone, they're just part of the crew. And, after analysing their characters, I've realised one is L, one is G, one is B and one is T. How unintentionally ordered is that? No doubt someone else will come along and put a spanner in my labelling works. But I like that too - I expect my characters to do unexpected things - I tend to throw them overboard if they get too boring.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Poledragon — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:16:06 -0500

I love retold fairy tales! And this one ticks all the right boxes :) Would love to read it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Poledragon — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:30:09 -0500

I belong in several threads, as I've got a steampunk plot demanding attention again, in spite of my habit of trying to write a different genre each year. This time I've also got four characters of variously queer persuasion in my cast of a dozen, but they're just part of the fabric of the story and almost incidental, rather than the focus. Doesn't mean they aren't important characters, only that the FMC's penchant for wearing suits instead of petticoats and the chief engineer's romance with his coalboy are accepted and not major issues. Except I think the MMC decision to marry both his male navigator and his female master-of-weapons might not go down too well.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

elizabethnoble — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:07:32 -0500

I'm so glad I found this thread! It's the good one...lol I too write M/M fiction, mostly the action/adventure romancy kind. I like to put my characters in a future world (so far I only have one WIP that is a contemporary and it's HARD to write---never again, sticking to the future), and in my future someone's sexual preferences aren't an issue. My MC's are all gay or bi men and the focus is on their relationship and whatever action type plot I have going. They have problems and issues, heck who doesn't, but those aren't because of them being gay men, if that makes any sense. For my NaNo novel this year I'm going for one that is on the lighthearted, humorous side, with lots of action of course. The bulk of the story takes place on a cruise liner going between Earth and Moon. The MC's are both employees of the cruise ship, though in different capacities. They discover there are terrorists or smugglers, I haven't decided which--or maybe terrorist smugglers--on board. Unrelated there are also two artifacts, each carrying the spirit of a pirate. The pirate ghosts get out and take turns inhabiting the MC's, help them contain their bad guys and give the almost started romance of the MC's a push in the right direction.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LuciaInTheSky — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:29:21 -0500

My MC is a gay male and it has several LGBTQ characters throughout the book.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

kaciebeckett — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:42:13 -0500

Count me in for some LGBTQ madness... well, mostly just L with a little bit of B. FMC - who really needs a name sometime in the next two days - is an out and proud lesbian. A girl on the beach (Jane) catches her eye one day, and FMC's pleasantly surprised when Jane flirts back. Problem #1: Jane's bisexual, but has barely admitted as much to herself, much less anyone else. Problem #2: "Jane" is actually Jennifer Applewhite, a pop star whose career had flamed out the year before. Needless to say, neither is properly prepared for the paparazzi mayhem that ensues.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Starkiller — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:26:26 -0500

Thank you! :D I lol'd too. XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

MashaBGD — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:37:41 -0500

My MMC is asexual and my FMC is bi. Now, I'm straightly bi-curious, so I'm a bit worried about messing something up. You guys have any advice on how not to make them complete stereotypes? Their sexualities are definitely not important plot points, since they're both dead (and I suck at writing romance :D). Tgey're only mentioned in passing, when MMC refutes advances from others and FMC talks about her life.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

onecoolc — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:54:58 -0500

The easiest way to not write a stereotype, is instead of thinking of that character as "the asexual", think of them as people. This helps with any stereotype, really. Treat your characters as three-dimensional people, and they'll flesh out to be one. On a less general, and more helpful note, the following article on writing gay characters was written by a comic book artist who has written some wonderful lesbian-centric work (and happens to be bisexual herself): http://www.squidoo.com/writing-gay-characters

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Kaje Harper — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:19:38 -0500

I usually write M/M romance but I'm taking a crack at YA fiction with a novel about two adopted boys, one gay and one straight, and their two dads. We'll see how that goes...

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

MashaBGD — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:41:39 -0500

[quote=onecoolc] The easiest way to not write a stereotype, is instead of thinking of that character as "the asexual", think of them as people. This helps with any stereotype, really. Treat your characters as three-dimensional people, and they'll flesh out to be one. [/quote] That one's not really a problem, because I've written this character before and he was always uninterested in romance. I'll check the article, thanks!

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

ymh99 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:09:34 -0500

Glad you found us in the "other" thread, right? LOL Fuzzy is okay - just run with it until it gets clear you can edit later :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:10:39 -0500

Sounds like fun!

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

Aeria in Flight — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:39:49 -0500

I guess I need to get used to "other" ;) :) Fuzzy may be a cover up for scared crapless- running with it and trying not to stress and edit will be the challenge! Thanks~

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ourladyofsorrows — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:47:33 -0500

A lot of my characters don't end up straight. This year isn't any different. I think there may be one straight character in this year's story. It's not romance though, since I have little interest in romance.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

indecisive-x — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:41:57 -0500

My novel has LGBTQ characters in it, though that within itself isn't too much of a theme. My story is about a pack of werewolves that have immigrated from Europe within the past thirty years to a desolate and isolated area in outback Australia to evade the absolute massacres that the hunters have caused in their packs. As they are outcasts of their own kind sexuality and gender issues have been rendered a moot point. They honestly couldn't give a fuck when just surviving takes enough of their energy. There is an interesting kind of dynamic when my MC (a captured hunter) rocks up into the camp and has all the prejudices expected of a straight male raised in 1970s Australia in a very masculine and sheltered environment. He sees these couples and cannot fathom how nobody cares and has to kind of come to terms with seeing how his view of life may be wrong. The FMC herself is pansexual, and has children from a previous F/F relationship, and at the beginning of the novel is in an almost not quite polyamorous relationship with her best friend Sylvia, and Sylvia's mate, Barker. Her parents are two men, are there are other secondary characters that fall under the LGBTIQ banner. Really, you could see the whole persecution thing as an allegory for the persecution of queer individuals, but that's maybe reading a little too into it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Chloe Nichols — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:14:12 -0500

Sign me up! I had to laugh a little at the "gay bar", that is TOO good. :) Sounds like it's gonna be a blast.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

stillalive — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:13:57 -0500

I don't really know if there's a market for my book, but nearly everyone in my novel is a) female and b) lesbian/bi. Main character is a schizophrenic scientist-turned-pornstar-turned-stripper in a longterm relationship with her girlfriend. When the zombie apocalypse happens, she turns a straight girl bi, hooks up with an old flame, and then gets it on with a former female professor she used to lust after. My characters are less 2-D when I write them as lesbians instead of pretending like I understand what it's like to be straight. >_<

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Borca — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:48:20 -0500

Seconded! Your story sounds awe-sommmmme :D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

klmfg13 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:32:07 -0500

With less than 24 hours before the writing begins, I've finally decided on a topic. It's a historical fiction that follows a lesbian character into the ranks of WAC (Women's Army Corps) during WWII, leaving her partner behind. It will be a combination of all things cliché- a love story, a tale of an American war hero, homosexual opposition in the military- but with a twist because the main character is a lesbian. After researching the idea, I'm both completely delighted and shocked that this book doesn't already exist (to my knowledge). I feel as though this might be a bit ambitious because I'm going to be extremely careful to accurately portray every detail, while maintaining likable and believable characters. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

imoustacheyouaquestion — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:50:48 -0500

I have quite a few characters featuring but my main character is a lesbian and my story centers around her trying to get to her girl (since the end of the world has arrived and nothing is known or safe anymore). Cue general badassness, fighting, tears, and ultimately, since I'm a sucker, true love conquers all. Sigh.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

JC_TofuHo — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:56:07 -0500

When I write fanfiction, they generally turn out to be gay pairings involved. XD My NaNo is fanfiction so it's no different. Set in an AU 'verse of Chronicles of Narnia, pairing of choice: Caspian/Edmund. ^-^ I can't wait to write it~ At least it's nice to know there are plenty of other people doing it too~ I wish you all stayed nearby tho T__T it'd be so cool to have a write-in with people who actually approve this stuff.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LondonBoyd — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:57:56 -0500

I love the "as a matter of survival" concept. It's one I've used myself in my own (non-nano) works. I have spent hours trying to explain to my mum why the commander of an army would /encourage/ his subordinates to pair up with the same gender, despite our own country's don't-ask/don't tell philosophy. Between not needing to deal with unwanted pregnancies out in the battle field and the general stress relief that sex can be in a constant life-threataning situation, it just makes sense. (I eventually sent her the wiki link for the Sacred Band of Thebes. . .) I'd love to read how you incorporate the same concept into your own work.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LondonBoyd — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:01:01 -0500

What a lovely concept.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sithkitten — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:28:39 -0500

At least you get to have virtual write-ins, knowing all over the world, people are writing gay characters right there with you! I agree, it's awesome to be around people that don't give you that "you're a weirdo" look when you admit to writing slash. And by the way, always knew Caspian and Edmund were getting it on behind the scenes...

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

flopart — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:34:37 -0500

Ahahaha gay Narnia slash fic! I would read that, especially because poor C S Lewis might roll in his grave over it. :P

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

EndlessD — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:47:51 -0500

This sounds epic.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

EndlessD — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:56:40 -0500

I can't seem to write something without lgbt characters. My NaNo project is the second book in the series I'm writing. The MC is bi, her girlfriend (which she gets in book 2) is gay. There's a mtf, and one of the main male characters might be gay. The world they live in could care less about same-sex couples. The most it matters is if you're in a position where an heir is required, and since those people tend to have a few concubines, it's not a big concern. The basic plot is that the MC has been hunted her whole life by viscous monsters. She eventually meets others like her and they team up to find out why.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Jessiswriting — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:04:54 -0500

Hey, I thought I was going to be alone in my regular, present, non-fantasy or paranormal f/f romance! I know it's not a popular choice, but this plot bunny has been eating at me for six months!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:41:22 -0500

How annoying is it that we still don't have full forum functionality on Halloween? Thanks! I know so little about music that I'll be dodging the topic at every opportunity.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:33:24 -0500

This sounds very interesting. The most important thing that I can tell you - is write like a speed demon, mark your pages while typing and go back and verify and check facts AFTER the Nano. It's so much easier! Good luck!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:34:30 -0500

*Sigh. I'm a sucker for both apocalyptic and love stories... I would love to read this!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:37:04 -0500

I love this thread! LOL - It's just me and my peeps man, just me and my peeps :) *Wink. Yvonne GOOD LUCK ON THIS NANO EVE! I'll be checking with ya'll every day. Since we have our very OWN thread - it makes it easier to weed through the forum. I'm so excited to start :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Duskgem — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:45:19 -0500

Guilty here. Several of the main characters are LGBT, but at the same time I'm inteionally not focusing on that fact. It's set up to be a fantasy with other genres thrown in, in which the FMC learns about magic, ends up getting caught up in a mess...and finds herself falling for the girl who comes to help her, who is naturally completely oblivious. (Okay the plots actually a bit more complicated than that, but going into detail will be long and confusing, especially as I don;t know much of it yet) So yeah the general side romance to a larger plot that often comes in books. The two characters involved just happen to be the same gender, and their are other LGBT's (and Asexuals). I also have the same basic idea in various other plots I've got lined up on the shelves, waiting to be de cob-webbed.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

klmfg13 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:17:25 -0500

I'm getting myself so stressed out about facts that it didn't even occur to me to check later, but it makes so much more sense! Thanks for the advice!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

collective solipsism — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:41:24 -0500

I specifically write a lot of my stuff with queerness in mind. Gotta recruit the wooorld. Or at least let queer themes be known. This year, of the three narrators, two aren't cisgender heterosexual. One, Thomas, is an aromantic asexual and struggles with it a bit, thinks of himself as "broken" for a time, etc. The other, Zane, is technically heterosexual and identifies as a crossdresser, but his gender is actually closer to the genderqueer side of things, and if he lived in this day and age, he would probably identify as such. A tooon of the side characters are queer too, since in this dictatorship, queerness is frowned upon, so a lot of the rebels that Zane comes to know, surprise surprise, aren't straight.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:34:18 -0500

The thing that I've learned about the nano - is don't edit while you're writing - just brainstorm - that was so hard for me last year! I just put in little stars *insert scene or *research this and (blah-blah) for a conversation that I got stuck on. and let the inspiration keep me going. The word count is important - everything cleans up afterwards! You're welcome and welcome! LOL Yvonne

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

stillalive — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:46:47 -0500

I'm writing something very similar! In this novel, my protagonist is trying to save the world for her family. The second novel will be about her girlfriend/partner fighting zombies across North America to get to her. :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

dembonz — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:02:29 -0500

I love all of this.

It's begun...

sithkitten — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:38:16 -0500

...but not in the way I expected. A whole month of planning, plotting, character profiles and scene notes, getting excited about writing a particular story... Then midnight comes, I sit at my keyboard, and my fingers got hijacked by a completely different story. The only similarity? Well, there's gayness. But this time it's guys, not girls, and the story is fantasy, not on Earth at all (which I'm fine with, as I don't often write stuff set on Earth). Craziness! Now I need to come up with a new working title. Damn it. At least there's writing happening!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

darkdescartes — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:11:35 -0500

HOLY [COW] WANNA READ WANNA READ WANNA READ!!!!!!!!!!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

DizzyAngel — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:26:48 -0500

One of my main characters is a widowed gay father of a young son, its not really a main theme but thats who he turned out to be during character development

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

BlueVoltorb — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:47:03 -0500

"My characters are less 2-D when I write them as lesbians instead of pretending like I understand what it's like to be straight." I totally get this =D

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Koinaka — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:19:49 -0500

Well, considering the fact that my story is about two boys who become friends and then fall in love, I would say yes, there are LGBTQ characters therein! Not really going to touch on the issues in the novel because it really isn't relevant. Both boys are bullied, yes, but for reasons other than their sexuality, so basically, they are two people falling in love who just happen to be boys.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Hllangel — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:46:52 -0500

I'm taking Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and reversing the central love triangle, which immediately turns things to the queer end of the spectrum. Viola is in love with her boss, Olivia, who isn't so much into dating as her career. But she seems to be attached to Charles Orsino, who has fallen head over heels for Viola's twin brother after a one-night stand. Meanwhile, they all work for Orsino & Associates, a family-centric law firm started by Charles' grandfather, and currently headed by Charles' very conservative father. Can this work out happily ever after for anyone involved?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:03:06 -0500

I am in awe. I've kept notes before now. I can totally get with the program of counting the notes into my word count. Writerly blessings rai down upon you.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:05:58 -0500

It's a romance. It **has** to. Luuurve the idea!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:55:39 -0500

I admit. I am more proud of that pun than I should be XD Thank you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:56:10 -0500

EPIC? SO NO PRESSURE OKAY XDDDDD Thank you so much! I'll try not to disappoint :x

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:57:12 -0500

:'D Thank you very much!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

LillianCrow — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:00:38 -0500

I AM A CROW NOT A COW THERE'S AN 'R' IN THERE (AN I'M NOT HOLY IN THE SLIGHTEST AND MAYBE I'M TAKING THIS JOKE TOO FAR) BUT THANK YOU! <3 I'm super happy that my silly little idea has gotten such a good response, thank you and thank you all for the cheerleading - I'll do my best! ;_;

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:20:39 -0500

11/2/2011 - as you can see, I scrapped my original idea, it became so cerebal and dark that I had nightmares last night. So, I scratched my outline, notes and first day of hard work. Back to the drawing board and racing to catch up! As soon as I write a synopsis, I'll post it. *Heavy sigh.*

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:31:11 -0500

*there there, pat pat* Happens to all of us, sooner or later. You can and shall recover from this setback! On to 50K on the back of a new idea-horse!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Wriggle — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:55:22 -0500

Although I hadn't planned it at all, my MC ended up being a lesbian. The story-inside-the-story has (planed) gay characters as well.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:15:33 -0500

Oh thank you! The "there theres and the pat pats" ALWAYS work! On to the next - I dusted off a premise that was in my idea book (sorting through ten of them!) - it's racing right along, I hope to be all caught up with the word counts by this evening! Romantic comedy is much better for me at this point in my life. So: here's the new one: Widowed small animal Veterinarian, Aislin O’Shea, wasn’t looking for a relationship. She certainly was attracted to an Amazon lawyer who was the epitome of a blue-blooded ice queen. She just wasn’t her type. Stellar career, wealth, exclusive social circle, models vying for her attention, Zane Whitman had it all, or so she thought until a feisty brunette showed up in the middle of the night to knock her off her feet. Literally. Two women from opposite sides of the tracks. Neither one of them sees the train coming. Wait for it.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

itsonlymemories — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:23:42 -0500

I'm writing a series of short stories called (for now) "Don't Try This At Home." They're all going to use the same MC, who's a lesbian, and most of the other characters are LGBTQ also. I'm not sure of the genre yet. All of the stories are fictionalized accounts of things that have happened to me and friends. Some are sad, some are funny. I'm not sure if I need a running narrative to glue them all together or not though. Day two and I've already got a headache!!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:18:55 -0500

LOVE fish-out-of-water comedies! Yay you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:19:22 -0500

I made it over 2000 words without a sex scene! That must be a personal best. Of course, now that I'm at 3722 total words, there are now TWO sex scenes. Apparently these characters are going to be trouble from the sex standpoint. I was going to lead up to the subject, introducing some whoopee about 5K words in, but Pietro decided to errrmmm pleasure himself early on, and pleasure the Countess after she watched. I have NO IDEA where that came from. It was NOT the plan.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:21:24 -0500

Great title! I know exactly what to expect, if not exactly what's coming, if that distinction makes any sense to you.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Killyenn — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:58:32 -0500

One of my characters is a gay man in a dystopian society. His partner was murdered in WOIII and he had to hide after his children were taken from him. He never found them back and now has to live with the guilt of losing his children because of his own actions (from his POV). He is a traumatized and hurt man, not able to cope with the lose of all his loved once while having to hide his sexually now as well because it is now safe to be openly gay anymore. LGBTQ is not a main theme in my novel, but discrimination in many ways is. I wanted to include it as a critique on our society, where discrimination still exists in so many forms.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Thistlefoot — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:40:10 -0500

Not to jump on the bandwagon, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon. AWESOMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This sounds so fantastic. And hilarious. And brilliant. Be my writing buddy, pretty please? The queerness of my characters isn't the focus of my book, but both my main characters are queer ladies.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:34:55 -0500

Run with this! It sounds great - just let your words and experience flow with it and run the narrative later... I also love the title. Good luck.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

zmonsterz — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:08:02 -0500

My story focuses on my main character who is a closeted gay teen and his new friend, another gay teen who helps him to come out... They actually starting going out as there is an instant attraction between the two. There's actually a lot of homophobic and gay bashing in my story which is proving hard to write as I have great difficulty stomaching it but I'm managing to cope.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

DebraStang — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:42:27 -0500

I think I'm off to a good start with my little ghost/human romance. I've just gotten to the part where Nick (the modern day American tourist) meets George Boleyn, 16th century ghost, brother of Anne Boleyn. George speaks to Nick kindly after Nick has a fight with his lover, Adrian, who has stormed away. At first, Nick thinks George is an actor in costume. Then he tries to shake his hand, and watches in shock as his fingers pass through George's... Now I have to find a way to work in enough historical information so that the reader knows who George Boleyn is, but not so much that it becomes snoozeville.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

chibisarel — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:25:22 -0500

The majority of my works tend to have gay or bi characters in them. Mainly men, though, as I am more comfortable writing them, but women come along now and then. And gender stereotype ignoring characters, of course. My current project is set in a matriarchal world, sort of like mirroring our renaissance period (but with some fantasy elements, such as a goddess who takes a very keen interest in her world, and of course a completely different mythology and history). The society itself doesn't really mind same-sex flings, but you're expected to settle down and have a family with actual children. More so in the lower classes (where many children mean more help with income or work) and the upper classes (where at the very least the first-born is expected to birth an heiress or two). The MC starts out (at a wee seven years of age) with the knowledge and acceptance of the fact that he will be married off to whoever his mother decides on, but stuff will happen and he'll start to question the entire society and the fact that men are always assumed to be worse than women at everything that doesn't have to do with nurturing (or fashion). Due to his eventual hatred of women, he'll be more or less completely gay. Other characters, who have previously been MCs, also tend to end up with people of their own gender. And always have the threat of marriage hanging over their heads XD "You silly man, how do you think anyone will ever take you seriously if you insist on walking around unwed? You're already twenty-five, for goddess's sake! Most men your age already have one or two daughters to care for!" and similar stuff. (Also, I get to play around with the idea of men in make-up and gowns. Mwahaha. Emphasizing their slim hips and long legs, naturally.)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

BlueVoltorb — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:27:11 -0500

L. M. F. A. O. XD

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

BlueVoltorb — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:30:05 -0500

It's good that you're finding it hard to stomach - the harder it is for you to write, the harder it's gonna be for someone else to read and ultimately that's how you'll bring attention to the issues and get the reader to think about it themselves. Dunno if that's something you're aiming for, but I'd see that as a positive if it was me, cause I'd probably find it quite hard too, being gay myself. Good luck with it =] Count me as one of your guaranteed readers once it's finished x x

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Kimiyo — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:39:15 -0500

I want to read this book because omg the thought of a gay superhero with literal gaydar and a rainbow crowbar of justice just makes me grin so hard. Where was this book a few years ago and why isn't it in the library like it should be?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:26:26 -0500

Question for m/m readers: My MMC is in love with a man, but they're separated by factors they can't control. MMC is the live-in sex toy of a noblewoman. Quite early on in the book, MMC is well uhhh pleasuring himself and the noblewoman is watching, unknown to him. They have a moment, and then there's another sex scene with him fantasizing that he's being ravished by his beloved MMC2 as he takes the noblewoman on his desk. All in the first five pages. Too much too soon? The characters were quite insistent on getting into the swing of things early, and to all appearances often. I don't know about this...seems a little too porn-y to me, but attempts to rattle them back into their cages have produced no character obedience, rather the opposite. They go mute. ...?...

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

zephyrxvx — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:35:08 -0500

i'm writing a novel about a guy, oli, who falls in love with the singer of a hardcore band, micah. i'm having way too much fun with it. i swear, they are just too cute together. geebuz.

Re: Yay! Finally found y'all

Child of harvest — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:53:44 -0500

I read the excerpt of your story, it sounds very interesting! Hang in there and keep on writing, you'll make it :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poiama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:24:16 -0500

Let them take you were they want to go for now. Just get words on the paper for November, then rattle their cages in December and beyond.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poiama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:28:20 -0500

Not that it makes any difference whatsoever its just my curiosity getting the better of me, but I'm wondering how many of us writing LGBTQ are "non-straight"?? Me, I say I'm bi mostly because there are so many more words now that I just didn't know 18 years ago when I figured this out. I don't really care about the gender of the other person, it all about their "personality"

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sithkitten — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:32:34 -0500

How the hell do you do that? My word counts are nearly always driven by sex scenes! :P

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

sithkitten — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:45:55 -0500

*ahem* Long time smut writer speaking here... There's nothing wrong with letting your characters have sex all over the place. If you're concerned it'll read like porn, watch the word choices: i.e. there's a huge language difference between porn and erotica. Make it sound trashy, you get a load of porn. Use complete sentences and nicer words, you get erotica. :) And if you still think they're wanting to have too much sex, let 'em have their fun, but back off describing it too much. As in, keep the descriptions vague and, well, titillating, rather than spelling it all out in graphic detail. Okay, smut lecture over! :) By the way, I have a great deal of sympathy for you with the recalcitrant characters. Let them have their way, lest they decamp on you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:15:36 -0500

Indeed what I ended up doing! My Inner Editor was on overtime when I posted that query. (Queery? Ooof bad pun!)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:16:54 -0500

LOL complete sentences and no c--t or c--k...got it! Thanks for the quickie! LESSON, that is, LESSON.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:19:21 -0500

I gave up sex with girls for Lent in 1981, after a *horrifying* marriage ending in death and disaster. I have never looked back. Boys might be boring out of bed, but they ROCK in it. YMMV, of course.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

redtights — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:20:17 -0500

Even though I am 21 I stll have a shameful love for (kindof shitty) teen girl fiction. When I was a teen girl I searched high and low for YA novels with lesbian characters, and they were few and far between. So, that is what I am writing about now! Being an admittedly self involved and dramatic person, I am hoping this will channel well into a novel that is at least complete (but hopefully also tolerable to read).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

redtights — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:26:54 -0500

Well, I`m a lesbian, hence my writing about a lesbian I suppose. :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:50:49 -0600

Out and proud....

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mellybeans0919 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:25:44 -0600

Two of my characters are lesbians. I am enjoying them thoroughly so far.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Child of harvest — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:15:15 -0600

Writing some lesbian romantic drama/ historical fiction with a bit of magic realism here! I have a ton of stories based on the same premises of predestination, two women (and their descendants) find each other and fall in love over and over again during different periods in history. The storyline starts in the Middle Ages and ends up somewhere in the future. I still have to think of a good title for the whole, originally it was 'Daughters of Aradia', but I think this sounds too much like fantasy, not to mention new age-y. I've never actually written a story down before, NaNo is the perfect encouragement! For now I've started writing a novel set in America in the 1960's and 40's. One of my heroines has sadly ended up on death row, but there will be a major love story further on in the book. Can you tell I'm a hopeless romantic? ;)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Superevil225 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:56:34 -0600

I have a character in mine called Ramon. My novel is set in a 19th century world, and she wants to be a he, but can't because of tech limilations. So basically she cross-dresses and tells everyone to call her a 'he' and use the name Ramon. There's also a couple, Kagai and Akatsuki. Kagai keeps Akatsuki as a *ahem* companion but Akatsuki is all 'Do not want'. That is, until he get Stockholm syndrome.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Meeresbande — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:46:40 -0600

Me too! Sounds like an awesome story with awesome characters!

Nooooo!

sithkitten — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:01:17 -0600

Oh, what a horrible feeling! I just noticed an unpleasant discrepancy in my word count. I'm using celtx this year, because it's an awesome screenwriting program, and it's stuffed full of cool toys. But the word counter is off! It says I have over 1800 more words than the NaNo word count validator says I do! Damn, damn, damn. Guess that takes my happy ego down a notch. I promise, I'll use the validator to make sure I'm not padding my word count with invisible words from now on. :( Guess I'd better let my gay boys have more sex, get my word count back up to where I thought it was. And of course be grateful I discovered the problem now, not at 50K. That would have been infinitely more crushing.

Re: Nooooo!

Mudge the Expendable — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:43:35 -0600

Oh noooooo indeed! I'm so sorry! But often those ghost words are commands and formatting terms that're invisible to you but somehow come up as words in the word-count. **there there, pat pat** At least, as you say, you found it now, not on 11/30 at 23.59.59 local time.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Meeresbande — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:16:58 -0600

I think that's a great concept! It's interesting to imagine a society where "any type of sexuality was considered acceptable" :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

visorio — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:07:32 -0600

This sounds like a super-interesting story. Don't give this idea up!

Re: Nooooo!

sithkitten — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:45:46 -0600

Thanks for the sympathy! *sniffle* Okay, drama over. Now back to writing! :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Emalive — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:26:48 -0600

This sounds really cool! My main character is in a metal band with her ex-girlfriend.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:49:16 -0600

I actually would pick up that book to scan with the original title you chose! I would also love to see the whole time travel thing. Good luck!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:50:57 -0600

There is a very fast growing market for these YA stories in the LGBT publishing :) Stick with it :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:51:18 -0600

Write what you know! LOL - me too...

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Arabwel — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:31:22 -0600

I don't have a GLBTQ novel, but I have a queer characters. one of the main characters, the serial killer, is gay and this is a major polt point becase he cannnot reciprociate the bunny-boiler FMC's feelings on any level. I admit I am abit leery about having a villain protagonist who is queer because arrrgh bad press and stereotypes already, but on the other hand this is the story I want to tell :/

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

karrachristine — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:51:28 -0600

Gosh. I don't know if you consider what I'm writing GLBTQ, but, in the beginning, my MC wasn't suppose to end up falling for the other male MC! He was suppose to fall for the male MC's sister, but that is not at all what's happening. Abel has a mind of his own now! But the fact that he ended up falling for Salem gave me so many more ideas which couldn't have been possible if he'd remained straight and gotten with the female MC. (She's the last woman on Earth.) So, it's getting really interesting now! Has anyone else's character(s) random changed sexuality?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

karrachristine — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:53:19 -0600

I don't think that's so much a "bad press", "stereotype" thing - it's the character, right? That character has nothing to do with other characters and people. Just like there are good people and bad people, good straight people and bad straight people - et cetera. You got the picture! If that's the story you want to tell, tell it! If we all just tried to make "no stereotypes/no bad press", how boring would our novels be!?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

rainbowcrash96 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:02:14 -0600

Lovin' the trans lesbian. <3 Also lovin the parasprite. Well done. -brohoof-

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

rainbowcrash96 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:05:45 -0600

Writin a YA LGBT novel about a lesbian characterrr. She travels from the tiny town of Wyoming, Minnesota, where, despite the town's small-minded ideals, she was completely out of the closet and comfortable in that, and into the town of Cold Springs, New York, where it is sure to be more open-minded, and yet she chooses to stay closeted for the simple reason that she wants to focus on her studies and have no distractions. And, of course, that all changes when she meets this one girl.. haha I AM SO CLICHE.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

AnAgelessTime — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:25:02 -0600

It would be easier to list the straight characters in my universe, because it's just a Cast Full of Gay. When you have supernatural, extraterrestrial, technological, spiritual, and magical people all together from across space and time, you're not exactly shooting for heteronormativity. That said, I'm enjoying writing my lesbian characters, especially my established couple of a rich zombie heiress and her anemic goddess girlfriend.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Moonwing_Ice — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:26:30 -0600

I would read the hell out of a novel that starred a gay vampire.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

aurora17 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:28:52 -0600

My main character's (fraternal) twin sister has a girlfriend, and the three of them live together. The thing that's really wonderful is the relationship between the sisters; it's constantly surprising me. The main character thinks of herself as more-or-less heterosexual, i.e. she's attracted to boys but isn't sure she's happy about that. She describes most of the men of her acquaintance as 'a cross between sloths and bears.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

orlasmiles — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:55:37 -0600

My two main characters are gay and in love, but one of them is scared of people finding out. Its very emotional. I wish I'd done an adventure or something now..

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:47:08 -0600

Yes. Disturbing, isn't it?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:48:26 -0600

Think of it as telling a timeless story of the heart's journey to find fulfillment! ...anybody got a barf bag?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Child of harvest — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:49:44 -0600

Thank you! There isn't actual time travel happening, it's just that the different descendants of two family lines keep meeting one another throughout history (and all of them have daughters to pass on the 'gene'). There's nothing magical or strange about these individual women but that connection, their stories stand by themselves. That's why I'm worried about 'Daughters of Aradia' as a possible series title, a) it sounds like fantasy (which it will be at the end of the series but for most of the stories it won't be) and b) it tells you where it will end up going, as Aradia is a Jesus-like figure.. Doesn't matter so much now though, really enjoying writing down this current story, I'm almost at the point where my heroines meet in the 1940s (up to now one of their daughters has been trying to find out why she was adopted).

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Child of harvest — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:54:15 -0600

There's no reason why your story couldn't become an adventure, you have a great setting for that with the band. All sorts of things can happen to bands :)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

rainbowcrash96 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:35:47 -0600

You're right, my story is grossly overdone...xD But it's my first year. It isn't supposed to be great, right?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:31:18 -0600

EVERY story is overdone! There aren't any new ones around, really, just new clothes for the characters to wear. Write on! Don't judge your story until a month after you're done. Takes that long not to want to scream every time you see the MC's name.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:53:04 -0600

Oh wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Almost four thousand words before my hands gave out! Tell you what...finding the right "in" makes me v v v v productive. I try really hard to get first lines before I even start a book because, if it's not coming to me there, I can't make anything happen. Since this book starts with a prologue, and since I like that first line ("What hurts me most, now, is how casually I let him leave me."), I was seduced into thinking I had the in. Not so! Jumping straight to Alexander in India was not the way. I don't know exactly why not, but it wasn't. I think this also explains the sheer audacity of the characters behaving so extremely sexually in the first part I wrote. They're sure it's the middle of the book, and I was thinking it was the beginning. I guess the story's going to be longer than I thought it was at first. *il sigh*

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Kia_Zi_Shiru — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:54:52 -0600

I just realised (almost 14k into it) that I have very bad stereotypical gay guys in my story... Come on... how many can I get? (and these are only two couples) Caucasian man + Japanese man, seme (bear type) + uke, bdsm dom + sub, growly big guy + caring guy... crap... I normally don't really have stereotypes like this so bad... though I didn't even think about it like this when I started writing it. One couple (caucasian/asian) was originally not really an "item" till near the end of the story and the dom/sub couple was originally not even like that, they were supposed to be just two guys that liked each other... they were even supposed to be the same length... I think I'm gonna kick their ass in December, for now I'm going to get this story down! >.<'

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Lix H. — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:55:55 -0600

I am writing a novel about a lesbian law grad who's currently working in a bakery and a pansexual computer engineer/software whiz who moonlights as a superhero. I love them kind of a lot.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:22:45 -0600

Keep going! I still think it sounds fabulous!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

ymh99 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:17:22 -0600

Just write the scenes however they come to you. You can always put it together and in different order later :) You just have to create - the editing comes AFTER! Go you!

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

N.L. LeBlanc — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:58:04 -0600

AHA... I agree about Harry Potter. Ugh. So disappointing that she felt the need to pair all the characters off like that. Can't anyone be independent and happy anymore (or in this case, LGBT? Haha)? Personally, I don't classify my books as "LGBTQ fiction" because they doesn't deal with LGBTQ issues at all. My protagonist is bisexual, and this is a fact, and this is how he himself identifies his sexual orientation, but A) it doesn't come up in conversation because it's not something he shares with the whole world, and B) my series has other points of focus. It has a plot WAY beyond my character being bisexual. Has he ever dealt with issues related to being bisexual? Yes, but they are not elaborated upon in the actual story. It'll be fairly obvious for any perceptive reader that my character is in love with a guy for almost the duration of the story (although he's only had actual relationships with girls), but I don't treat this as a LGBTQ subplot. I treat it as an unrequited love story. I don't know, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but a big deal is never made (by the MC or anyone else who starts suspecting - he never tells anyone) about the fact that his love interest is a guy. A big deal is made for other reasons, but yeah. All this to say that I can only speak for myself, but I do think there is an important distinction between fiction where the character's non-heterosexual identity is treated as an important part of the story with focus on the issues related to that (LGBT fiction) and fiction where it isn't important to the story. I don't think there's an LGBT "agenda" involved, I think there's actually an important difference between the two. Those are two very different types of stories.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:04:11 -0600

Real life got so in the way...houseguests! Who knows how long before I have time to update word-count again. I'm still getting my words in, fewer than I want to, but I broomed everyone out the door this morning to go look at the sights and said I'd see 'em all for cocktails at 5. Hadda do some fancy footwork to avoid being dragged along, too.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Mudge the Expendable — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:54:25 -0600

FIFTY THOUSAND AND NINETY-TWO WORDS. I made it! I made it! And now, because there's a publisher interested in it, I'm going to get back to work on the other book. This one will await its fullness and completion. But to tell the truth, I really like Luca and Pietro. Carlo I could do without, but the boys are pretty wonderful. Just all sgangerata from too much pride, too little flexibility, and BAD FRIEND CHOICES.

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

mandiiminx — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:19:03 -0600

Coming in late to say: Wow the resemblance IS uncanny! haha

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

SkyeWriter.Imaginarium — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 02:46:59 -0600

I read one like that. I think it was called.... Twilight?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

Child of harvest — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:54:24 -0600

Congratulations! It's great to finish, I'm glad to be past 50K too, just have some loose ends to ravel up and the story will be over too - then back to re-reading, editing and adding some more character development in places.. Who else is done?

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

UnicornEmma — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:51:14 -0600

I'm bi and poly, and I'm currently writing about straight, poly people... (Though eventually one of the men comes out as bi, so...)

Re: LGBTQ Novels/Characters

poiama — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:08:21 -0600

Congratuations to everyone who won and to those of you who didn't!!! You are all winners to me for attempting NaNo and for attempting NaNo with our wonderful LGBTQ characters!!!!!!!! I hope to read everyone's books when they are published!!!!