So it's time for a thread, this time about representation and the characters in my work, specifically in THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN, followed by an appeal for some specific reader data. (1 of a lot)
THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN introduces a new set of major long-term characters for Locke and Jean to be thoroughly opposed by. As the Vadran civil war and the Emberlain secession heat up, I'm bringing in a lot of Vadrans to stab and be stabbed. (2 of a bunch)
Vadrans are a culture openly comfortable with bisexuality. Although Vadrans without specific political obligations are free to form long-term marriages with any partner that will have them, they are not considered unusual for having had relations with anyone else. (3 of a heap)
Now, a major exception in the main cast is Anton Strada, a young nobleman whose family rules the Canton of Somnay. Anton is, in our culture's terms, strictly and specifically gay. He's into dudes. Openly and obviously and not just in the fucking footnotes. (4 of a pile)
I had never written in-depth from the perspective of a gay man before, and I am in fact comfortably open in my own sexuality as Anton's polar opposite. Nonetheless, I resolved not to hide anything, not to treat him any differently (5 of yet more)
than any of the other characters in the others books who've been permitted to yearn, dream, kiss, hug, fumble, score big, or even screw up hugely in their romantic and sexual lives. (6 of a scad)
So yeah. Anton's gay, he fights a war, he falls in love, he gets a sex scene, and I'm enshrining it all tightly in the story so nobody potentially adapting it can reasonably claim it's just a platonic love of the minds or some bullshit. Ha ha ha. (7 of a stream)
Now, I can appreciate male beauty or perfection of physique. I just can't evoke, y'know, any sexual attraction to it. I've been into all girls, all the time since I was a toddler. I wrote Anton to have that same sense of confidence in who he is + what he wants. (8 of still more)
And in writing him, I resolved to try to see men through his eyes as I see women through mine. And there we go, perfect equality of treatment, that should cover it, right? Because surely I know everything there is to reasonably know, right? (9 of more than 9)
But
what if
I don't actually know everything there is to reasonably know?
(That sound in the distance is my mom, my ex-wife, and my wife, all gasping in disbelief at the same time, honest)
(Okay maybe it isn't)
(10 of such tweets, very wow)
what if
I don't actually know everything there is to reasonably know?
(That sound in the distance is my mom, my ex-wife, and my wife, all gasping in disbelief at the same time, honest)
(Okay maybe it isn't)
(10 of such tweets, very wow)
Here I am writing about a human experience I don't share, cannot share, except as a thought exercise, and attempting to make reasonably exciting a form of attraction and a manner of sex I don't find personally exciting. Assuming that I'm just going to nail it (11 of PUN INTENDED)
strikes me as some serious arrogance. I don't run around stabbing people with swords, but I've merrily studied the subject for hundreds of hours. My god, for this book alone I've researched horses, rivers, architecture, roads, wolves, farms, etc. (12 of a stately procession)
So how could I congratulate myself for being lazy and presumptuous about a crucial aspect of the human condition? I don't want to do that. So here's where I ask for volunteers for some, um, mansplaining. (13 of a rolling river)
I'm not going to let anybody read my Anton scenes out of context or tell me what to write in them. They're mine, part of my art, mine to shape, not open to a vote. But I could use some hints and some guidance. (14 of a sprawl)
If you're a reader of mine who identifies as a man, and you're attracted to men, and you're willing to send me a brief e-mail (scott at scottlynch dot us), here's what I could use: A concise but honest description of how you look at men. What you look for-- (15 of nearly there)
What catches your eye, and what keeps your eye caught. Also, what you wish you never had to see, or wished you saw more of, in male/male romance written by someone outside the male/male experience. (16 of an armada)
Any notes sent to me will be kept private. No identities will be revealed. Anything you can tell me might only end up changing three or four sentences in the entire book... but what if those three or four sentences are super-important to someone who ends up reading it? (17 of 18)
So that's it, my request for help and my attempt to not assume I magically know all and see all. If you'd like to generously contribute to the education of a stray heterosexual, you know where to write. Thank you. (18/18 ha ha he does know how to finish a series after all)
