Is LGBTQ+ Fiction in Decline?
I found my own answer.
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I had not planned on writing this particular article. However, I have had to digest so much anger, resentment, and fear over the past few months that I literally cannot stop myself from writing this. As those who follow me know, I often write reaction pieces. I write them as a catharsis for myself, and I hope they also help others. This article is going to be such an article.
Is this going to be political? No. But it sprouts from a political place.
I love my husband. He usually offers excellent advice and means well. He also knows that in my novel, my main character is pansexual, and his love interest is a man. In the main series, I tell stories of other characters in other relationship dynamics — but these two are the most important characters. He brought up his concern that this wouldn’t do so well in today’s political climate and that he didn’t want me to be disappointed. And it just knocked the breath out of me.
Was he right to be concerned? Are our stories going to fail simply because our leads are of the same sex?
My co-author and I wrote these stories beginning in the early 2000s. We’ve had the main plot play out. We’ve moved on to many other characters and adventures over the years.
I got inspired to publish them as Anne Rice published her vampire series. What does this mean? The world is the same, and the same main characters are often in the books— but through them, the audience is introduced to an entire cast of characters.
These characters will wind up with their own stories. In the prequel, the central romance is between a man and a woman. We didn’t choose these things purposely. Those were simply the characters that we enjoyed writing in a setting we enjoyed writing.
I’m anxious and nervous. This book release is my first rodeo into self-publishing. I have an entire series of 1st drafts I plan to edit, revise, and publish along with it. The relationships in these books can be pretty complicated. So my husband’s words made my anxiety worse.
