Guest Post – Remmy Duchene - “Women Writing Gay Love and other Stuff”

First, I'd like to say a very big thank you to Marc for letting me crash his blog for today. I am very, very honoured. And I promise not to set the joint on fire lol. I am Remmy Duchene and I write gay romance er erotica...well I write gay romance with a touch of erotica. I try to focus mostly on the love and emotions of the characters then toss in a little naughtiness.

Alot of you may know that I am also Tigra-Luna LeMar and I write both M/M and M/F erotica. Most of you also know that I am female. I have been asked why I began writing m/m romance/erotica in the first place and I always told them. I have gay friends who have had my back in all the m/f content I've written over the years. They have been there reading, critiquing, editing, laughing etc and one day one of them asked if I could write something for them. I started out with "All He Wants For Christmas" a very short love story. But that wasn't the only reason why I started, I started because I've read a few other m/m out of curiosity and found that most people write gay men as horny little perverts who would sleep with anything on two feet.

That bothered me because I know a lot of gay men and they are NOT like that. They hurt and fall in love just like heterosexuals do. They have the same hardships in relationships such as financial and emotional and after working at a centre for abused women and gay men, I know they have the same kinda of drama when it comes to abuse. So why shouldn't they have stories that show them as sexy, romantic, loving, funny people? I write a strange kind of Erotica for m/m. My stories, I hope, shows gay men in a way that give them new life. It shows them getting their heart broken. I don't write flaming gays I write gay men who are strong and know what they want in life. They fall in love and tease and be teased.

Now for the reason for this blog, the topic of women writing gay romance/erotica. I've been asked how can I, as a woman, write gay romance and it's really quite simple. After speaking to my gay friends about the dynamics of what goes where I simple put in the emotion that I, as a woman feel, in certain situations. Emotions are the same in humans, we all love, hurt, get angry, throw tantrums, fight, deal with loss, anguish - the are the same emotions. Now we handle them differently and I have to figure out how a man would handle said situation but that's about it. Love is love people, no matter who its toward.

If my heart is broken, I feel angry at first that someone would dare do that to me, then I feel sad that someone would dare do that to me, then depressed that someone would dare do that to me then eventually I get over it. If i feel particularly naughty I would go to a club where I know my ex-frequent and bring with me a rather HOT date and make the bastard jealous. That's the emotions I put into my men when I write m/m.

Someone asked me last weekend which of my men is the woman and I took offense to that. I didn't even know I took it so seriously but I was livid. Ok, as a woman, I know what a woman is - I know what she looks like, what body parts she has, what she feels when certain things happen to her and trust me, my men is not like that. When I write m/m I dont think which one of these guys is the woman. How offensive is that? I write two men - two men who love each other. Simple no? In a gay relationship there is no 'woman.'

About my writing. I have some short stories with different publishing houses. With Red Rose Publishing I have All He Wants For Christmas, Caribbean Heat. With Dreamspinner Press I have For Your Love, Hadrian (A part of the Sandals and Sodomy Anthology), The Caldwell Effect. I've self published (with Red Eclipse Writers) Keep It In The closet, Bad Santa. With Phaze I have Saddle Up N Ride! My Coming soon list is rather short - coming November to Loose Id is my first novella REDEMPTION. I just finished writing my second novella titled Cage Fighter's Salvation.

You can find me on the web at my website, my blog at http://remmyduchene.blogspot.com, myspace and on facebook!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Marc of hosting me!

hugs and be blessed

Remmy Duchene

Don’t contradict yourself now

Ever since Charlotte’s Secret was released last year, I’ve said I’m happy with Phaze and wasn’t particularly interested in looking for an alternative publisher. As long as they are happy to publish my work, I’m happy to stay with them. But a respected fellow writer is a big advocate of ‘spreading yourself around’ and having ‘irons in more than one publishers fire’ so I thought I’d look through some of the submission guidelines for other publishers and one of them, I must admit, made me smile.

On page five of one publisher guidelines, in a bullet point section headed “Submission Tips from Editors”, is the following piece of advice.

• Originality: not the same plot elements and character types I can find in a hundred books.

Which is, I think, a very good piece of advice and something I certainly strive for – after all, I’m “the man that get’s it”, right? I’m different. I stand out from the crowd. So, yeah, originality is pretty important to me.

But…

Three pages later there are more ‘Tips’ this time from a named person, who I assume is either an author or an editor. It’s a numbered list and here are three of those tips.

• (2) Strong heroines are a must.
• (5) Don’t always write perfect heroines
• (6) Heroes are always tall, masculinely handsome (never pretty), muscular, and well-endowed. It
  doesn’t matter who his heroine is…the hero is always yummy.

Now, lets ignore for a second that I’m not even sure that ‘maculinely’ is a real word (and is certainly one I’m having trouble wrapping my tongue around) can I just ask what happened to the plea for originality of a few pages earlier? How can you write something original if the guidelines are prescribing the type of hero and heroine to write?

That said, I don’t have too much of an issue with numbers (2) and (5). Strong yet vulnerable and not perfect heroines are certainly more interesting that the drop dead gorgeous supermodel of a heroine who never does anything wrong and always gets her way. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they are something of a speciality of mine. Charlotte (Charlotte’s Secret), Beth (Lost & Found) and Chloe (Kissed by a Rose) are all strong attractive women with faults or fears that they have to overcome. Hell, even my first ‘proper’ romantic heroine, Kelly (Reunion), turns out that way.

But I would take issue with point (6) (big surprise there then). None of my heroes have been tall, handsome, muscular and well-endowed. (Okay, maybe well-endowed, although I don’t think I ever actually mention it) In fact, all of my heroes have been ‘ordinary’ men. Hell, in my next book, Eternally & Evermore, I’ve even described the hero, Will, as ‘slightly balding’ on more than one occasion. You see, it’s my belief that it’s a man’s actions that are important and not what he looks like. And haven’t women been saying the same about their gender for years? It’s my aim to make my readers fall in love with my heroes because they are the type of man they would want in their life and not because they are Brad Pitt clones with giant dicks.

Or perhaps I’m going about this Romance thing in the wrong way and I should conform to the accepted norms.

But anyway, those of you who know me will understand why I had to smile when I saw these particular guidelines calling for originality but then setting rules about the people you’re supposed to be original with. There’s nothing like a good contradiction.

Starting Something New

First of all, I’d like to thank Cassie for her excellent post last Friday. When  I decided I was going to open up this blog to guest posters I knew she would be the first.  She’s a star. To think, we first met back in June 2004. That’s like, five years ago. Shit, how time flies.

I’m still looking for guest bloggers by the way. If you’re interested, let me know and we’ll see how we can help each other.

Anyway, to other matters. Although I’m still working my way through the first draft of Eternally & Evermore to turn it into a second draft that I can actually submit, I’m also working on the next story. I may have mentioned it before but I’ll fill you in on it a bit more now. Of course, this is just the outline plan right now, and things are bound to change as I write it – that’s just what happens. It’s how I write.

As yet untitled, I’m referring to it as either Dylan (being the central character) or Milkwood (being the place he lives). It’s essentially a re-write of the very first novel I ever attempted to write. A novel I never finished. You can read the original version of the story on StoriesOnline where it’s called The College by the Sea. It ends rather abruptly though so be warned.

But don’t be fooled. Just like Eternally & Evermore was intended as a re-write of Reunion and turned out to be very, very different, I have already made changes to the planned plot and some of the characters that will mean this new book will be just as different from the original attempt as E&E is from Reunion.

The central character retains the same name – Dylan Thomas. And yes, that is deliberate. As is the fact he is from Swansea and that he is living in a university hall of residence called Milkwood. But his character and history will be altered.

We join Dylan as he arrives at Westmouth University as a fresher (or freshman, if you’re American) and settles into to his new home. I think this may prove to be a very ambitious story. The cast of characters will be the largest I have dealt with to this point and probably ever will deal with. And some of the characters will be the most complex and difficult to ‘get right’ that I’ve attempted – which is saying something given the fine lines I’ve had to walk with the likes of The Colonel from Lost & Found, Chloe from Kissed by a Rose and Amy from Eternally & Evermore.

At the start of the book, Dylan will have his heart broken by his girlfriend – who is attending a different university and dumps him by SMS message. The rest of the plot will be about Dylan’s search for the person who can put his heart back together – not realising until he’s about to lose her that he was looking in all the wrong places and she was actually there all along.

Maybe that could be a title – Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places.

I don’t know. Bit long. We’ll see.

This is all very cryptic right now because I’m loathe to give too much away too soon. I’m already seven chapters and ten thousand words into the story, so it’s going well. One thing I will say is that this story is set two years after the events of Kissed by a Rose and it could well be that Chloe Goodman, who’ll be in her final year at the university, could make a guest appearance at some point. At least, that’s the plan.

Guest Post – Please Welcome Cassie Exline

Hello, my name is Cassie Exline. I'd like to thank Marc for asking me to be his first guest. I'm honoured. In 2004, Marc and I met at Desdmona's FishTank, a critique group for writers of erotica. What's unique about the Tank is that the members are from all over the globe and at different stages in their writing career. Add to the mix different genders and there's bound to be explosions. lol But it's that interaction with peers and seeing what the other writers glean from your work that is priceless. Oh I'm not saying that my toes were never stepped on or I never got bent out of shape by some of the comments, but it taught me to step back and be more objective about my story (after anger management classes and they took away my baseball bat – lol).

What I learned from Marc and other members from the UK is there is a big difference in English. lol But what we from the United States don't realize is how authors from other countries have to work hard to blend with our way of writing stories. By “our” I mean publishing houses in the U.S. Nor did I consider that a male writer could have trouble fitting into the world of romance authors. Although I don't think Marc is having any trouble in that area. Don't get me started on the time difference, Lord have mercy.

But I do credit the Tank with helping me get my start and for my success in getting my work published. I think every author should participate in such a group. It's a valuable, valuable experience. And I still participate in the group. It'll always be home base for me.

Since then, I've had several stories published at Ruthie's Club, The Erotic Woman, Justus Roux, and the Erotic Bookworm. Also one of my stories is in one of the Coming Together anthologies at Phaze.

My first ebook, Tree of Buried Secrets, published by Lyrical Press, had its start at the Tank. I worked hard on researching for that story, things from a widow's walk, Victorian mansions to apple trees and wine. Research is one of my favourite things to do, next to writing. Tree was also named Book of the Week at LASR and it came in #20 in a Preditors and Editors poll in the best contemporary romance category.

A dark night. A terrible tragedy. A buried secret.

On the night of her elopement, Julia witnesses a tragedy that spawns generations of secrets. For too long she's managed to remain silent. Only when Julia is unable to carry her burden any longer does she dare confess what she saw that one dark night decades ago…

Amber's Mysterious Death has just been released and is the first book of my new Sheryl Locke Holmes Mystery series available at Wild Child Publishing. Three more books of the series are also under contract: Ruby's Deadly Secret, Opal's Disappearance, and Dragon's Pearl. Each title features a gemstone which is also the name of a character. Whether the character is good or bad, lives or dies, well, you'll have to read the series to find the clues. Sheryl has excellent deductive skills and was born to be a cop, but her parents wanted her to take over the family antique business. With the help of Sheryl's best friend, Dot Watson, they've found a way to mix business with chills and thrills.

In Amber's Mysterious Death: Amber was Sheryl's and Dot's best friend in college. The three were inseparable. The game's afoot when Sheryl spots Amber's husband, Roger. The man had disappeared without a trace after Amber's death, leaving numerous unanswered questions. With the help of Dot, Sheryl follows Roger and a trail of amber jewellery which leads to duplicity, mayhem, and murder.

Ruby's Deadly Secret: While exploring Bridgeside, a Victorian mansion, Sheryl and Dot discover a diary, which reveals dark secrets about Sheryl's parents. Someone wants Sheryl dead, but who and why?

Opal's Disappearance: An old college friend begs Sheryl to help find her missing cousin, Opal, who may have been kidnapped by a mysterious mountain man. Sheryl concocts a dangerous plan when she offers herself as bait for the kidnapper.

Dragon's Pearl: Blood on the moon signifies death for some unlucky victim. A haunted music box and a ghost keep Sheryl and her cohorts on their toes.

Work In Progress: The Curse of Jade's Bluff. Logic dictates that a curse is ludicrous. But Sheryl is ready to throw logic out the window when a stalker manages to leave her threatening notes, dead flowers, and knows her every move, yet no one ever sees him. Sheryl wonders if she'll escape with her life this time.

Please visit my website and check out all of my releases. There are also free stories to read. I'm also on Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Busy Boy

I’ve got a few irons in the fire I’d like to tell you about, just in case you might be interested.

First off, I’ve been asked to do an interview for Mistress Bella. I’m not sure when the interview will appear on her interview blog yet, but when I have a date, I’ll let you all know. Also for Mistress Bella, I’ll be appearing as a guest blogger on her Author Corner site. Again, I don’t have a date yet, but I’ll keep you informed on that one.

Finally for Mistress Bella, I'll be hosting an hour of her “Trick-or-Treat Bash” this coming October 31st. My hour will be 5-6 pm EST, which I think equates to 9-10pm GMT because of the clocks over here going back on October 25th. If I’m wrong then the slot will be 10-11pm UK time – but as we get closer to the date I’ll confirm exactly what the time it will be here in Blighty. After all, it wouldn’t do for me to turn up an hour late or early.

I’ve also been booked to appear at the Virtual Romance Book Tour Blog on October 3rd, where I’ll be talking about what it’s like to be a man in the woman’s world of romance writing. This will also lead to me hosting a guest blogger here on my blog and then guest blogging at another (as yet unknown) author’s blog.

Also, I’m chatting at the Love Romances Cafe Yahoo! group all day today, so look out for me there and say hi.

If anyone reading this fancies hosting me as a guest blogger on their blog, I’m always open to that, and I’ll naturally return the favour with a guest spot right here.

In writing terms, I’ve begun working on the second draft of Eternally & Evermore. I’m already twelve chapters in (out of currently 51) and I must say I’ve surprised myself just how little I have wanted to change. That either means I wrote it very well to begin with or I’m blind to what needs putting right. I don’t know which.

Don’t forget, you can keep up with my daily Tweets by following me on Twitter or subscribing to my Twitterchive blog. My stream features random thoughts throughout my working day, some bizarre twitpics, links to things around the internet, and several RSS feeds from blogs and other sources I find interesting.