Open Book

[erastes]

I just listened to BBC's book programme, Open Book, and my ears pricked up when they had a listener's letter which said (I paraphrase)

"Where can I read gay books that aren't tragedies, over literary or about teenagers?"

Personally I think he's doing well if he's finding a lot of books about gay teenagers, but I couldn't help but be interested in the answer. They actually had Patrick Gale on to discuss the matter - and GAH! If he didn't bang on about the same old same old. Armistead Maupin (which, incidentally, for those of you priding yourselves on your French pronunciation of his surname you'll be surprised, as I was, to find it's pronouned "moppin'" Hee. Alan Hollinghurst, Ann Patchett (who?) and Merk Merlis.

sigh.

I fired off an email mentioning that there is a HELL of a lot of gay fiction out there now, from sci-fi to romance to mystery and everything in between and if they wanted some recommendations I'd be happy to give them. But sheesh. I think that Moppin and Hollinghurst is exactly what the letter-writer was hoping to AVOID.

Mere Mortals... Ok - so I didn't finish it today - and don't go saying "there's a few hours left" because it's not happening. I'll given myself to the end of the month, but that's it. If I can't write 2-3 chapters in 2 weeks then I might as well give up now and go and work in Tescos. The dialogue is very difficult at this juncture. Something pretty dire has happened and I'm attempting to make the conversation/argument/panic real, which is proving a little hard work.

The more I pick at the book with my brain the more I can see the loose threads and when I pull at them there's a hole that needs filling. There's probably not enough Philip in it, and the relationship between the characters that have a relationship probably needs extending. I'm grateful that I managed to write the things as fast as I did, thanks to Etherpad and prodding from Chris Smith and Gehayi, but I think it's going to need more rewriting than I've ever done with a book before. REALLY not looking forward to that. So. End of month or bust, the on with the Lombardy thing.

Am watching "Burn Notice" thanks to RWDay's rec, and really enjoying it. One thing that really pisses me off though is the whole "tits and arse" close ups of the women in Miami. It's really not that kind of show (in the way, for example, Entourage IS) - and there seem to be no men living in Miami at all (apart from spies and crooks.) RWDay says that the demographic is probably more interested in tits and arse, but I say that I'm sure gay men are watching the sexy spy drama too. It's just... so... Crockett and Tubbs. But I'm still enjoying it, nevertheles. - -

Comments

[leebenoit.livejournal.com]

there is a HELL of a lot of gay fiction out there now, from sci-fi to romance to mystery and everything in between

This was my litany when I ran a book booth at a Pride Event in June. SO MANY readers are just craving gay stuff to read (and lesbian stuff, for that matter) and have no idea there's a whole new world of GLBT genre fiction and pop fiction. I was astounded. Many had heard of certain gay mysteries (Nava, Stevenson, etc.) but beyond that, nothing. I actually felt like simply being at the festival with examples of GLBT pop fiction was an activist statement. :)

How sad that Gale (whose works I have read and liked) seems mired in the two-pronged (heh) mainstream line that underprivileges anything that isn't 'literary' and anything that isn't NY-print-pubbed.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I definitely need to make an effort next year and try and get to some Pride events - trouble is the stalls are HUGELY expensive - we are talking £1000 here!! So need to try and find cheap options!

[leebenoit.livejournal.com]

Goodness! Why so expensive?? The event I did wasn't the biggest (maybe 130 vendors), but it was in a state capital (Providence, RI) and booths were only US$115 (and one-tenth that for bona fide non-profits). I split the cost three ways with two other authors and so it was really affordable. We about broke even, as we didn't sell a whole lot of books on the spot, but did a very brisk business in promo items and swag. As I said before, it felt more like community outreach and less like marketing, but I do think it was worth it, exposure-wise.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, but the States seems to have a better network of book conferences, and events where you can rent stalls. We have loads of "literary fairs" around the country, but you can't just apply to do a panel--you can't attend as a speak unless you are invited, and you have to be a celeb writer to get invited - so the same people get invited.

[leebenoit.livejournal.com]

The event I did wasn't a book fair, but rather a GLBT Pride fest with vendors selling (or giving away) all manner of things from t-shirts and water bottles to dream-catchers and hand-thrown pottery. In fact, mine was one of only two books stalls (the other was run by the delightful Ron J. Suresha, editor & activist) and one or two other of the over-100 stalls included a few books here and there. I think book fairs over here are more expensive than something with the community-outreach cachet of a Pride festival, and one would probably have to meet certain criteria for entry, dependingupon the event. Does your area have any GLBT-focused events, or would the barriers for entry be the same as for literary events?

[beckyblack]

I think that Moppin and Hollinghurst is exactly what the letter-writer was hoping to AVOID.

Quite! They're all fine writers, but definitely on the "literary" side of the fence, where it sounds like the letter writer wanted something more of the genre fic variety. I'd have thought a few minutes searching on the internet would have been a better solution for the shows researcher than "grab the nearest gay writer, he'll know all about it."

One thing that really pisses me off though is the whole "tits and arse" close ups of the women in Miami.

You should try Lost instead. There's as much beefcake there as T&A. Heh, well there's no real T&A stuff there, but there's lots of very good looking people and some of those guys can't seem to keep their shirts on for more than two minutes at a time...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think I'll restart Lost after I've finished Burn Notice - I watched series 1 and 2 and then the UK terrestrial channel and the viewers got hugely bored with it, and they switched it to satellite, apparetnly though it improved after that, so i might give it a go. I miss Sawyer and his shirtlessness.

:)

[beckyblack]

I don't have Sky 1 any more so only get the DVDs, so once a year I have a huge Lost-fest! I prefer watching things on DVDs anyway. I have no tolerance for commercial breaks any more.

Season 3 sort of drags a bit at first (though it has plenty of Sawyer!), but it picks up as it goes on. And Season 4 is really good. I haven't seen S5 yet. Roll on Christmas!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I don't watch TV, but I make the occasional exception for shirtless Sawyer. He has developed enormously as a character over the series - about the only one who has.

The show is still a bit baffling, though.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Oh dear - baffling annoys me.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I remember reading a lot of fiction--or maybe I read the same books over and over--about lesbians and those mistaken for them when I was a teen in the 80s.

Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit
Happy Ending are all Alike
Tunes for a Small Harmonica

[mockingbirdq.livejournal.com]

I adored "Happy Endings are all Alike". I must find a new copy of that!

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't you think that people would just google "gay fiction" on sites like Amazon, etc? Or just google 'gay fiction,' period!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I think the question was probably made up, because unless you don't have a computer you'd be a bit dim to spend ages waiting for a reply from a radio station when it would take two seconds to find gay fiction on Amazon. Just an excuse to get Gale in and mention gay fiction for the quota, she says cynically.

[hybridartifacts.livejournal.com]

I have never read any of Alan Hollinghurst's books. He is, apparently, a relative of mine though I have never met him and can't work out the family connection (other than the surname - all Hollinghursts seem to be fairly directly related and it's not a very common name).

Would I be correct in assuming his are in the 'over literary' category?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call them over literary, myself, they are certainly in the more literary vein though. I could be wrong, but I just felt that the questioner was asking for some "ordinary" gay fiction books of which Open Book didn't seem to be aware of the existence.

Ann Patchett

[blake-fraina.livejournal.com]

I'm back from vacation so excuse me that I'm just catching up on my LJ and responding to this post so late.

Ann Patchett, if I'm not mistaken, wrote The Autobiography of Red, a novel in verse that turns up on a lot of lists of favourite "gay" fiction.

I've been meaning to check it out for quite a while.