I love to travel. It’s not a secret. I’ll tell anyone interested I wish I could do it more often. Don’t get me wrong… I don’t love airports, taxis or trains. What I do love is the planning and for a brief time, being somewhere new. Like Orlando. I was there over the weekend for Dreamspinner Press’s author workshop and I have to say, I liked it. A lot!
I know what you’re thinking, Disney World, Harry Potter, Universal… alas no. I didn’t go to the theme parks. I actually didn’t leave the hotel. But I still had a blast! There is something very invigorating about spending time with other authors who love to write the same books you love. Knowing there are very talented people who care about positively cultivating the MM Romance genre and spreading a message of hope is a powerful motivator. Especially when you consider how solitary a practice reading and writing is. To be able to discuss something you love and feel passionately about in person is extraordinarily gratifying.
I don’t take writing lightly. I cherish the gift of words and ideas. I love romance. I love literature. I love creating worlds and crafting a story to share the wacky and wonderful guys who pop into my head. I’m grateful to Dreamspinner for their fabulous support, but I’m especially grateful to the readers. I’m one of you. I’m a reader first and foremost and I love MM romance. I believe the genre is an important one with a unique voice. Our numbers have risen considerably over the past five to seven years. The word is slowly making its way out to the masses. Equality matters. Human rights matter. Love matters. Every one deserves a happy ending.
President Obama’s powerful Selma speech resonates for those who are LGBT or support LGBT rights… and those who write about it:
“We are the gay Americans whose blood ran on the streets of San Francisco and New York, just as blood ran down this bridge. We are storytellers, writers, poets, and artists who abhor unfairness, and despise hypocrisy, and give voice to the voiceless, and tell truths that need to be told.”
I don’t view MM Romance as a guilty secret. To me it is a road leading toward hope. As the mother of a gay son, it is personally very important. I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to know so many people, authors and readers, feel exactly the same.
Happy Monday. Happy Reading. Lane xo
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