Why RA Changed my Writing Focus

I constantly lament that Romance, Romantica, Erotica has become so canned...
Okay, I've been around awhile...
20 years ago when I started this Blood/Sweat/Tears Journey of Writing there was one size fits all, white on white boy meets girl ...
Sure, there was gay erotica and bdsm erotica but it was not in the mainstream...

I'm still ranting on and on because the fight for diversity across the love/sex genres is still sparse...
Yes, yes, there is multiracial diversity, gender diversity, and preference diversity (kind of...) because you still have to hunt for great writing in those genres...
But it's out there...the romance novel of today is not the same as yesterdays...

Back on track:
My lament continues because their is hardly any chronically ill/disabled persons represented in Romance, Romantica, Erotica ...thank you The Fault in Our Stars and Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl for making me cry my guts out and I love you for that because emotion is so cathartic,: however, I am still looking for the great story that portrays the pain, challenges, laughter, and orgasmic sex that chronically/ill or disabled people face every day...

Maybe the writers are out there, writing their hearts out...but publishers are afraid to take a chance. Yeah... there's a blog post I kinda touched on the taboo aspects...

Maybe its the size of the target audience is so small...
Ummmm... 1 in 5 US citizens is disabled... that's a pretty small number, right?
Yep, 36 Million...tiny
Annnnnd... 1 in 2 US Citizens have a chronic, invisible illness... 1 in 2? Seriously?
117 Million

If I could whistle, this is where I'd do it...
In my mind, my current frustration that we as writers are not writing what we are living is justified...

Except, my part of the "we" equation is now methodically introducing damaged people in my novels because six years ago I was hit by a train that didn't stop moving so that I could patch up the damage. I had to pull myself out from under that moving train and climb onboard for the ride of my life that would leave me mentally, physically, and emotionally forever altered. The train was the invisible chronic illness known as Rheumatoid Arthritis...and I will be a passenger the rest of my life, leaving me feeling out-of-control of where I'm going... And occasionally I get thrown under the train so I can battered and scraped up again...

Thank you RA Train, I am forever in your debt because I am a better writer today than yesterday. A lot can be said for an author that writes with their own blood...
So now my BDSM-LGBT Erotica is more raw, authentic, both forgiving and unforgiving, because the taboo truth is that chronically ill and disabled folk have sex too...
And I'm trying to keep it real to balance the scale a bit.

Thank you Delta of The Romance Reviews for touching on the fact that my heroine lives with the invisible illness BiPolar Disorder in the great review of the Consequences of the Big Mistakes

Feminist vs Romance Conversation Continues

In 1970, feminist Germaine Greer claimed (reading romance novels) and I assume writing them) enslaved women, encouraging them to cherish "the chains of their bondage." Always controversial, Greer has had an inspirational career writing such novels as The Female Eunuch, in which she argued women do not realise how much men hate them, and how much they are taught to hate themselves.

Wow, have we come a long way.
At least, as women we are now encouraged to love ourselves and empower ourselves.

As a response to this difference, an article,Scholarly Writers Empower Romance, declares romance as a genre empowers women.

I'm not sure if romance is empowering women, but I do think women are now empowered enough that we don't need anyone telling us how we have to look, act, or think to be a feminist. We're not ashamed of what we read anymore than we're not ashamed of sliding into a dress or heels for special occasions.

A scientific study was conducted by Laurie Rudman and Julie Phelan of Rutgers University who found that romance and feminism are not in direct conflict. And may actually improve heterosexual relationships.

Which makes me ask, what about bisexual or homosexual relationships? Were individuals who identify other than heterosexual not studied? Or is there not enough LGBT-romance on the market for them to feel a study was practical?

Hmmmm.

I'm hopeful. It seems that gay material is becoming more and more available in response to public buying response. With my first F/F having gained a publisher, I can only be hopeful that it is a sign, that the market is opening for lesbian and bisexual female romance.
Now, if I can just get the word out so that all of my bisexual and lesbian friends will BUY, BUY, BUY ensuring my publisher (Samhain Publishing) is happy with the results! One thing for certain, I'll keep you posted.

Not Too Late To Overturn Proposition 8

In CA as church goers went to church, they found protestors picketing outside their churches, as protests and picketing grew in strength over the weekend.

In support, Governor Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying, "I learned that you should never ever give up. . . . They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done," following the lessons he learned from body building. Read the entire article here.

Signs read, "No more Mr. Nice Gay," and "I am a victim of H8." Not all of the protests were orderly or friendly and arrests were made.

In light of Proposition 2 passing, some of the protestors carried signs that read, "I want what the chickens got!" and Samantha Ronson said in her myspace blog post titled, 2 steps forward...2 steps back, "...yup, miss piggy and chicken little may rest easy, but gay people in florida and california can no longer get married and gay couples in arkansas can't adopt children. g-d forbid a loving family (regardless of sexual orientation) give a needy child a home!"

I don't know if anyone else is following this as closely as I am...but since gay erotic romance seems to be leading sales in many publishing houses...I'm very upset by the message that gives. I mean, as a nation, are we saying, "It's okay if I want to read about two guys doing it like bunnies because it gets me all hot and freaky bothered...but that's just fiction...in real life that's sin. SIN. No marriage for those freaks cause that's just wrong."

Really? IS THAT THE ATTITUDE?
I certainly hope not. Gay and lesbian marriage should be legal in all 50 states, not just a few...and I implore you regardless of what state you live in...if you are reading gay and lesbian erotica behind closed doors, at least stand up for LGBT Rights when it comes knocking at your door.

Change! Hope! Repression...

Congratulations, Mr. President!

The news reports as I drove to work focused on the enormous historical achievement on the part of Barrack Obama to become elected as president. Strange, I never really considered his race or the impact it would have in the lives of African-Americans when I voted. I focused on the change I want to see in this country. True equality...not only for race but also for gender, sexuality, and religion.

Along with my hope for change, I'd like to see our country embrace publicly funded preschool and daycare; end any plans to build the Great Wall of Mexico; and increase the number of jobs in the US; and seriously reevaluate what a minimum wage is and increase the dollar amount to match our current cost of living in the USA.

I could add to the list...
but I would rather express my heartfelt horror on what happened in CA. Seriously, unbelievable in my mind that Californians were even voting on whether gays and lesbians have a right to marry. Ending the small glimmer of hope that soon gays and lesbians will ever be granted the same rights in all 50 states...

I was also disappointed by my own Ohioans who refused to vote in a casino that would have created more than 10000 jobs in the most impovrished county in Ohio...

So as much as I was elated for our new president, I was equally sadden and disappointed in the small mindedness that led to the decisions that will affect thousands...

Taking time for Gratitude:
1. I live in the United States
2. I have the right to vote
3. My daughters and granddaughters will have more opportunities than I had

Happy LGBT History Month!

There's a common link in all of my books to date: LGBT...and really, not G as in cowboys or vampires, but G as in believable men in love with each other. The same would go for the L (this isn't a man's fantasy clinch)...the B? I write like everyone is B...I can't help it. I write what I know. And the T? If you haven't met Jackie the MtoF diva goddess extraordinaire from the Chronicles of Surrender series...you should meet her. Soon. I love Jackie more than any of my other characters...shh...please, don't tell the others!

It seems a natural thing to look backward this month...

It's October.

I know that doesn't mean a thing to some, but for me it is the last month of the year, a time of reflection and planning, looking backward and forward...the perfect month to also celebrate LGBT History...

So today I posted at the Femmes Guide to Absolutely Everything...a slight rant, a small look backward, a small look forward, and gratitude...

Anyone Reading This Blog Enjoy F/F Erotica?

Here's the thing, I write a lot of F/F erotica, I attribute it to being Bisexual and currently being in a marriage with a man, so I just think about women when I fantasize and not men...

A lesbian friend asked if I've always exclusively fantasized about women...
Uh, yes...
She laughed and said I was delusional if I thought I was Bi...
Whatever.

Point being, I have a LOT of F/F manuscripts that need a home, and sadly many of the e-book publishers who advertise LGBT really mean that they only take gay male cowboys and gay male vampires...so there really isn't an L, a B, or a T...unless the B is in a menage and then that would work too...

Yes, I'm venting a little.
Not a lot, but a little...because I write really hot F/F and no one is getting a chance to read it. Sad but true. Recently I selected four of my dedicated readers and sent them an ms that was F/F (one of those readers being a committed lesbian who has never been with man in her life)...and the comments I got ranged from, "I forgot I was reading F/F" to "You really challenged my boundaries but I loved it."

I know, regular dedicated, die-hard Roxy fans, family, and friends probably don't count as far as a solid critique goes, but it made me think I need to submit this one outside the box...(ie the small e-book community I've lately been hanging my hat)
So if anyone knows where I can submit F/F and not be turned down or told "change it to M/F or change it to M/M"...please let me know!

Any success stories for other F/F writers would also be quite delightful.
Thanks

Hugs
Roxy

**And please don't bother asking which publisher, cause baby, I don't kiss and tell...