Joined
·
1,296 Posts
I'm writing a series that is going to feature a lesbian MC. She has a love interest (obviously female) and the other day I counted through my characters with my wife and figured out that out of all the characters I could name off the top of my head (including side characters, background characters, etc.):
And I'm writing this thread to kinda generally pick you guys' brain about this. I don't want to be an "LGBT" author writing books that will only land in the "LGBT" category.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a lesbian myself, huge ally, and I know I'm an LGBT author. But what I mean is... I don't want the obscurity of writing stuff that people will end up labeling as "Well that's just an LGBT story so it's not a REAL Urban Fantasy" < Something I have heard verbatim.
I don't want to be disregarded because my MC is gay and my cast of characters includes some other open-minded people.
Out of all my friends in real life, very few are actually 100% straight. I know a LOT of bisexual, pansexual, or otherwise not just "Straight" people, and that's without me going to any particular trouble to make friends with straight or gay people. So I don't really feel that my book represents an unrealistic number of not-straight people. It won't be obvious in all cases what everyone's sexuality is. Some are obviously with a hetero partner. I think there will be a total of five characters in book one who show at least some hint of their bisexuality, and I think most of those will end up clarifying it as as such (as opposed to being taken as hetero or homo because of the first mention of them flirting with another character or something).
But ultimately, what I'm getting at is this. I want this to be an Urban Fantasy series with a lesbian MC and a realistic set of diverse supporting characters.
I want people to read it regardless of their interest in LGBT matters.
I'd love for straight people to read it and be comfortable with it. I'd love for straight people to not shy away from it because it's got a lesbian MC.
But I'm trying to figure out if this has ever really been accomplished, and whether or not I can accomplish it, and maybe even some thoughts on how to accomplish it?
I realize it's hard to judge these things from the inside, but I honestly feel my story is really good. I feel it's more original than a lot of UF I've read and I feel the characters are really solid.
I completely honestly believe in my ability to tell a story that other people are going to love. I believe my MC is likeable and funny and people are going to relate to her because she's real.
I just don't want the fact that she's a lesbian to dump the whole thing off onto the LGBT list where it will languish in the obscurity of never really being in the same league as Mercy Thompson and Harry Dresden.
I really don't mean to sound arrogant with that. The Dresden Files and Mercy Thompspon series are my favorite Urban Fantasy, so of course it's my dream to write something that could one day sit right up there with them. And I think it's okay to dream big.
I'd love for my book series to be a game-changer in that sense. We're living in a very different time than we were ten years ago. LGBT is a lot more accepted now than it was before.
I'd love my series to be an UF that *makes it* and that maybe is even seen as an interesting/quirky offering because of the lesbian MC and the realistically portrayed others in the series.
So I guess if any of you have any thoughts that may help, or any thoughts at all you'd like to share, please go ahead.
If you're not someone who reads LGBT, maybe you could give me a little insight into what would make you read a story with a lesbian MC anyway. And what would turn you off to it.
If it's something about how I could write it, or any particular things I could avoid or any ways of presenting things that would make the difference, I'm open to considering it.
Thanks everyone!
- Only one is solidly gay (The Lesbian MC).
- About a dozen of them are straight. (The majority)
- The rest are bisexual or undefined except for
- One who is asexual.
And I'm writing this thread to kinda generally pick you guys' brain about this. I don't want to be an "LGBT" author writing books that will only land in the "LGBT" category.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a lesbian myself, huge ally, and I know I'm an LGBT author. But what I mean is... I don't want the obscurity of writing stuff that people will end up labeling as "Well that's just an LGBT story so it's not a REAL Urban Fantasy" < Something I have heard verbatim.
I don't want to be disregarded because my MC is gay and my cast of characters includes some other open-minded people.
Out of all my friends in real life, very few are actually 100% straight. I know a LOT of bisexual, pansexual, or otherwise not just "Straight" people, and that's without me going to any particular trouble to make friends with straight or gay people. So I don't really feel that my book represents an unrealistic number of not-straight people. It won't be obvious in all cases what everyone's sexuality is. Some are obviously with a hetero partner. I think there will be a total of five characters in book one who show at least some hint of their bisexuality, and I think most of those will end up clarifying it as as such (as opposed to being taken as hetero or homo because of the first mention of them flirting with another character or something).
But ultimately, what I'm getting at is this. I want this to be an Urban Fantasy series with a lesbian MC and a realistic set of diverse supporting characters.
I want people to read it regardless of their interest in LGBT matters.
I'd love for straight people to read it and be comfortable with it. I'd love for straight people to not shy away from it because it's got a lesbian MC.
But I'm trying to figure out if this has ever really been accomplished, and whether or not I can accomplish it, and maybe even some thoughts on how to accomplish it?
I realize it's hard to judge these things from the inside, but I honestly feel my story is really good. I feel it's more original than a lot of UF I've read and I feel the characters are really solid.
I completely honestly believe in my ability to tell a story that other people are going to love. I believe my MC is likeable and funny and people are going to relate to her because she's real.
I just don't want the fact that she's a lesbian to dump the whole thing off onto the LGBT list where it will languish in the obscurity of never really being in the same league as Mercy Thompson and Harry Dresden.
I really don't mean to sound arrogant with that. The Dresden Files and Mercy Thompspon series are my favorite Urban Fantasy, so of course it's my dream to write something that could one day sit right up there with them. And I think it's okay to dream big.
I'd love for my book series to be a game-changer in that sense. We're living in a very different time than we were ten years ago. LGBT is a lot more accepted now than it was before.
I'd love my series to be an UF that *makes it* and that maybe is even seen as an interesting/quirky offering because of the lesbian MC and the realistically portrayed others in the series.
So I guess if any of you have any thoughts that may help, or any thoughts at all you'd like to share, please go ahead.
If you're not someone who reads LGBT, maybe you could give me a little insight into what would make you read a story with a lesbian MC anyway. And what would turn you off to it.
If it's something about how I could write it, or any particular things I could avoid or any ways of presenting things that would make the difference, I'm open to considering it.
Thanks everyone!