My Early Queer Romance Writing Days
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Queer romance writing feels like something I stumbled into by chance. At the same time, it feels like the natural result of my overall fiction writing journey. As an adolescent and preteen, I drifted toward reading romance thanks to my mom’s milk crates filled with Harlequin novels. I even still remember the first non-Harlequin novels I read. (They were Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux and Warrior’s Woman by Johanna Lindsey.)
One could realistically deduce that once I started writing my own fiction stories, they would land squarely in the romance genre. I wrote my first romance story somewhere around late 1998. The nostalgic teenager in me wishes I still had those loose-leaf pages to peruse. In her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott writes, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first drafts. You need to start somewhere.”
My queer romance writing journey started with a trifecta of free-for-all platforms.
Fanfiction Writing Platforms
Tumblr comes with a lot of connotations. I like to describe it as a lawless hellscape. There are no rules. There’s even less conformity. While this may be true, I joined after bingeing seven seasons of the Hawaii Five-0 remake three times in as many months. I didn’t just find the core of the show’s fandom—I found queer authors writing queer romance.
I’m not talking about hundreds of stories to latch onto as I scrolled. It was the Five-0 Tumblr fandom where I found thousands of fanfiction stories. They were stuffed between the gif sets, the fan art and fan videos, and the episode analyses. Particularly, both the amazingly bad and the amazingly good stories shared equal space.
Of course, if one finds themself in the wilds of Tumblr, you will inevitably be led to one of two fiction writing platforms: Archive of Our Own (Ao3) or Wattpad. Tumblr is great for writing queer romance. However, it’s not so good for long-form storytelling. Ao3 and Wattpad give queer authors that space to write 100-word micro-fiction or 200,000-word sagas. Guaranteed, someone will read it. Usually at three in the morning.
It was through Tumblr and Ao3 that I learned the importance of characterization. Sure, the characters already existed. But it was up to me to make sure I realistically portrayed them. Whether I was writing them as they existed on the show or in an alternate universe, being true to them was vital.
Queer Romance Published Novelists
Eventually I felt like I’d run out of fanfiction stories to both read and write. I had solidified my consecutive gold medals in head-hopping and—like Game of Thrones after the fifth season—run out of source material to pull plot ideas from. Amazon must’ve realized that, because I started getting book recommendations in the queer romance genre.
In October 2016, I read my first queer romance novel, written by A.D. Ellis. It would be a whole year before I read more. Ironically enough, the second and third books were also written by A.D. Ellis.
And then I found L.A. Witt’s If The Seas Catch Fire in August 2018. From there, it was off to the queer romance writing races. Queer romance and queer romantic suspense novels abounded in the Zon’s e-book library. Sometimes it feels like I’ve read all of them. Or at least read all of L.A. Witt’s novels. She’s become what I call my auto-buy author. Ninety-five percent of the time, if she’s put out a queer romance novel, I already preordered it by a couple months.
I have a handful of those auto-buy authors, but I also have learned to try out new authors. I’ve learned ways to deepen my characterization, build out my settings, and enhance conflict. All things that my early fanfiction stories…lacked a bit. Still, I try to keep in mind Christopher Candy’s advice:
Remember, you have a unique voice, and the world needs your stories. Stay inspired, keep writing, and never give up on your dreams.
Photo by Timothy L Brock on Unsplash
So, where’s all this heading?
It’s because of the girls, gays, and theys on Tumblr and Ao3 that I found queer romance writing. Tumblr and Ao3 allowed me space to explore my own identity through my fandom and its characters and settings. Those lawless hellscapes even gave me the freedom to try my hand at fanfiction that wasn’t centered around professional wrestling.
Authors like A.D. Ellis, L.A. Witt, Cari Z., and dozens of others created the path I now have to walk down as a queer romance novelist, story coach, and developmental editor. I’m even working on the first draft of my debut queer romance novel. My early queer romance writing days were vital in shaping the storyteller I am now.
Frederick Meyer says, “If you’re learning, enjoying yourself, and deepening your experience of what makes writing meaningful to you, then that is, very literally, the whole point.”
Do I miss those early days? Do I miss the joy of getting lost not in the craft but the story itself? Sometimes. But I also know that those early days are why I am where I am now. Reflecting on my own story, and helping other queer romance writers reflect on theirs.
Reflecting On Your Story One Word At A Time!
