Biting the Bullet

You heard it here first. I've got my first idea for a m/m story. I've had m/m secondary characters in some of my books, but they never took the center stage, regardless of being almost stronger in emotion and plot as the main story. (Still have yet to finish that book, by the way).

At first, I'll admit, I was resistant to the idea because for so many years I'd written and read m/f and didn't really understand how to navigate through a plot line using two male leads. Do I make them both strong? Or one the softer of the two? Do I make them a clash of opposing forces, or brothers-in-arms facing a common enemy?

Oh, it was a tangle to be sure. I wanted the right mix of both. I wanted characters who would resonate with me while I wrote them--like my guys in the secondary storyline of The Host: Bloodlust. For some reason, writing the tender or hot moments between those two came really easy. The artist, Biazzio, rich, famous, pseudo-vampire is not the aggressor in the relationship. That comes from his human lover, Nix. I liked that flip on expected. I think that's why it works for me. Nix also has an agenda of his own that stems from his parents' swinger lifestyle when he was growing up - a lifestyle that included Biazzio's late lover, Achilles. It's a tangled web and you'd really have to read The Host: Shadows first to understand Benito Achilles a bit better, but suffice it to say he was a lover of beauty no matter what form it took. Biazzio's gentle soul is what I love most about him. What I find most fascinating about the characters of Biazzio and Nix is that I never set out to write m/m in that book. Not really. It just sort of happened and I went with it. Letting the characters guide me through. Which I'm glad for. So, it was natural that when I decided to do a book with two heroes I would want to wait until the right project came along and not force the issue with characters I didn't feel up to the task.

And no, I'm not going to reveal what my idea is...not just yet anyways. I will say that I'm very excited about it and it is set in a fantasy world. I don't yet know the heat level, as I'll let the characters decide that as well. I'll see how it goes as the plot unfolds. I haven't even decided what name I'm going to write it under. Fantasy fic usually goes to my MK Mancos persona, so I'll have to wait and see what the characters do first. However, I'm pretty sure I'm going to shoot for a shorter length as in under 40K. I will continue to write my m/f stories as I always have - this isn't a departure from that only an addition to.

I am hoping to start the story, tentatively titled, Men of Shards, later this year and will keep you all updated on my progress. Wish me luck as I branch out into this new writing experience for me.

Until next week,

-Kat