The Next Big Thing (NSFW)

Welcome Brother (by Dan Skinner)

Bet you keep seeing that blog title all over, huh? Well, it's my turn ;)

Jessica Freely, whom I had the great pleasure to meet at GayRomLit this year, asked me recently if I'd like to be a part of this big thing. So what is the big thing anyway? It probably started with one person, who chose four people to answer the same questions, who each chose four people to answer the questions, etc. So it's probably a huge pyramid by now. I'm supposed to link to her blog and to the blogs of the four people I contacted. Well, the four people I contacted were either too busy or didn't want to take part, so I'm only linking back to Jessica.

What is the working title of your book?

Welcome Brother (College Fun and Gays #5)

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A photograph by Dan Skinner, titled Welcome Brother (he gave me permission to use that title). However, the story has drastically changed since then and isn't so much about kinky sex anymore (in fact, there's not much sex in it). It's about being in love with the brotherhood's leader and some issues of being gay in a brotherhood.

What genre does your book fall under?

M/M Contemporary Romance. More specifically, college romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

I can't think of any. This story is too short to ever be made into a film.

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

When college student Kyler applies for a membership to the Nova Britannia Brotherhood, all he can see is their very intimidating leader.

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?

It will be published by No Boundaries Press, hopefully at the beginning of next year.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

A couple of weeks. I edit as I go, so it takes a bit longer. I then sent it to critique partners... and put it away for months and months before I took a look at it again. I'd been convinced it wasn't a good story, but reading it again I've realized that it is a good story, even though it just might offend a few people. 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre.

Hard to say. The other stories in the College Fun and Gays series? They all take place in college (the same college, actually -  those paying attention will see the occasional character from another story), but they're not really related in any other way, so they can be read in whatever order people want. 

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Like I said, a photograph by Dan Skinner initiated the idea, but the story changed a lot since then. I actually own this photo (bought it from him and it's at the top of this post), but realize now that I can't use it for this story. Maybe I'll write a pure erotica to go with this photo, but it won't be in this series. Actually, I do have an idea for the plot...

What else about your book might interest the reader?

Kyler, the main character, is insecure about his speech. He has the "gay accent" - and this is why I think people might get offended - which isn't really a "gay" accent, just a speech pattern that some guys (gay and straight) have. As a new brother, Kyler doesn't want his sexuality discovered right away, because people don't often give him a proper chance if they know he's gay before they get to meet him. He's spent years coaching himself to keep the "gay" out of his speech, but slips up in front of the brotherhood leader. 

This part of the story was actually inspired by Zathyn Priest, who wrote a blog post about his "gay accent", a speech pattern he has, but doesn't want to have. I wrote a long author's note at the end of the story to explain this and why I put it in the story.

The "Gay Accent" - It Exists!

The Scarlet Letter

A few months back, I read a blog entry by Zathyn Priest on the "gay accent". Up until then, I didn't know it was an actual accent. You may be thinking "No way. The whole idea of it is just offensive." It exists though and Zathyn talks about a theory as to why some men have it and others don't.

The thing is that Zathyn himself has that accent and has always had it. It increased when he hit puberty and he's always been very self-conscious about it, trying to eradicate it from his speech. So while some men who try to acquire it or have it and accentuate it, there are some who have it and hate it. Not surprising if they get bullied or mistreated for having it. An interesting fact is that there are gay and straight men who can have this accent, so it's not really based on the sexuality.

Anyway, Zathyn worked more on that blog article and posted the revised piece in the first edition of The Scarlet Letter, which is a newsletter for readers and writers of GLBTQ literature. They have all sorts of interesting material there and I'll be writing some articles for it in the future.

I'd like to quote a bit from Zathyn's article on the "gay accent":

"I started feeling extremely self-conscious when I spoke to people.  To sound like I did was distressing and I despised it.  It wasn’t a choice and I certainly wasn’t putting the accent on.  Many guys aren’t at all worried about it and, like I said, some even accentuate it.  For me, I wanted to curb it as much as possible.  It took about three years of continuous effort to get rid of the accent enough for me to gain confidence again in my speaking voice.  It meant being aware of inflections, of making a conscious effort to drop pitch, of taking stock of the way I pronounced different words, etc.  Naturally, as I’ve aged, my voice deepened more and I’m lucky enough to have a husky quality to it that helps counteract some more of the accent.  Even now, when I speak, I have to make that conscious effort to keep the accent to a minimum."

So, when you hear about a bullied teen being asked by the school to "tone down" their "gayness", it's not unlikely that they're talking about the accent. To that, Zathyn says:

"You may as well ask someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language to drop their French, German, or whatever accent."

Also, check this guy on YouTube. He talks about flamboyancy of gay men.