Things you need to know about M/M Romance by Parker Williams

 

Hey, all! The awesome people at Love Bytes are celebrating SIX years of bringing you reviews, news, and being all around entertaining. When I asked if I could be part of it, Dani told me I could write something, so that’s what I’m going to do.

 

Now, M/M Romance typically means Male/Male Romance. There are variations on the them, of course, and those are things like tropes. May-September relationships (older man, younger man), sometimes there are more than three people in the relationship, then there is BDSM, MPREG, and pretty much any LMNOP you want to find, it’s out there waiting to be discovered. Before you venture off, though, there are things you need to keep in mind.

 

A – Many writers of M/M Romance are women.

 

Now, I know this might come as a shock to you, but really it shouldn’t. I’ve heard the stories about how women can’t possibly know what it’s like to be a gay man. Fair enough, I won’t deny that. By the same token, I have no idea what it’s like to track down killers and make them pay (Haven’s Creed & Haven’s War), nor do I have any clue what a bisexual woman would see in a nurse (Katy from Lincoln’s Park), nor have I ever been homeless (Noel from Lincoln’s Park), and I certainly haven’t been involved in a ménage BDSM relationship (Threepeat). Yet I still wrote about them. Why? Because I’m a writer. I take characters and let them lead me through their lives.

 

Women writers do the same. Sure, they might not know how it feels to have a penis (and trust me, that’s a pity), but they know what love is, how to show affection, how to bring their characters to life. What more is there to a story than that?

 

B – Writers are always evolving. Don’t discount one just because you didn’t enjoy one book.

 

I admit, I have learned a lot since I wrote Pitch and Wet Paint. If I had to do it all over again, I would make changes. I’ve seen some reviews where people loved the books, and I’ve seen others where they savaged them, and said they’d never read anything else I wrote. That’s okay, life is too short to read something you don’t enjoy. But… Writers are always striving to hone their craft. What you read in a book early on in their career might have changed drastically since then. Reach out and take a chance. You might find their new direction makes them one of your favorites. Or, you could see the same thing you saw in the beginning. Either way, you’ve tried.

 

C – Writers don’t make wads of cash. In fact, many write simply for the love of the craft.

 

What does this mean? Well, on the surface it means don’t pirate books. An author has devoted hundreds of hours to a book, and it’s disrespectful to take the book and pass it along to others who haven’t paid for it. Now, I’m gonna admit something, and I want you to know why I’m such an opponent of piracy.

When I first started reading M/M Romance on my brand new Nook, I didn’t realize that not every site that had a book had them there legally. I downloaded more than a few books that I then discovered were from pirate sites. I didn’t intend to download illegal books, because authors are my rock stars, and I would never want to be part of them not writing anymore. So, little by little, I deleted the books from my Nook, and went out and purchased them from reputable sites (like All Romance Ebooks, which isn’t so reputable anymore…) Still, I can proudly proclaim that every book on my iPad is now legal and paid for.

 

What else? Don’t encourage others to pirate. Don’t make the books available on torrent sites. Don’t tell others about torrent sites. Just keep in mind, when you do things like that, it’s pretty much the same as walking into an author’s home and stealing from them. I know a lot of people don’t see it that way, but that’s what it is.

 

If you want free books, go to your local library. Many offer legitimately purchased copies of eBooks that the author will get their royalties for.

 

D – Writers love reviews.

 

If you found a book particularly amazing, tell others how you felt. Let them know on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever. No author would turn down a positive review.

 

Now, I don’t mean a glowing review. Nope, not that at all. There are times when we read a book and we just simply can’t. That’s okay. If you want to tell others about your experience, do so. Keep in mind, however, that there are ways to do that. One is to keep the conversation about the writing and not the author. I’ve seen some where the reviewer tore the author apart, and said very little about the book. If you’ve got an axe to grind against an author (for whatever reason, fair or not), don’t bring that into your review. Keep it on topic. If you thought Character A was too hard on Character B, then say so. Maybe you can help the author see a different point of view. They’re not perfect, nor do most of them claim to be. We’re always learning, always doing our best to change with the times, and certainly always hoping to evolve our writing. Reviews, both good and bad, help accomplish that. (Plus they help the book get noticed on places like Amazon, where you need a certain number to have it pushed out front for others to see.)

 

E – Authors write the books the characters tell them.

 

Have you read a book where the character did something you consider to be completely out of the ordinary for them? I know I have. I ranted about it, I raved about it, I got angry. But, at the end of the day, I have to remind myself they’re not my characters. They’re products of the imagination of an author who controls their destiny. (As much as any character is ever really controlled.) If the author sees the character doing a certain thing a specific way and you don’t like it, then by all means, say so in a review. Stop reading the series. Rant about it to friends. But don’t tear the author apart because you didn’t enjoy what they wrote. Too many times I’ve seen an author hurt because of something someone said. I know we’re supposed to develop a thick skin, but that doesn’t always work. Especially when you’ve practically breathed life into these people, and now someone is saying you told their story wrong.

 

F – Reading is fun!

 

Or at least it’s meant to be. We want you to enjoy our stories. We really want to hear from you if you did. Your feedback to us is like a balm to the soul.

 

True story here. Remember when I said authors were like my rock gods? Two quick tales here to show you why.

 

My first M/M romance was by Eden Winters. It’s called ‘The Telling’, and it’s the story of a man who got out of the military, broken and hurt, only to find love. The man has severe PTSD, and the guy who falls in love with him, understands and loves him anyway. It was this sweeping tale of love that haunted me. I wrote to Eden, expecting that I’d never hear from her, because really, why would a rock god want to converse with a lowly peon?

 

Wanna know what happened? Within an hour, I had a reply back from Eden, thanking me for writing her and telling me how much she appreciated that I took the time to let her know how much her book had touched me. Years later, she is still numbered among my friends.

 

And then we have a book called Lazy Sundays by K-lee Klein. I absolutely adored these men (Scott and Devon), and felt compelled to write and tell her. She wrote back shortly after and told me how excited she was to get my mail, because it was her very first fan letter. I couldn’t believe no one had told her how awesome she was (and how amazing Scott and Devon were).

 

Now, whenever a book touches me, I do my best to track the author down to let them know. Sjd Peterson’s ‘Battle Buddies’ and ‘Tuck and Cover’. Loved it. K.C. Wells’s ‘An Unlocked Heart’ touched my soul. L.M. Somerton’s ‘The Edge’ series, and Olly in particular? Damned good stories. ‘Frog’ and ‘Again’ by Mary Calmes? Yes, please. SJ Himes’s Necromancer’s Dance? Hells yeah, yo! And so many others. To a person, not one of them has failed to write me back to thank me for my words. And not a one hasn’t said how much the mail meant to them.

 

Your message might come on the day they’re thinking about giving up writing. Your message might inspire them to continue on. People have said they were inspired by books, so keep in mind that your mails to us do the same things.

 

We love hearing from our readers.

 

Heck, we just love our readers. 🙂

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Now go out and conquer the world.

 

Parker

Two winners can win a paperback by Parker

Choices are: