Today I’m stepping out of my comfort zone a bit to take part in a blog series hosted by Kristine Asselin called “Where Are the Gay Parents in Children’s Literature?” I first learned of this series last year when we both commented on author Scott Tracey’s vlog on LGBT lit for WriteOnCon.com.

Around that same time, there was a kerfuffle in Publishers Weekly about two authors who claimed agents conditionally offered them representation if they would “straighten” a gay character or remove him altogether. The #YesGayYA hashtag was born out of it.

I rejoiced and took note of the agents and editors who “came out” in support of gay characters–not just gay teens, but YA stories with gay parents, as well.

Normally, the kerfuffle wouldn’t have gotten more than a passing, “Huh. That’s interesting,” from me, but call it serendipity or coincidence, but I was in the middle of writing a YA story in which the main character’s mom had recently come out.

In his vlog, Tracey noted that there are two main themes in gay YA: The coming out story and the adversity story. Both, he said, were getting a little tired. What was missing were stories that just had gay characters. Period. Not necessarily coming out to anyone, not overcoming tragic obstacles. Just being. Having an adventure. Falling in love. Getting their heart broken. Dealing with annoying parents. You know, just being teens.

“Great,” I thought. Even though I wasn’t writing to a trend, I’d seemed to have filled a void by having a character deal with the aftermath of her mom coming out in a conservative area of the country. It’s only a subplot, but a portrayal of how that might affect a teen girl.

Fast forward a year and the story’s written, revised, edited and being queried. And wouldn’t you know, every time I hit the “send” button, I cringe.

I cringe because I hope I’ve done the characters justice. I cringe because I tried not to write a stereotype; because the story isn’t politically correct–it’s realistic. I cringe because I mention up-front in the query letter that there’s a small thread of LGBT, and there’s no way for me to know if that dangling “no response” or “this isn’t for me” is because of that thread.

After all the fanfare of #YesGayYA, I can only hope it isn’t.

Welcome to the sixth Matt Bomer Monday!

There’s nothing worse than a Monday morning, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here are the reasons:

• Alliteration–I’m simple like that.
• Mondays SUCK. If a pretty face can alleviate just an ounce of suckitude, I’m for it.
• While searching for the face of Isaac, a main character in Want, I discovered Matt (who plays Neal Caffrey on “White Collar.”) Since then, he’s become the poster child for Isaac.

The picture below grabbed my attention because Matt’s hair is longer and over his forehead–very similar to the way men in Mobile wear it (which I totally don’t understand, considering the heat!), and his sleeves are rolled up. He looks like he could be on way to … I dunno, church?

An organist of Mr. Laroche’s status draws an even bigger crowd today. It’s his first Sunday on duty, and he doesn’t look fazed at all. In fact, he looks bored.

“Will you look at that,” whispers Mama as we slide into our usual pew, left side, five rows back on the outside aisle. “That man has groupies already.”

I glance up and see the rows in front of us are all filled, which isn’t unusual, but now they’re filled exclusively with women. And not just any women—young, well-dressed, whispering women who openly admire Isaac’s profile as he begins the prelude. The mix of strong perfume and constant chatter gives me a headache.”

I had originally planned to do Matt Bomer Mondays only through Want‘s publication date, but I’m considering keeping them up for a while, just because I love having an excuse to look for new/obscure pictures of Matt. I mean, tough job, right? The man literally makes me blush sitting at my computer screen.

Anyway, if you want to read more about this character, Want is now being shipped from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, even though the pub date is June 7. You can find it here.

I can’t believe I’m typing this already, but the paperback of Want is now shipping from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

The actual publication date is June 7, and that’s when the digital edition will be available. The delivery date on the paperbacks is a day or two before that.

In the meantime, Want has been on a blog tour for the past few weeks with excerpts, author and character interviews and lots of wonderful reviews. All the direct links are listed here.

And now I’m asking for your help: If you’ve read Want and written a review on Goodreads or your blog, when you have a few minutes, please copy and paste your review on Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble using the links above. I’m a debut author with an indie publisher and my name doesn’t yet carry the weight of the big guns.

I hope you enjoyed reading Want as much as I enjoyed writing it. XOXO

Welcome to the fifth Matt Bomer Monday!

There’s nothing worse than a Monday morning, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here are the reasons:

• Alliteration–I’m simple like that.
• Mondays SUCK. If a pretty face can alleviate just an ounce of suckitude, I’m for it.
• While searching for the face of Isaac, a main character in Want, I discovered Matt (who plays Neal Caffrey on “White Collar.”) Since then, he’s become the poster child for Isaac.

This week, I’m not sure I even need a quote. I mean, this picture … uh … yeah. That should be illegal!

Okay, I got one: “He doesn’t say it out loud, but there’s a question in his eyes. I hope he’s ready for the answer.”

Happy Six Sunday! Hope everyone had a good week, and thanks for stopping by and commenting. FYI, the other participants can be found here. Be sure to check them out.

Below, these six pick up where last week’s left off. Dylanie is on her bedroom porch at Oakleigh, and the man who’s been calling her name and asking to come in is now standing next to her (she said yes):

This close, it’s obvious he’s not much older than me, maybe a few years. He’s the most human, solid-looking spirit I’ve ever encountered—if that’s what he is.

“Go ahead,” he says, reading my mind.

“What?”

“Touch me. You want to.”

Gah! The smarm. FYI, below is how I picture him, except with a lazy, evil grin and 19th-century clothes.

Jackson

]]> http://stephanielawton.com/2012/05/20/six-sunday-touch-me/feed/ 12 clumzbella random banner Jackson 3 http://stephanielawton.com/2012/05/14/matt-bomer-monday-iv-because-mondays-dont-always-have-to-suck/ http://stephanielawton.com/2012/05/14/matt-bomer-monday-iv-because-mondays-dont-always-have-to-suck/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 Stephanie http://stephanielawton.com/?p=1588 Continue reading →]]>

Welcome to the fourth Matt Bomer Monday!

There’s nothing worse than a Monday morning, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here are the reasons:

• Alliteration–I’m simple like that.
• Mondays SUCK. If a pretty face can alleviate just an ounce of suckitude, I’m for it.
• While searching for the face of Isaac, a main character in Want, I discovered Matt (who plays Neal Caffrey on “White Collar.”) Since then, he’s become the poster child for Isaac.

Isaac is all business the next day. He looks even worse than he did last night. I fully expected him to cancel, but the call never came. He mumbles a few apologies and asks me to start with the Presto from Moments Musicaux in E Minor. He sinks down on the loveseat and covers his eyes with his hand. A few minutes into the piece, there’s a shuffle of movement behind me. I turn and see Dave shut the door behind him.

“Sorry. Keep going.”

Happy Six Sunday! The past few weeks, I’ve been posting lines from the scene where my MC, Dylanie, meets a mystery man outside her second-story balcony at Oakleigh House. So far, he’s called her name, asked to be invited in, and made a few mildly suggestive remarks. Dylan, who is a psychic medium, is trying to figure out if he’s real or a spirit.

He asks her one last time if he can come in:

My brain screams no, no, no!

“Yes.” It comes out like an exhale, one that’s been trapped inside the air-tight cage that is my pathetic life. It feels good to say yes to something unapproved and maybe even dangerous.

Another blink and he’s on the balcony with me. Shit.

Oopsie. Dylan’s in for it now.

As always, please check out the other Six Sunday participants and have a great week!

Welcome to the third Matt Bomer Monday!

There’s nothing worse than a Monday morning, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here are the reasons:

• Alliteration–I’m kinda simple-minded like that.
• Mondays SUCK. Plain and simple. If a pretty face can alleviate just an ounce of suckitude, I’m for it.
• While searching for the face of Isaac, a main character in Want, I discovered Matt (who plays Neal Caffrey on “White Collar.”) Since then, he’s become the poster child for Isaac. IRL he’s nothing like my character, but writing (and acting) is all about playing pretend, right?

The following is slightly spoilery, so just look at the pretty picture if you won’t want any plot hints.

He spends the rest of the ride nuzzling my neck. When the train stops, he takes my hand and leads me back to the hotel.

WHOA. Today starts the month-long blog tour for my upper YA novel, Want, which drops June 7! Below are the stops:

May 7th: Tour Starter Day Party @ I Heart Reading

May 8th: Guest Post @ Words Like Silver

May 9th: Review and Giveaway @ The Awesome Magic Attic

May 10th: Review @ Catch The Lune

May 11th: Guest Post @ Library Mosaic

May 12th: Review @ Semi-Educational Reviews

May 13th: Review @ All Sorts of Books

May 14th: Guest Post @ Brenda McCreight’s Blog

May 15th: Review and Book Excerpt @ Divine Secrets of a Little Bookworm

May 16th: Review @ Author Vanessa Leigh

May 17th: Character Interview @ Suzanne Van Rooyen

May 18th: Review @ Sutton Fox

May 19th: Guest Post @ All Sorts of Books

May 20th: Review @ Nick’s Book Blog

May 21st: Review @ Reading it All

May 22nd: Book excerpt and review @ Readergirls Blog

May 23rd: Review @ I Heart Reading

May 24th: Guest Post @ Full Moon Bites

May 25th: Author Interview and Review @ Jean The Book Nerd

May 26th: Author Interview @ Emily’s Crammed Bookshelf

May 27th: Review and Giveaway @ Artsy Musings of a Bibliophile

May 28th: Guest Post @ Pretty Opinionated

May 29th: Book Excerpt Post @ Author Aubrie’s Blog

May 30th: Book Excerpt @ Once Upon a Book

May 31st: Review @ Books, books and more books

June 1st: Review, Interview and Excerpt @ Personal Literary Book Frenzy

June 2nd: Guest Post @ Soul Unsung

June 3rd: Book Feature and Review @ Unputdownable Books

June 5th: Book Excerpt and Review @ For The Love of Film and Novels

June 6th: Review and Interview @ Books and Sparkles

June 7th: Book Excerpt and Review @ Kindred Dreamheart

Okay, okay, enough teasing these past few Six Sundays. In today’s six, you find out what’s up with the dude calling Dylanie’s name outside her window … sort of:

In a blink, he’s moved from the base of the gnarled tree to the stone patio beneath me. Despite the landscape lights, he looks solid, not like a spirit at all—no haze, no shapeless black shadow figure. Slowly, so slowly, he raises his head. My legs go weak, and I grip the railing for support. Below me is the hot dark-haired man I saw on the steps when I arrived.

“Dylanie, I ask you again: may I come in?”

(Say yes! Say yes!) Next week we’ll find out what he wants from her. Well, one of the things he wants from her.

And FYI, the blog tour for my upper YA novel, Want, starts tomorrow! The schedule is online here.

Please check out the other Six Sentence Sunday participants, and I’m so excited because some of my critique group members are posting their very first six today! Please show them some love and welcome them to the group: Lee Ann Ward and Joyce Scarbrough.

Have a great week!