Hey all,
I’ve been getting back into writing this year after a long hiatus. I’m a fantasy-sci fi writer at heart, but as a gay man, I also enjoy writing gay characters.
In the last few months, I’ve tried my hand at a little MM romance. Most of these stories still have a bit of a sci fi, fantasy, or supernatural twist. Although I did write one that was just romance.
Funny thing – mu hubby, Mark, who doesn’t really care for sci fi or fantasy, felt like that story was missing something – the twist he’s come to expect from my stories.
I’ve been ruminating (how’s that for a $10 word?) on the differences between MM romance that’s got a sci fi or fantasy bent, and straight (pardon the pub) sci fi and fantasy with gay characters.
And I gotta say, I’m kind of jonesing to get back to writing stuff that’s more squarely on the sci fi and fantasy side of things.
To my mind, the main difference between the two is that, in MM romance sci fi, the romance drives the story; whereas in sci fi (or fantasy) with gay characters, the central sci fi or fantasy plot (which may or may not be gay related) is the driver.
Is it possible to blend the two so that you have a story that would hold its own against any of the classics in sci fi and fantasy, while being unabashedly gay?
What do y’all think?