Ask Me Anything!

Question From @UsualSuspects

I happened to notice this, and I thought it was amazing: Milo in the My Blood Approves series and Tove in the Trylle series are both gay. Why did you choose those certain characters to be gay? I'm bi, so don't take this question as homophobic, please. A few more things, if you don't mind. I am a writer, I have several works on here, but I feel like the main point and the main focus of my stories are a bit blurry. I love writing in the horror genre, and I try to focus my stories around that. I have plenty of ideas for blood, violence, gore, etc. I just want to write a true thriller, so how do you keep the point of your stories sharp? And last but not least, I believe you incorporated a Panic! At The Disco song into one of your books. Sorry, I haven't read much from you in a bit. I'me finishing Coma by Robin Cook. Are you a fan? If so, I recommend you watch these videos on YouTube by Transmitter: I can't remember the names, but one is of Brendon Urie featuring Patty Walters from the band AS IT IS, and the other video is of Patty featuring Brendon. The videos are amazing, I promise. Wait... one more thing. You should totally go to Warped Tour this year! I'm going to be at the one up in North Carolina, and it would be awesome to meet you there. AS IT IS, Set It Off, New Years Day, Pierce The Veil, Asking Alexandria, We Came As Romans, and so many more bands are going to be at the venue. You really really really really REALLY shoul, even if it's going to be at a different venue. Warped Tour is THE experience, my dear. I have never met so many kind and friendly people in my life. Okay, I should end this now. Getting kinda long... heh... heh heh...... alright. Thanks for answering and have a great week/weekend!

 

The statistic I've heard a lot is that 1 in 10 people are gay, so by the laws of averages, if I have more than 10 characters in my book, at least one of them should be gay. So I've included at least one gay or bisexual character in most of my books – Milo, Bobby, & Olivia in the My Blood Approves series, Tove and Bain in the Trylle/Kanin series, Blue in the Hollows, Lexi in Watersong, and Ember and Delilah in the Kanin series (obviously, Ember would be a lesbian in the Trylle series, too, but it doesn't come up there).

The reason for this is that I think it's important to have gay/lesbian/bisexual characters who just are those things but aren't defined by them. They're just characters, who do normal things and have storylines, and they just happen to be gay.

Tove's homosexuality affected the Trylle series a bit, but the other characters could've just as easily been straight and had hetero relationships without drastically changing the story, and that was my point. I wanted to treat them the exact same way I would straight characters, because they are essentially the exact same as straight characters. So for the most part, they didn't get special storylines about coming to terms with their orientation or anything like that, and if they do have a romantic storyline, I try to treat it to the same way I do other straight relationships in the book.

As far the question, how do I keep the point to my stories sharp? I guess I'm not entirely sure what you mean, so I don't exactly know how to answer it. I outline beforehand, so I keep the plot on track. Tension is a hard thing to write, especially when combined with mystery, because you want to hint to the audience, and it's hard to know how obvious or how subtle to make the hint.

I did incorporate Panic! at the Disco into one of the My Blood Approves books, I believe Flutter.

I have not read Coma by Robin Cook, but I will check it out now. And I don't think I'll be going to Warped Tour this year. I always really wanted to go when I was younger, but I could never afford to. And now I fear that I'm too old for that kinda thing. Age has a way of creeping up on me like that.