Transgender* Romance Writer's Blog Tour

I’d like to thank Eden Winters for allowing us to hop on by on our Transgender* Romance Writer's Blog tour.

 

Many of us are members of the gay romance writing community. Women read romances (I saw a statistic that a romance novel is sold once every seventeen seconds). In a recent study women were shown to be the primary care takers of children about 83% of the time. I've watched women change their stance on homosexuality based on loving a character who happened to be gay. The small niche genre of gay romance has kicked off a revolution of women who are voting, marching in Pride, calling out those around them making homophobic slurs out, and mindfully raising accepting children.

We desperately need to create a wave of trans-friendly romance readers who are going to fight on the right side of transphobia. Thirty-one percent of transgender people attempt suicide. The news has picked up two kids who surrendered their lives in the last two months… but how many more that we don’t know about opted out of the transphobia.

This is why we are hopping around blogs trying to raise awareness. Selling books is nice but most of us want our readers to leave their comfort zone just for a moment and trust us to explore transgender romance. Fall in love with our characters so you will find out more and figure out ways to increase acceptance.

Here’s the question we answered: Do you plan to write another transgender* romance?

Theo Fenraven: I have another story in mind, but it's still percolating. If it refuses to leave me alone, then yes, I plan to write another one. This one will be FtM and take place in the near future.

Vicktor Alexander: Oh I plan to write many. That’s like asking me if I plan to write another black character. Or another interracial romance. The entire Scandalous Whispers of the Remmington Realm is a transgender/intersex series with Dreamspinner Press and then I have many more books I plan to write and submit to other publishers or self-publish, so yes, I have many more planned.

Corvus Alyse: I hesitate to label anything. I mean, my whole point is that there are too many labels in the world and people fall into the trap that just because they have a label, that they have to be that thing always. Freedom of choice, freedom to be who you are, even if that thing changes from day to day or even hour to hour, is important to me. But I will say that I have a science fiction plot written down that could be considered trans* in nature.

Kimberly Gardner: I do have another trans character hanging around the edges of my imagination. Her name is Charli, but I don't know much more about her. I have written a couple short scenes with her, but I can't say yet if she will get her own book.

Z. Allora: Absolutely. I love exploring variations within orientations and gender identities. The deeper we define who we are the more unique each of us appears to be which proves labels are too limiting.

Sara York: Yes, like I said before I just need to find the right characters.

Ethan Stone: I’d like to someday. I prefer to write mysteries and I’d love to write a story about a cop who is trans* and terrified about being found out.

We want to encourage your participation in this hop so please comment or ask us questions for a chance to win:

1 of 2 $20 Amazon gift cards

1 of 1 $20 online retailers B&N, ARE, or Amazon

1 of 1 $15 gift card

1 e-book copy of Groom of Convenience

1 e-book copy of Illusions & Dreams

1 e-book copy of Transgression

The winners will be picked after our last stop March 5th. We will notify you by e-mail.

 Transgression blurb: 

Zachary Fox can’t sleep. 

His acting career is taking off. Public recognition is picking up. Now more than ever, he understands how key reputation is to his success. But his relationship with his co-star, Kris—arranged around publicity rather than genuine feelings—is suffocating him. She once understood his needs, but her demands are beginning to grate with every shrill order she gives.

Zach has a secret. The breakout star of a new medical series, he’s been hiding his orientation from co-stars, friends and family, the studio, and his fans.

On the recommendation of a friend, Zach seeks out Sky Kelly, a well-connected herbalist whose concoctions are natural magic, as is her stunning beauty. On the surface, she has it all: her own house, a thriving business, and good friends, but the things she had to do to get there are a time bomb ticking away, and when it goes off, she'll be teetering on the edge of a chasm that can put her right back where she started.

Sky has secrets. Like, she’s got a Y chromosome and the original equipment to go with it. Like being a highly paid escort. Like, if Zach is seen with her in public, it could ruin his career. Like someone becoming so obsessed with Sky, that obsession threatens them both. 

Secrets... everyone is hiding something, and instead of finding The One, it could be The End. 

Transgression Excerpt:

Zach didn’t realize how drunk he was until he left the club and tried to get into the car. His foot slipped off the running board twice, and he stopped, swaying slightly, looking at his friend over the top of the vehicle.

“Can’t drive, Andy.” He closed the door and leaned against it. “What shape are you in?”

Grinning, Andy came around to the driver’s side. “Better than you, by far.” He opened the door. “Get in, slide over, and open the window in case you need to puke.”

Laughing, Zach crawled in, climbed clumsily over the center console, and collapsed in the passenger seat. “Not gonna puke. I never puke.”

Andy got behind the wheel, inserted the key, and started the car. “Bullshit. What about the time we were at that party in the Hills? You know, last summer.”

“Sarah’s birthday? Oh, yeah, I did kind of lose it that night, didn’t I?” Slipping down onto his tailbone, he propped his sneakered feet on the dash, bracing himself against movement.

Snorting, Andy merged into traffic. “The inside of that car had to be cleaned twice.”

Zach giggled. “Sorry. Promise! No upchucking tonight.”

“Hey, I don’t give a shit. It’s your car.”

They drove to Santa Monica Boulevard. It was a chilly night with a light breeze. Zach wished he could see the stars, but the light pollution was so bad, nothing in the heavens was visible.

“You were hitting the liquor hard. What’s up?”

Zach was still peering up through the windshield, trying to see anything other than the light umbrella over the city. “Can’t sleep lately. I thought it might help.”

Andy shook his head. “No, no, you pass out on liquor, but then you’re awake again a few hours later.”

Leaning back in the seat, he glanced at his friend. “Then what do you suggest?”

“I know someone who can fix you right up. You don’t have anything against natural herbs and stuff, do you?”

“Herbs are good. Minimal side effects, right?”

“Right. I know someone.” He pulled into the right-hand turn lane at the next light. “Ever heard of Sky?”

Zach burst into laughter. “What, that stuff over our heads? Supposed to be blue but is often a dirty gray? Yeah, I have a passing familiarity with it.”

“Asshole. I’m talking about a person. Sky is sort of the unofficial herbalist in this town. Does her own distillations and mixtures, sells them to whoever wants them. Also happens to read palms, and I swear to god, she’s psychic. The real thing, not like those twits who talk to you over the phone for five bucks a minute.” He turned left, then right again, driving into Laurel Canyon. “She told me the woman I was seeing a few months ago was shagging someone else, and I found out a week later she was.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “In this town, everyone is shagging everyone else. That’s not prescience, it’s a fact.”

“Fine, don’t believe me, but she can fix you up with something that will help you sleep naturally. I’m taking you there now.”

Get Transgression at Amazon. Visit my Fen's Blog.