One of my favorite quotes about love and infatuation, and how you can tell the difference comes from Judith Viorst.
According to her, "Infatuation is when you think he's as sexy as the young Robert Redford, as noble as Ralph Nader, as smart as Henry Kissinger, as funny as Woody Allen, and as athletic as Jimmy Conners. Love is when you know he's as sexy as Woody Allen, as athletic as Henry Kissinger, as noble as Jimmy Conners, and as funny as Ralph Nader--but you'll take him anyway."
And I love this one about fidelity from Balzac. "It is as absurd to say that a man can't love one woman all the time as it is to say that a violinist needs several violins to play the same piece of music."
And, of course, I happen to believe that both of those sayings apply to gay relationships as well as to those of us in the majority.
I'm hoping that by blogging on the main page today, I might persuade someone who doesn't customarily read books with gay characters, to read Counterpoint: Dylan's Story. It's really the story of a young man coping with life, and loss, and love, both old and new. I have said of it that Counterpoint: Dylan's Story is a love story you will never forget, and I mean it.
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9 comments:
You are too modest… it is so much more than a story about a young man coping with life…etc. It is a beautiful journey – one that is beyond words. One which allows the reader to experience love, loss and hope on an inspirational level. Counterpoint is among my all time favorites, and Dylan is yet another one of your characters who will stay with me. Dare I say – haunt? Because at times it is damned inconvenient for them not to leave me alone.
Must run for work – be back in a few hours to check in and say Hi!
I’ll leave you one question. We know the story of how The Phoenix came about – how did Counterpoint come from?
Hi Ruth, it was an extreme pleasure and honor to read both your books. Your testimony to love goes beyond who does what with whom. I myself find many gay romances the more poignant and poetic because the odds are so much against their fruition.
I am, as you know, writing a lesbian historical novel now.. and one thing I discovered is that when someone suggested it might be easier to sell if Elisabeth was not a woman-loving woman, my reaction was that she herself would never put up with that.. she is who she is, and by the end of the book, she is quite content that she is.
Nan Hawthorne
allsheread.blogspot.com
I'll be here a couple of more hours. I almost missed your comments and Nan's because I wasn't looking in the right place. I get so confused. Hope to see you later. Drop me an email if I'm gone when you come back.
As for where Counterpoint came from, I'll have to try to remember. It's not nearly the bizarre turn of events that The Phoenix was, The strange thing about that one is not how it began but a weird subplot it once had.
Nan, this is for you. I'm not why there's no comment button for your comment, but apparently the two comments are tied together. To repeat: I get really confused by this set up.
I'm so glad you could make it. I'm glad you mentioned your book. And yes, it sure would be easier and, more likely, more profitable NOT to write about same-gender love. But the characters will be what they are.
Have you ever done what I tried to do -- make a gay character be not gay? Maybe not all characters are a stubborn as Kit. lol
Just found this... and wanted to say to Nan, particularly, that when I wrote the Boudica quartet (originally a trilogy, but it grew - actually a tetralogy, but nobody non-medical knows what that is...) and Boudica's primary relationship through her life was with Airmid, nobody has yet said it was hard to sell, or that it made any difference to the veracity of the story - in fact quite the reverse. And the gay relationships that are at the heart of the series' second thread (between Bán who becomes Valerius and the Roman, Corvus, and later between Valerius and Longinus) are the most solid and enduring - and sheer joy to write...
so glad this is a topic in historical fiction - everyone assumes heterosexuality, or that the mores of the past were the same as now, which is clearly not so....
Manda Scott - signing in with Google as Machamaguire
Manda, I'm so glad you stopped by and commented. I hope Nan sees your comment. Her book is going to be worth the wait, I do believe. Yours sounds interesting as well. I'm assuming it's about the Warrior Queen? I've wish someone would write a novel about her, especially after I saw a perfectly awful (at least the writing was awful) film about her a few years ago. Don't remember how the performers were but the actress her played her was very good.
I mean --- Don't remember who the performers were but the actress who played her was very good.
I can't spell anything when I'm in a hurry.
Manda, what a delight you posted here! I've wanted to read your novels for some time now.. last I looked they were not in any accessible format, but I will look again. (I am legally blilnd.) What you said makes me just that more anxious.. there are a l ot of books with historical m/m and f/f content I would dearly love to read. Mel Keegan's East Wind Blowing for one.
I am actually planning a blog post running through of the gay and lesvian characters in medieval era novels.. with comments on how they are portrayed. Drop me a note at hawthorne@nanhawthorne.com if you can suggest more.
Thanks Ruth for your support and manda for your encouragement re Workign Title Beloved Pilgrim. I am having the time of my life.. Elisabeth is wonderful and the Crusade of 1101 was just made for a novel of this kind.
Nan
Nan - I think the Boudica books are all on Audio - certainly the first one is - Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle... I'll see what I can find out about the rest. Kindle is coming, of course, but that won't help, will it?
Don't be nervous - write what feels true to you (while keeping the history as accurate as we currently know - otherwise you'll find yourself inundated by letters pointing out the flaws, which nobody needs) and tell the stories you want to hear - there will always be other people who want to hear them...
fwiw, I'm in the midst of reading 'Ransom' by David Malouf which has a very touching, rather oblique, but beautifully written story of Achilles and his love for Patrocles. It's not a patch on Mary Renault's 'Fire from Heaven' which is the best and always will be, but it's a beautiful book...
off to bed now - good night, both!
m
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