Moon: How would you describe who Erastes is?

Erastes: My official position now is that "Erastes is the penname of a female author living in the UK", but for a long time I attempted to muddy the waters regarding him or her.

When I first started writing gay romance I was told by authors and readers that 1. gay men wouldn't read stories written by women and 2. they wouldn't read romance full stop. I guess I was influenced by this and decided on a penname which simply explained what the writing was about (Erastes being a Greek term for the older, experienced partner in a formal relationship) rather than the name itself meaning anything about the author. I'm happy to say that both of those assumptions are wrong, by the way.

I hoped that choosing an obvious penname would be enough - after all pennames are a tried and tested tradition in fiction and both sexes have assumed the mantle of the opposite sex from time to time, going back for many years, George Eliot being one of the first that springs to my mind.

But when it comes to gay fiction, there's a little more sensitivity on the subject - and staying hidden beneath the name could have been taken (was being taken) as me pretending to be a man and that's not something I intended. I hoped that it wouldn't matter, and that the writing would mean more than the gender, but in these more transparent and accountable times I suppose it does.

Moon: Have you noticed a difference in the market around LGBTQ fiction between the UK and the US communities?

Erastes: Very much so. It's one of the reason why so far I am only published in the US. The English market is generally a lot smaller, (obviously) in terms of fiction and for specialist gay fiction it is now almost extinct. We lost Gay Men's Press a year or so back and that hole hasn't been filled. Where once there was a specialist GBLTQ bookstore in every largish town they started dying off and now they are a rare thing indeed. There is (unbelievably) only ONE in London, for example, (Gay's The Word), and that is constantly under threat of closure.

When GMP went down in 2006, Peter Burton, one of its former editors said "I have absolutely no doubt that a lot of gay writers will now find it impossible to get published," and I have no doubt that it's true. I tried for over 18 months, touting Standish around the UK publishers to no avail, and most of the writers of gay fiction that I know online who live in the UK are published by USA presses.

This is mind-bogglingly ironic too, considering that the UK is far more accepting of homosexuality than the USA. However I think the problem is based in that fact, too. Because gay themes and characters are more acceptable they are being published in the mainstream (At Swim Two Boys, Line of Beauty, While England Sleeps) but of course there has to be a saturation point and they can't publish everything that's written, and the number of small presses aren't expanding to meet the supply - or the demand. There's a much larger market and many more small presses of varying quality - as well as loads of epublishers and a strong gay core (despite major losses there too, like Harrington Park Press).

Lesbian fiction is a little more healthy here, partly due to the enormous success of Sarah Waters' novels, and partly due to tenacious publishers like Virago who have for many years been publishing women's fiction written by women.

Perhaps partly it's due to gay themes becoming more acceptable, or perhaps it's the ease of online shopping, I don't know. It's very much Catch22 - you are more likely to be published here if you are well-known, and you aren't likely to be well-known without being published. All one can hope is that one can make some kind of name in the USA and then come home and try again.

Moon: The same thing seems to be happening to our independent stores in the US. Why do you think we are loosing so many of the LGBTQ brick and mortar stores? Do you think there's a lack of interest in the gay market, or simply the drain of the online market being a cheaper outlet for many publishers and distributors to use?

Erastes: Myriad reasons I think - Rupert Smith (who wrote the successful gay mystery The Back Passage under his penname of James Lear) lists many of them here in an excellent article.

One could contribute it to - not so much a lack of interest in gay fiction - as it being a victim of its own success. It's no longer (generally) the taboo subject it once was. In the same way that nowadays you can pick up gay dvds in your local dvd store, gay fiction is appearing in mainstream bookstores.

Online shopping has to be a factor, with its massive convenience - it is affecting everything from clothes to cars - and retailers are suffering everywhere.

Add to that epublishing and the ability to get a book NOW for that instant gratification and no-one needs to know if a Bible-belt housewife, or a closeted married man or a boy who hasn't come out yet has bought it. I don't think that it's selling LESS - the mushrooming of epubs and small presses and the expansion of awards such as the EPIC awards and the Lambdas seem to indicate that it is, in fact, a growing genre - but as people move with the times it is more available in more formats.

I suppose one could compare it with television viewing figures; 20 years ago a show on a Saturday night on BBC1 might be gathering in 30 million. Nowadays with satellite, cable, dvds, downloads from the internet, podcasts - a show is happy if it makes 10million.

Moon: So what drew you to write gay romance, and do you consider the stories you create romances or erotica?

Erastes: I'm an ex-fanficcer, as are many of the authors that I know online. I had no idea about gay fiction and I find that amazing really as I have had a very liberal upbringing. Short story is that I discovered "slash" when I was reading the Harry Potter books and was lucky enough to read an excellent story my first time out. If I'd read a stinker, I don't think I would have been so inspired to write.

Anyway, I was struck by inspiration - so much so that I couldn't think of anything else - and churned out 66K of fanfic novel in about 4 weeks and then thought "what a spectacular waste of time and effort." I couldn't sell it, couldn't do anything with it, so I started working on Standish almost immediately. It was going to be a reworking of the fan-novel, but it refused to be so and became something completely different.

What draws me to gay romance? Hmm. Well, I love the interplay of men in romance situations. Men are often spectacularly unable to discuss their feelings, and when you double this it leads to wonderful interplay and cross purposes. Naturally I love the idea of two beautiful men in bed together but despite there being a lot of sex in Standish, that's not the focus of my books.

For my novels I'm primarily interested in gay historical fiction. Partly because there's so little of it. Why is that, particularly when hetero historical romance has been around since the invention of the novel? But partly because I love to imagine (and that's really all we can do, as there is very little written evidence about the subject) how gay men managed in times when it was not only illegal but downright lethal to be gay. Plus, add in pretty clothes, and swords and carriages.... What's not to love?

I think that I have to admit that I write both erotica and romance. My short stories are generally written for specific erotica markets, some more graphic than others. The trouble is, though, that I find myself wanting to know more about the characters in these little stories and I have a load of projects on the back burner which were inspired by them.

Although Standish was fairly much on the hot side, with graphic scenes, I find the more I write the less explicit I am becoming. Some of the scenes I'm writing in my most recent novel could almost be missed if you blinked. It's more about the relationships and the romance and how it affects lives than the details of the the sex. I never want the sex to be the most important part of the relationship, or to feel that the plot stops while I "insert shag here".

Moon: What were some of those first stories that inspired you? Do you remember names or authors? What newer books have you read since you started writing that really stuck with you?

Erastes: The very first that I mentioned was "Clandestine" by an author called Chaos Rose which was sexy and well plotted and thoroughly inspiring. I also read stories by authors named Cluegirl and Eumenides1 and realised that erotic fanfiction COULD be literary. I started a community actually, (a very elitist and subjective literary community) called hp_literotica which celebrated the wordsmiths in the fandom. It had a very good name in the fandom but when I left fanfiction I didn't continue with that community. The stories are still there, though, most of my favourite writers are showcased there.

I read voraciously. I run the gay historical blog Speak Its Name and I read gay historical fiction both for review purposes and for pure enjoyment. As I said, it staggers me that there are less than 500 titles available when there are so many millions(?) of hetero historical romance out there.

As to titles that have resonated with me, there are a few, and these are my top three essential reads. As you can probably tell, it's the plot and character that matters for me the most.

At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. I haven't been able to review this book because it's practically perfect in every way and has set the bar so high in gay historical fiction that I smash my keyboard in frustration that I'll never be able to write like that. The writing is sublime - not easy - but lyrical and poetic, the characters will live with you for ever and the ending will tear you apart. The greatest love story ever, for my money.

The Charioteer by Mary Renault. Written in the 1950's when homosexuality was still very much illegal and dealing with the early part of the second world war, this book is intense and intelligent. Too intelligent for me at times, the themes sometimes went over my head, but the writing is a masterpiece of sparse writing, managing to insert a kiss without you hardly even noticing it, and an entiresex scene between two sentences.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. Fantasy, not historical, but I'm still reeling from the pure brilliance of this novel. The protagonists, the enigmatic swordsman Richard and the infuriating scholar Alec are real men - men who can't talk to each other, can't admit they love each other and rip each other to pieces in the meantime. Real men, in other words despite the fantasy setting.

None of them have graphic sex in them, so I hope that people will try them out.

Moon: What sorts of things in your life inspire your writing, besides what you read?

Erastes: I suppose I'm heavily influenced by my love of the older classic novels, which is why I started with a gay regency. It was an era I was comfortable in and one I will probably return to again and again, although I don't want to be known as only being able to write regencies. I love the clothes and the wit of the conversation and with gay romance the characters don't have to worry about scandal if they talk together or drive together in public - their worries are very different!

I also find that, without my wanting it to, religion tends to slide in here and there. I'm not religious at all but I was baptised Catholic and the guilt hangs on! My second novel (currently being edited) is based around the English Civil War and I found that I had to address the issues of religion of the time, because it was so important to them, particularly a young man with religious beliefs who has just fallen in love with another young man.

But I don't think I'm influenced by much else, I'm sparked off by ideas when I watch TV or chat to people ("oo! Egyptian priest friends, there's a story there, surely?" or "Roman gladiators? Must make some notes on those…") but my sedate life doesn't lead to much inspiration.

One day I might write about my county, because Norfolk is such a fabulous landscape, but I haven't any gay historical ideas for it yet. But now I'm thinking about a reed cutter and a windmill owner...

Moon: What are some of the biggest challenges you face writing historical romance?

Erastes: Making a balance between fact and fiction. I like to try and be accurate, as accurate as I can at least. But I don't want to info-dump on the reader and describe every last button just because I've researched down to the detail of every last button. I try - to less or greater success depending on your point of view - to write as if I were in that time, rather than writing about it. Obviously, this doesn't mean that in my 17th century novel they are all talking in 17th century language, but I don't think it's necessary to describe everything the characters see, either.

For example, a modern day character would say: "I walked into the office and sat in the chair he indicated" you might add "chrome and leather" chair or "minimalist" office but that's about it, any more would be too much in my opinion but that's what I see in historical fiction far too often. I once read a sex scene where the hero was disrobing the heroine and he described every ribbon, every piece of lace, every stay with such loving detail (obviously because the author was proud of her research) that by the time they got to the petticoats I was so bored I skipped forward.

It's also difficult to do a convincing sex scene if you are too punctilious with accuracy. Let's be frank, after the Romans and before the 19th century personal hygiene could be a bit hit and miss to put it mildly. I don't like to gloss over this, but I like to find ways to make my heroes clean. I had sex scenes in Newgate prison for God's sake, and that took ingenuity!

Moon: Where do you get the best sources for your research? What is the hardest research project you've ever tackled?

Erastes: The hardest project so far has been without a doubt the English Civil War - the plot (fairly predictable) is a royalist man falls for a roundhead, but it's not quite that simple as neither of them start out that way. It wasn't until I started writing it that I realised I knew nothing about the era other than the very bare bones - cavaliers, roundheads, king charles beheaded yadda yadda and that was about it. There were many times that I wished I had never started it.

The trouble with the era is that there are many many resources - ABOUT THE WAR - battles, generals, uniforms, losses, politics, armour.... but there's almost nothing about the life of the ordinary person at the time. This is mainly because although every school child is taught about it now, there was in fact a lot of the country that hardly even knew it was happening at the time.

In fact there's a famous story about a farmer who - when stopped by one of the generals to ask if they could have a battle in his field said "Who's fighting who, then?"

That being said, I have found it just as difficult with my current novel which is based in the early 1960's because if you research the era you get The Beatles and mini skirts and pop music and all the trendy stuff and what was happening in London, but nothing as to what it might have been like for a quiet studious boy in an english suburban town whose mother bought his clothes.

I research mainly online. I know Google-Fu but I try and check my facts more than twice from different sources. I never trust anything Wikipedia says at face value for example. But when I get desperate I head for the main library in Norwich and do it the old fashioned way. However I have been known to write to Parish Councils, Local History groups, and once I even joined a yahoo group which was all about model trains because I knew damned well that if I got any facts wrong I'd be jumped on because there major experts in this field. (Same as for the Civil War too, I'm dreading the geeks finding mistakes there, and they are bound to)

My best advice is to never be afraid to ask anyone anything, because experts are very helpful and are more than willing to share their passion with you, and all it will cost you is a mention in the foreward or something.

The best gay historical site bar none, btw, is Rictor Norton's site.

Moon: So, if someone was looking to purchase or read some of your existing work, where would you send them?

Erastes: First of all check out my website - there are loads of snippets there of just about everything that's in print and even one or two freebie stories . snippets here Standish is available on any country's Amazon, and is also on Barnes and Nobel and many other places. Another way to spot everything available in book form at least (Chiaroscuro is the only enovella available as yet) is to use the erastes "tag" on Amazon.

Moon: What things can we expect to see from Erastes in the future?

Erastes: Well, this year hopefully a gay Regency novella called "Hard and Fast" which is done and ready to go on a project that's already planned. With luck it will in ebook and print form with 2 other novellas, all of them historical and m/m. It was a blast to write because I attempted to write it in a period Regency style, so it's formal and very very wordy. Even the sex scenes. My protag doesn't agree with using one word when he can use 20.

In addition I need to get "Transgressions" tidied up. My publisher has expressed an interest in it, but they want quite a few changes which will mean some hard work. But even if I were to get the green light from them tomorrow, it would be at least a year until that comes out.

As I said earlier, I do have projects lined up, gladiators, a re-working of Hamlet (yes, ... gay..), film noir detectives and more ideas than I can shake a stick at, and I get frustrated that all this takes TIME. I need a TARDIS.

The novel I'm slaving on now, the 1960's suburban angst, is killing me and when I've finished that I want something FUN to write, so I'm going to do a quasi-sequel to Standish and one of the minor characters is going to have an episodic fun romp across early 19th century America. After that it's back to angst.

Of course, this is also a time and place I know nothing about, so research research research. It might not be as fun as I foresee...

Moon: When you think back to when you first started writing, what sorts of things do you know now that you wish someone had told you back then?

Erastes: Oh God. EVERYTHING. I knew nothing. Green as green wouldn't cover it. I suppose in one way my lack of knowledge didn't stop me from doing all those things that they said wasn't any point doing - and just as well, because they were wrong. But I had to learn it all the hard way, formatting, the terminology, the way to behave around publishers and agents, all that sort of thing.

I've actually done an article on that very subject "Things I wish I'd known" because when I took control of the Erotic Authors Association I wanted to try and help others in ways that I hadn't been, and that's the purpose of a writer's association, I think.

Moon: Tell us a bit about what you do at the Erotic Authors Association and what you hope to accomplish with it.

Erastes: It's a matter of time restraints really, as to what I can actually accomplish. I took it on because it was fairly stagnant and I thought that was a shame. I was already posting erotic submission calls on an LJ community so it made sense to amalgamate the two.

I've doubled the membership (which is free) in the last year, and the chat groups are a little more active than they were, but being a one woman band when it comes to organisation and administration I am limited to how much time I can spend on it.

However, were I to get some help, I'd like to do more articles - perhaps not reviews as there are so many sites that cover that amply - nuts and bolts articles to help new authors. And perhaps a section that deals with "good" and "dodgy" publishers and agents in the same way that EREC is doing.

I'd also like to start up some kind of annual award purely for erotica, there's an excellence award which happens every six years or so, but nothing more regularly and I think that would be good to do. However, finding impartial judges might be a problem - I wouldn't want it to be a popularity contest like some awards are! But again - that's in the future and very much dependent on getting assistance.

Moon: I know within the LGBT market one of the challenges is promotion. What techniques have you used to promote your own work that you've found most successful?

Erastes: I'm pretty rubbish at promotion of my books, to be honest, but as Standish is not available in bricks and mortar stores here (yet!) there's not much point me arranging book signing sessions or attending any literary fairs. Then I've been lucky, it sold consistently well for a year and has now started to slide, perhaps I should start plugging! *plugs*

I did have a small rush of sales after doing an email chat/promotion so perhaps that's the one thing that I can say worked best, but I've been appallingly lazy and have left it to word of mouth, my website and a newsletter. Generally I hope that my being around the GLBTQ network will help, too.

Moon: I noticed you are the creater of a place called Speak Its Name. Tell us how you came up with that particular name for the site and a bit about what you do there.

Erastes: It's (as far as I can see) the only Blog solely dedicated to Gay Historical Fiction. It took me a while to realise that there wasn't a place specifically for it.

Well the quote is fairly famous - from Oscar Wilde's 'friend' Lord Alfred (Bosie) Douglas' poem "Two Loves" which ends...

. . . 'Sweet youth,
Tell me why, sad and sighing, thou dost rove
These pleasant realms? I pray thee speak me sooth
What is thy name?' He said, 'My name is Love.'
Then straight the first did turn himself to me
And cried, 'He lieth, for his name is Shame,
But I am Love, and I was wont to be
Alone in this fair garden, till he came
Unasked by night; I am true Love, I fill
The hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.'
Then sighing said the other, 'Have thy will,
I am the Love that dare not speak its name.'

Oscar Wilde was questioned about the phrase at his trial and he was suitably poetic about it, without admitting to physical contact.

Most people associate "Dare not" with the quote, so simply by removing that, it creates a much more positive and affirming, happy feel. Speak Its Name!

Mainly we review books, both fiction and text books, but we have no limits on the length, so we are one of the few sites that do short stories. Also, because of the incredible lack of the genre we don't limit ourselves to the Historical Novel Society's definition of "historical" either, which is "....a novel must have been written at least fifty years after the events described, or have been written by someone who was not alive at the time of those events (who therefore approaches them only by research)."

In my opinion with the recent changes in gay legislation, AIDS and increasing acceptance it would be wrong to avoid the 1950s and 60's altogether.

We also have film reviews, the occasional article and when I get time, some fun too.

Moon: On your site I saw mention of a very creative way you have of getting autographs to readers who cannot get to a signing in person. Tell us more out that and how you came up with the idea.

Erastes: I offer to sign books if someone sends me a copy (although I ask for the postage in advance!) and I have a bookplate which I'm happy to sign and post out at no cost to the requester

I think I saw it on someone else's site, to be honest and I have to be more honest and say that I'm spectacularly bad at actually getting bookmarks posted out to people too.

Moon: It's been great talking to you today Erastes. Before we open the forum up to questions from our readers, there's one more thing we'd like to ask you. If you could chose one of your books to be done as a movie, who would you cast to play the characters?

Erastes: OK, confession time! I always cast my novels as I'm writing them. I blame my mother, who, whilst not "approving" of my writing genre, was actually my greatest supporter. We used to discuss casting at length.

Standish

Ambrose Standish - Jamie Campbell Bower (he's a bit young, but by the time the film is made he'll be perfect!) Rafe Goshawk - Jason Isaacs
Padriag Fleury - Johnny Depp (he's not Irish, but I don't think he'll have a problem with the accent)
Achille Alvisi - Rufus Sewell

And thank you, it's been great to be interviewed!

We at Dreamtime encourage you to check out Erastes novels and get to know this interesting author through her website and blog. We’ve also been lucky enough to have Erastes join us here in the past as a guest blogger to talk about Writing Eyecatching Blurbs. Interesting article, certainly worth a look see. Also check out this great piece on Women writing m/m

STANDISH



A great house. A family dispossessed. A sensitive young man. A powerful landowner. An epic love that springs up between two men.

Set in the post-Napoleonic years of the 1820's, Standish is a tale of two men - one man discovering his sexuality and the other struggling to overcome his traumatic past. Ambrose Standish, a studious and fragile young man, has dreams of regaining the great house his grandfather lost in a card game. When Rafe Goshawk returns from the continent to claim the estate, their meeting sets them on a path of desire and betrayal which threatens to tear both of their worlds apart. ‘

Painting a picture of homosexuality in Georgian England, Standish is a love story of how the decisions of two men affect their journey through Europe and through life.

Excerpt

Reviews: Two Lips Review and Refection’s Edge

Buy in USA Amazon USA or Buy in UK Amazon UK


NIGHT MOVES (anthology)

Four stories of vampires and their lives and how they interact with those around them make up this hot m/m anthology.

In Theron's Boys Kiernan Kelly tells of a group of men seduced by the vampire Theron and the not so pleasant way he controls their lives.

Matt Brooks poses the question in Inferno about what happens to a vampire who hasn't been turned completely because he doesn't have the heart to hunt.

An artist is given his greatest commission and perhaps a chance to pay off his family's debt to his Patron in Chiaroscuro by Erastes.

Finally, Kira Stone's Immortal Steps reveals a hidden vampire society amongst our own where being a person with vampiric DNA can be dangerous when Hunters want you for your hormonal serum and the larger sum your body parts will bring.

Read an excerpt of Night Moves

Buy from Aspen Mountain Press