Taboo Tens: Day Twenty Five Reader Post Sheila Gallagher!

Good Morning!


Welcome to day Twenty Five of the Taboo Tens!


Today, I have another fan blog from a lady I love. She or Sheila has been one of my biggest supporters. She’s commented on my blogs wherever I went and supported my guests when they’ve done guest posts here and at Rawiya’s.


She is quite the sweetheart, and here she is doing a guest blog.


We’re also giving away a copy of LA Witt’s AJ’s Angel!


Take it away Sheila!


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I read most genres and do not limit or censor what I read. As long as the story hooks me I’ll read it. So why do I read male/male romance? I’m a relative newcomer to male/male literature. It started at RT 2008 in Pittsburgh. This was the first time I saw what was available outside traditional male/female stories. I got a few free books and met a few authors at RT and, being the book whore I am, I decided to try them. What I found is a wonderful genre with lots of undiscovered authors and books. The sex was hotter but the stories had the same things as traditional romance. It had the meeting of the couple, the conflict, the resolution of the conflict, and either the HEA or HFN. I was hooked. There are differences: no unplanned pregnancies or pressure to get married.




Authors of m/m or ménage romance come across as being more comfortable writing sex. Unless the traditional romance is erotic the traditional authors are not always comfortable writing sex scenes and I can pick that up while reading. The euphemisms drive me crazy. I’m not in high school anymore. I can handle the real words or slang. Being realistic enhances the story.




Coming from a family where certain things are not discussed alternate lifestyle literature has helped me to understand the lifestyle better. With a sister who is lesbian and a brother who is transgendered discovering male/male, female/female, transgendered, and ménage novels have shown me what people go through. Not being gay I often am oblivious to what they go through with others, the prejudice they face, the anger and hatred of others. The big news stories are what I see and I shake my head and wonder how people can be so hateful but I was unaware of the little things. Reading your novels opened my eyes to the small things those living an alternate lifestyle contend with daily.




Your novels have also opened my mind and caused me to consciously think of what my values are, of my tolerance and acceptance levels towards others who live differently than I. While you may have thought you wrote only to entertain me, each time I open one of your books and invite you into my world, as you invite my into your world, a piece of me changes because of your words. I may change my mind about what I thought I knew. I may lose a prejudice. I may learn of something new that causes me to do some research. I may understand the fights you fight and side with you. I have done these things and probably more.




So the flippant answer to why I read m/m romance is it’s taboo and forbidden in the mainstream society where I reside so that makes it hotter. But the thoughtful answer is that I am taught things I would never wonder about. Another world is opened to me and I have to challenge my beliefs about what I thought I knew about life. That’s not a bad idea if it brings acceptance and tolerance to the world.

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Wow. What a blog. OMG. 

That is such a fantastic post. 

She gave so many reasons as to why us writers write and read gay romances and did it so eloquently. Wow, Sheila, you sure you aren't a writer? LOL

Awesome post. I hope all of you enjoyed that...

Here now is a blurb from the book we're giving away from the talented LA Witt!

Taken from Goodreads.

Buylink - http://store.samhainpublishing.com/ajs-angel-p-6325.html

Luke Emerson is the last person Sebastian Wakefield expects to see strolling into his tattoo shop. But Luke’s not back after four years to take up where they left off. Not even to apologize for the cheating that broke them up.

Luke wants a custom tattoo, a memorial for someone known only as “A.J.”. Much as Seb would love to tell Luke to take this ink and shove it, he’s a professional. Plus, he’s reluctant to admit, he wouldn’t mind getting his hands on Luke again. Even if it’s just business.

Once Luke’s in the tattoo chair, though, Seb finds himself struggling with all the anger and resentment he thought he’d left behind—and those aren’t the only feelings reignited. Their relationship may have been turbulent, but it was also passionate. Four years clearly hasn’t been long enough for the embers of that fire to go cold.

A few subtle hints from Luke is all it takes to make Seb consider indulging in some of that physical passion. It shouldn’t be that tough to keep his emotions from getting tangled up in sweaty sheets.

After all, it’s not like he’s in love with Luke anymore. Right?

Warning: Contains two exes who shouldn’t want each other like this, steamy ex-sex they shouldn’t be having, and a whole lot of ink.