Word of God; July 31 2021

Oh dear. Somehow, blogging managed to slip my mind for two weeks.

In my defence, I finally finished moving into my apartment within that time span! I’ve been spending my time setting up my kid’s bedroom (which included a lot of furniture assembly), getting my own space in order, and catching up on rest. Turns out, I’ve been pretty burned out recently, and my motivation’s been at an all time low.

I can’t consider this time wasted, though. During this rest period, I’ve gotten some of my wind back. I have ideas to apply to works I’ve started and a new novel idea, so I’m going to get back to writing soon! It’ll be tricky – naturally, my work ethic returns just in time for me to have time with my kid (which I’m ridiculously excited about! I’m throwing her a party for when she arrives). When I can get to it, though, I plan on powering through as many first drafts as I can. Hopefully I can get this backlog of book ideas out of the concept stage.

So, with this rambling aside, what am I really talking about this week? At the recommendation of my partner, and in honour of my rekindling interest in my work, I’ve decided to talk about…

Queerness!

No, okay, I know I do that a lot, but this time I want to specifically note the canonical sexualities and gender identities of my various characters!

Obviously, not all of these characters are in published works. So, before each section, I’m going to give you the basic pitch of the book these characters are from. A couple of these books can be currently found in e-book form on Amazon, so consider checking those out!

First off, we have…

The Wishing Maiden! Currently on Amazon here!

It is said the Wishing Maiden can grant any wish she hears, and her legend has become widely acknowledged to be truth. As the Kingdom of Felicitie tears itself apart in the attempt to find her, one band of adventurers becomes tasked with locating the Maiden on the prince's behalf – if they want to escape a prison sentence, they must recover the Wishing Maiden before anyone else does... and resist the temptation to use her powers for themselves.

The characters are:

Jacquotte, a cisgender homoromantic lesbian;

Asha, a cisgender biromantic bisexual;

Lyall, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Bron, a cisgender homoromantic asexual;

Grete, a cisgender aromantic asexual;

Sly, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Prince Caietanus, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Balthazar, a cisgender homoromantic homosexual.

Virtually Reality! Currently on Amazon here!

‘Beyond the Free Realm’ – the newest virtual reality game, currently being beta tested by one small town. Alexander Heron (or ‘Wingspan’, as he’s known online) takes on an unusual quest with his gaming party, only to be put through horrific trials designed to break each and every one of them down.

The characters are:

Wingspan, a cisgender biromantic bisexual;

Hellblazer, a transgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Whiteflower, a cisgender panromantic pansexual;

Gunmetal, a cisgender homoromantic homosexual;

Newts, a cisgender biromantic bisexual;

Knifebaby, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

The Quest Master, an inhuman monster not compatible with human ideas of gender or orientations.

The Rebirth of Qistedei! To be published with Scarsdale Publishing, date TBD!

Magic is commonplace. Deities are absent. Self-worth, identity, and autonomy are in short supply. But if Kanae can locate the missing demigods and depose a dictator, she’ll save her country from war – and her own life.

The characters are:

Kanae, a cisgender panromantic asexual;

Ymi, a cisgender biromantic bisexual;

Niac, a cisgender panromantic homosexual;

Quin, a genderqueer panromantic pansexual;

Yeiu, a cisgender homoromantic lesbian;

Delenae, a cisgender homoromantic lesbian;

Kav, a cisgender demiromantic demisexual;

Rivan, an agender aromantic asexual;

Junan, an agender aromantic asexual;

Sisi, a cisgender panromantic pansexual;

Anaphael, an agender aromantic pansexual;

Anevlin, an agender aromantic pansexual.

There are numerous other side characters in this series; I may address them at a later date!

Necroweaver! Currently being queried!

Jin Watanabe becomes a serial killer for the opportunity to bring back his dead little sister, Yuka, using soulweaving magic. He’s soaked his hands in blood without regret. However, when he accidentally unravels the fabric separating life and death, so much more becomes at stake: the very world could be ending, and he’s the only person capable of fixing it.

The characters are:

Jin, a transgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Yuka, a cisgender demiromantic demisexual;

Chikere, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual.

The Other Face of Sympathy! Currently being queried!

A monster in the shadows stalks Edward, and it will devour his very existence. Salvation may lie in the creature’s old diary, tucked away in an unearthly bookstore – he must hunt for the right story before time runs out.

The characters are:

Edward Barrett, a transgender demiromantic demisexual;

Yuma Murakami, a cisgender homoromantic asexual;

Allyn Taggart, a genderqueer biromantic bisexual;

Andre Thibodeaux, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Diana Gresham, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Imogen Keene, a cisgender heteroromantic pansexual;

Jesse Meltzer, a cisgender aromantic asexual;

May Li, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Nicholas Panther, a cisgender homoromantic homosexual;

Pandya Khatri, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Paul Lloyd, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Rosa Romero, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Tara Demure, a cisgender biromantic bisexual;

Gwendolyn White, a cisgender demiromantic demisexual;

Conscience, a creature not compatible with human ideas of gender or orientations.

Mr. Wolf! Currently being queried!

Only children believe in monsters. If Russell, the new teacher at the Royce Institute, wants to survive and uncover how all the other adults died... he’d better believe, too.

Now, this one’s a little difficult – the majority of the cast are children, not yet sure of their identities. So I’ll be only listing the adult characters!

The (adult) characters are:

Russell Singh, a cisgender aromantic demisexual;

Jack Royce, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Louis Royce, a cisgender heteroromantic heterosexual;

Catherine Royce, a cisgender panromantic pansexual.

Lastly, we’ve got my current work in progress – Master of Gods! Currently being written!

Captors seek, bind, and pit deities against each other in epic duels. One mage aims to be the next Master of Gods, but when she realizes the cruelty behind the sport, she must choose whether to chase her dream or try to set the gods free.

The characters are:

Mystic, a cisgender panromantic pansexual;

Fierce, a transgender panromantic pansexual;

Vivacity, a genderfluid panromantic pansexual.

… And there you have it! A lot of characters, and this list is far from complete! There are several other works in progress not listed, and not all side characters are included in these lists.

I try (and hope) to give my books varied casts without tipping into ‘Cast Full of Gay’ territory, ideally to give them a more realistic feel. Not all of these facets to the characters are immediately evident, however; if the story doesn’t call for it, I may not even mention a character’s orientation.

Do you think a character’s gender/romantic and sexual orientations should be written into the text in order for it to be proper representation, or does it feel shoehorned in if it’s not immediately relevant?

Let me know what you think!