Reviewing with River

Yes… Yes, I frequently get them, invitations to review, or an obligation to give one because I promised one or three in a package for a friend’s Fund Raiser/Auction. And then they send me a link to a genre where this is not something I normally choose to read.

For example, as a heterosexual male… I find male on male Romance extremely difficult. There is nothing about it that appeals to me. I once had the feeling that reading and giving a review on the Gay subject was disastrous. I didn’t truly believe that the stories might cause me to throw away 62 years of sexuality. Or maybe it would cause me to turn into some new age, counter-culture sex-fiend, hanging out in smoky dives that get raided and its chap wearing butt cheek showing, patrons are paraded to the paddy wagon where the local news take videos with blurry patches to show on the 11:00 O'clock news. No, that is not very likely… But then, I would say why risk it?

I began to have conversations with folks who clearly possessed broader minds than me. And when they pointed out that my way of thinking was the definition of “Homophobia” (it is to, I looked it up in a dictionary written by heterosexuals)

I became depressed, because I have always thought of myself as progressive, open-minded, and many other things but never a bigot. (Oh, there’s another good word to look up, it turns out that even if someone only holds one prejudice that impacts how they act toward another person it makes them a Bigot.)

I loved my father save for his bigotry and growing up I swore I would not be like him in those things. So, even though my efforts to remove racial bias from my life have been very successful… I was still a flaming Bigot!

How… awful! I thought I was doing well in my efforts to be a better human. I forgave my brother for coming out, I found old friends who over the years had also come out and declared their sexuality as different from mine. And I remained friends with them. As if these things were supposed to prove I was not Homophobic. Oh, how little did I understand.

I did research on this subject and found it is a quagmire, a dark pit where there is nothing, no ideas, concept, opinion or understanding that explain why different people have different feelings about their sexuality. Nothing anywhere is exact or provable through science.

The more I researched the more confused I became. Then one day, in a discussion with one of our WdC members about her preferences, where she was trying to educate me about her being a lesbian. (we even wrote a few stories together.) this subject came up, and I voiced my issues, and she asked me questions…

“Joey when you read a story about Islamic terrorists do you get the urge to move to Syria or Iran and join their cause?”

I said, “No, of course not, although, I do sometimes want to shoot things afterword.”

“Okay, if you read a story about climbing a mountain or pirates on the high seas, afterward do you buy curved swords, three-cornered hats, sailboats, ropes, Caribbean-clips or other climbing equipment?

“No, I sometimes imagine myself in exotic places, doing extraordinary things but it is rare that I act on those brief inklings.

“So, what makes you think reading a story where two men exchange a passionate kiss will give you cause to want to do the same.”

“It’s not the same,” I said, “I can’t identify with the characters so, how can I give anyone a review on something I don’t identify with?”

“If one of your gay friends kissed his mate in front of you are you going to turn away or get up and leave?”

“No, of course not. Again, it’s different. I know them, I have a history with them. They know I am not gay and not going to change my mind about it and they accept that fact.”

“Joey you need to think about this, how can some story about two people, who are usually made up, be so scary just because they are the same gender? You wrote a lovely poem about a friend from your high school days who passed away, did that mean you have sexual feelings for him?”

“No. No. No… it’s not the same.”

“Yes, it is.” She said, “Just think about it a while. For them it’s the same as it is for you it’s just they like men instead of women. Say nothing… until you can put into words exactly what the risk is to you… to read a story of any kind and tell the author what you thought.”

I saw her points. What do I risk by reading something in this genre? Yes, some of it is bad writing, but that can be found in every genre, all one needs do is go to Amazon’s 99 cent list and there are tens of thousands of titles in every genre that are not ready to be published. I read and reviewed a few stories and guess what I still like sex with women. I try to leave my personal phobias out of the reviews and comment on story structure, writing style, and SPAG. I have even progressed to where I can talk about story conflict issues. Who knows where I can go next.

I have discovered something very important for my writing career:

Reading or writing Murder Mysteries will not turn you into a murderer. (your feelings about your editor pass)
Reading or writing Science Fiction doesn’t make you a spaceman. (though some will think you are an alien)
Reading or writing Westerns doesn’t make you a cowboy. (and riding a Bucking Broncho after will hurt… a lot.)
Reading or writing an Erotic Romance will not turn you into Fabian. (though, it can help the bank account.)
Reading or writing a Gay Romance will not make one Gay, (but could expose you to some very eloquent writers.)

Lastly, I am proud to say, I can now review in any genre. Because… in one final test, I discovered that reading the Bible, didn’t provide me the ability to raise the dead, walk on water or turn that same into wine.