Author: ackatt
14 - August - 2010

Realism in Contemporary Gay Romance

Realism in Contemporary Gay Romance

In my latest novel, Shattered Glass, my subject was the world of rock music. I chose to portray the gritty underbelly of the music scene.

I deliberately made the choice to describe the rock scene highlighting both the highs of performing for large crowds of adoring fans and the lows of the predominance of alcohol and drugs. So many of our rock heroes have fallen into the pit of drug and alcohol abuse and lost their music as well as their lives because of their excess.

Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Elvis and Kurt Cobain all succumbed to the lure of drugs and lost their lives as a result. The temptations exist, if I did not describe those temptations and the results they bring to those who are willingly or unwillingly drawn into abuse, I would not have written a realistic account of the life. In Shattered Glass, one of the band members is a dealer, another becomes addicted and a third is unknowingly dosed with a horrific result.

I also wrote a substantial amount of profanity into the dialog. If you listen to contemporary music, you find it filled with words that are not considered polite or acceptable in “good company.” These are facts not fiction and to ignore the reality of the world I chose as a background for my story would be, essentially, ignoring the reality of the subject matter.

In Shattered Glass, Liam is an innocent when he enters the world of recording and performing rock music. He depends on Milo, first as his guardian, and later as his lover, to see him through the rocky schools of the music scene. When he and Milo are forced apart, Liam, through the malice of an enemy is drugged and raped. The rape takes place off scene and is not described. However, the reality of drugged drinks, date rape and the feelings of self-hatred are described accurately.

The book describes a love affair shattered by lies and deception. The ending is HEA. However the in-between is both gritty and realistic. Shattered Glass is an honest novel and I don’t think I could gloss over the downside of the music business and still write characters that deal with live as it is rather than life as we wish it to be. My characters overcome the pitfalls and become stronger for their experiences.

It would be nice to think that all musicians, especially the great ones, can hold themselves above the dangers of the lifestyle. Some can, some can’t. The truly great are those who walk through the fire and become cleansed instead of burned. These are the heroes, the ones who face adversity and temptation and overcome it. I chose reality over fantasy and I’m not sorry I did.

For those of you who like their romance flavored with a realistic portrayal of the world as it is; who want to see characters in true-to-life situations, I hope you decide to read this novel. If you prefer your romance not to reflect real life human frailty, Shattered Glass is not for you.

Shattered Glass is available from Captiva Press at www.captivapress.com. You can learn more about this book and my other endeavors at www.ackatt.com.

If you have a comment on this blog, my books, or anything else, I would like to hear from you at ackatt@ackatt.com. I will answer every comment personally. I appreciate your interest.

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