julian_griffith

But, since my story got accepted, I sent this to the author of the super-helpful B-24 page:

Dear Mike,

I'm proud to say that my story, "Lost and Found in the Pacific", will be appearing in September in a Torquere Press charity anthology - I just got the acceptance today! The proceeds from the anthology will support Outserve SDLN, a non-profit that provides legal services and support to LGBT military individuals and families, working toward equal representation and benefits.

It's a romance between two airmen, and I based the background on the events of the Green Hornet crash that Laura Hillenbrand wrote about in Unbroken, which is an amazing book. Of course, I had my pair get rescued instead of captured by the Japanese - it's only a short story, not a novel.

I'd be happy to send it along to you if you don't want to wait for the anthology to be released.

Yours,

Julian

I figure, this makes me a voice for equality without filling his mailbox with surprise!sex scene, which... strikes me as a bit rude. If I get an unpleasant response, I can set up a filter in Gmail to dump any further mail from him into a folder I'll ignore. If he turns out to be more broad-minded than I'm giving him credit for, I'll send the story as an attachment, with a note in the body of the email that says it's got a mild sex scene in it along with the crash and the rescue.

Because, honestly, a lot of my doubts about sending it didn't really come from "what if he's a jerk about romance between men", but from "I really don't think a straight guy will react well to finding a story with a gay sex scene in it when he's probably expecting Wartime Adventure."

So yeah. This may end badly, or it may end better than I expect, but at least the idea is out there beyond the m/m romance readers and writers bubble.