I am very happy to announce that my LGBTQ romantic comedy novella Knights Erring is now available as an eBook (in Kindle, PDF, and ePub forms) through Less Than Three Press. It's also available for download at Amazon. The experience was a very satisfying one: this is my first romantic prose story, queer or otherwise, and the publisher's call for knight- and medieval-themed tales made me take up the challenge as I always approach them. I asked myself, What would be an intriguing story that honors the prompt but delivers something unusual that a reader wouldn't expect? Instead of setting the characters in 14th century England, it was modern-day Portland, Maine. And rather than follow serious knights acting nobly to preserve honor, I gave my young trio all modern temptations -- including social media, Starbucks, and casual hook-ups -- and then challenged them with the chivalric vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity.
Because of the genre requirements and the expectations of the publisher, I knew this was a great opportunity to write in a colorfully comic tone. P.G. Wodehouse came instantly to mind; gay writers such as Christian McLaughlin and Joe Keenan also served as inspiration. It was intriguing to find the right balance of romance paired with the promise of physical lust for some of the characters, most particularly for Damian Shore, who has never found it difficult to play the field but begins to fall for a new conquest when his vow of chastity turns him into a one-man man. Sammy Lee is engaged to Rachel Bantry, and their relationship is sound until the idea of Super-Sizing their current modest wedding plans (largely as a way to frustrate Rachel's disapproving stepmother) starts to grow, and Sammy's vow of obedience is repeatedly put to the test. And Landon Mercer is extremely comfortable nestled in his townhouse-and-Lexus trust-fund life, so it comes as a shock to him when his friends are determined that he take a vow of poverty as everyone tries to honor a 21st century version of the chivalric code. Misery loves company.
With the encouragement and very astute notes from LT3 Press editor James Loke Hale, Knights Erring doubled in size from 16,000 words to more than 38,000, and I think the expansion and editorial conversation has made this a far stronger story than I initially crafted. Characters found more depth and detail, moments became more romantic and personal, and the dovetailing of three stories were structured in a way both to run parallel with and to intersect each other. I always enjoy that type of narrative, and I like the connections being made (both for the readers and characters) as each storyline plays out. Over the course of a year, this story of a questionably contrived bar bet during a Middle Ages-themed trivia contest grew and bloomed, and even though it's a light read, it's hopefully a satisfying, sexy, and humorous one.
With the encouragement and very astute notes from LT3 Press editor James Loke Hale, Knights Erring doubled in size from 16,000 words to more than 38,000, and I think the expansion and editorial conversation has made this a far stronger story than I initially crafted. Characters found more depth and detail, moments became more romantic and personal, and the dovetailing of three stories were structured in a way both to run parallel with and to intersect each other. I always enjoy that type of narrative, and I like the connections being made (both for the readers and characters) as each storyline plays out. Over the course of a year, this story of a questionably contrived bar bet during a Middle Ages-themed trivia contest grew and bloomed, and even though it's a light read, it's hopefully a satisfying, sexy, and humorous one.
And for those curious about The Writer's Process -- and that may be an unsteady assumption that there are any -- I am a true believer in the plot outline. Some argue that an outline constricts and dampens in-the-moment writing inspiration, but I disagree: there are countless opportunities for discovery, even with a diagrammed plot created before one starts to write prose. Some of those aha! moments indeed changed the narrative outline structure, but most often the discoveries were on the micro-, in-the-moment level, like setting up and paying off a joke in dialogue or realizing that one character would make a different argument than I had initially envisioned.
The principal benefit for any writer to have an outline (and you can glimpse part of mine on the side; I almost always write longhand in a composition book, and the typing into a word processing program becomes a chance for editing) is that he or she has an ending and thematic concept identified and defined before writing.
The principal benefit for any writer to have an outline (and you can glimpse part of mine on the side; I almost always write longhand in a composition book, and the typing into a word processing program becomes a chance for editing) is that he or she has an ending and thematic concept identified and defined before writing.
When I read the work of new writers, it's easy to determine by the halfway point whether that person knows what the plot, characters, and structure are serving. Sometimes, a fellow writer will write an entire draft, then examine it and consider how it's working and what they are trying to say. And then -- and I see this with some of my talented playwriting colleagues -- they use that experience to recognize what their real story should be and then write a brand-new draft that tosses out much of the first version to refocus on a new or clearer thematic idea. That's their process, and that's fine, but I push myself to define the theme I think I'm presenting (it can certainly change in the writing) and the structure of the story before I tackle the sentence-by-sentence detail work of crafting of the text. I need a roadmap so I know where I and the characters are going (or think we are going), and that is especially true of Knights Erring, where the three storylines needed to collect complications and build to crisis, climax, and resolution at about the same time, while sharing a similar comic-dramatic tone. It was a rewarding project, and I hope that it's the first of many longer prose stories for me. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it!
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