Men in Sports: Why Are They Almost Non Existent in M/M?

84 comments

• 

  Intersting stuff Wave. I do miss the female writers. You do not mention that a lot of writers are female. If they are not interested in sport it is not going to happen. Who would if you are annoyed that your hub, significant other or partner is glued to to the TV set all the time while you want to do something else? You could get some writing done but something in me tells me that it won’t be a story about sport.

  A lot of our heroes do watch an awful lot of sport though. There always seems to be a “ball” game going on when they switch on the TV.

  Personally I love sport but I am more European sports orientated. I have watched American football a few times but I just don’t get it. IMO it is way too slow, there are more breaks then actual action, not my kind of thing.
  I would like to see more sports stories though.

• 

  Hi Ingrid

  I do mention that a lot of the writers and readers are female here –

  >>It’s a fact that the majority of M/M writers and readers are straight females<< However, now 19% of the writers are male so why are there so few stories about sports in a sub genre that's about men? You made two excellent points: >>If they are not interested in sport it is not going to happen.<< >> Who would if you are annoyed that your hub, Who would if you are annoyed that your hub, significant other or partner is glued to to the TV set all the time while you want to do something else? << I guess I never thought that the female authors would be too mad to write about sports if their significant others were glued to the television watching sports. However, if they want to make more money they should write about different themes, including sports, since M/M is supposed to be about gay MEN.

• 

  I dunno, if you are truly not interested could the book you are writing be any good?

  • 

    Ingrid
    You right, the book could be crap and I have read a few like that, but surely, with all the women who are interested in sports there must be some giood ideas floating around. 5 of the books on the list were written by women – 2 are in my top 10 (Caught Running and The Front Runner) and CR is one of my comfort reads, so women can write some damn great sports books.

• 

  I wonder if the reason why there’s not many sports-related M/M books is because of fanfic. Love it or hate it, there’s RPF and there’s a lot of sports RPF out there from football to snooker to motorsport to Olympic swimming. With many sports it’s not so much the sport itself that grabs a fan, it’s the team or the sportsman – and trying to promote the same level of interest in a fictional team or fictional sportsman could be really hard. For example I love F1 and about 12 years ago there was a (m/f) romance novel published based on a fictional F1 driver and fictional F1 team set against real drivers, real teams and a real season. The fictional dudes came off worse because they couldn’t compete for my attention with Ferrari or McLaren even within the context of the story, and I wasn’t the only reader who felt that way.

  It would be good to read an original M/M F1 story (since there has been at least one very closeted gay driver – F1 being considered the Last Bastion of Heterosexual Masculinity, LOL) but it could be too ‘specialist’ for many pubs, since with the exception of the Canadian GP, F1 never does well in North America. Who knows, maybe someone will give it a try.

• 

  Hi Kate

  Sports is a team game but the members of these teams are all individuals. T.A. Chase’s High Line is about one of those men – High Line features a stock car driver who had hit the skids when he was outed. All a writer needs to have is some imagination, together with the research into the sport, and he/she can produce a credible “sports oriented” book.

  It’s all aboput the players and how they deal with living in a world where they may not be welcome but their talent got them where they are, and sometimes it’s the reason for their fall from grace.

• 

  I got kind of excited when I saw the topic for this post. I am also a huge baseball fan. (I, in fact, have Yankees tickets tonight. Ha!) As a reader, I would love to see more m/m novels with sports.

  One issue: I read a m/f romance about a baseball player once, and some of the lack of detail bothered me. No one ever spoke of stats, but that’s what baseball is about! Players, coaches, fans, they’re all gonna be talking batting averages and RBIs and the book had almost no numbers in it. That struck me as odd and pulled me out of the story a little (that, and the fact that everyone on this fictional major league team seemed to be white, but that’s a different can of worms), but then I wondered: would someone with no knowledge of baseball be put off by all the baseball jargon? Do they care if the hero (a pitcher) has an ERA of less than 3? Is that a completely meaningless detail? To me, it’s relevant and adds color to the story, but a lot of stats might confuse a reader who doesn’t know much about the sport. It’s a fine line, I guess.

  I just recently started writing a m/m book about two baseball players (I had an idea, and I decided I should take it upon myself to fill in the void) so we’ll see how that goes.

  • 

    Kate

    >>As a reader, I would love to see more m/m novels with sports.<< You're exactly the kind of M/M writer who should write a sports story because you understand the sport of baseball and what turns the fans on. The danger is in making the book too technical so that a non fan can't enjoy it. The reason I loved those books I mentioned is because although they was a sports theme the authors never forgot that the characters were the story, not the game. Although I know the baseball stats you mention and I'm as turned on about a pitcher's ERA I would be satisfied if there's a passing mention rather than an entire chapter devoted to stats. Good luck on the book - I hope you finish it and please let me know when it's released as I would love to review it. I'm reviewing a very short story today by A.M. Riley about hockey which is just hilarious. I should be posting it shortly. I hope you check it out and buy the book.

• 

  My guess as to why there is not much sports related m/m is that many of the writers are women who know nothing about sports (like me) and they’re not willing to do the research. (Kate makes a really good point with the stats needed in an authentic baseball narrative — I would have no idea what to write without researching the heck out of it). I would love to see an m/m novel centered on boxing (I know a little about that so maybe I should eventually give it a try 😉 ). Oh, as for the draw, I already have Sean’s novel. 🙂

  • 

    Val
    As I mentioned to Kate, although the stats in the different games are good to know and are easy to find on the internet, the thrust of the stories should always be about the characters not the game. The reason I loved the books I mentioned in the post is that none of the authors forgot what was important – the love between the characters. The sports was “background”.

    I also mentioned in my comment to Kate that I will be posting a review for a sports themed book by A.M. Riley shortly which is paranormal and very funny. It’s very short and you will get a kick out of it. I dare you to read it after you check out the review. 🙂

    In the post I indicated that 19% of M/M writers are now men, and I assume that some of them play sports or watch sports so they should be able to step up to the plate and write a few sports stories.

    Have you read Caught Running which was written by two women? It’s one of my favourite comfort reads and a book that I invariably suggest when readers ask for a book rec. The fact that it’s about sports is incidental. The only thing wrong with the book is a lot of head hopping but it’s a wonderful story, so I overlooked it. I can say that the other books on the list are also comfort reads at different levels, except perhaps The Front Runner because readers do want their HEA. 50% of my recommendations were written by women and are about different sports – women are just as avid about their favourite sports as men and I’m sure some of them are M/M writers.

    Anyway I have to finish my review. Watch for it. 🙂

• 

  I wouldn’t count myself as any kind of sports fan – but I watch as much of the Superbowl as I can each year, and as well as having watched The Ashes last time it was on free TV (and we won! woo-hoo!), I’ve also listened to Test Match Special on a number of occasions… Oh, and I try to remember to watch Wales’s international rugby games when they’re on TV, especially the Six Nations.

  ..So even with me being someone who generally avoids spectator sport, there’s still a fair bit I’m interested in, and I’d be interested in reading m/m fiction about sportsmen. The point made above about stats is valid, though – they’d have to add to the story, and be included in a way that helped me understand what they mean. Maybe there’s not many books been written because there’s such a narrow line to tread between what’s important about the sports and what’s important about the characters?

  Oh, and just for the record – the main reason I watch those particular sports is oogling then men. I mean, American Football leggings/trousers/whatever you call them! Muscley rugby players in shorts and covered in mud! And cricket whites! Tailored, nearly-transparent gentlemanly perfection, with the occasional grass stain! Who *wouldn’t* want to sit watching them for hours?

  • 

    Tiggothy

    It takes skill to integrate the sports information into the romance and make it seem part of the story. The sports is not THE story it’s part of it.

    Charlie Cochrane, veteran historical romance writer loves rugby and sends me pictures of hot guys playing rugby from time to time and some of them have appeared on the Friday Guys. 🙂

    Sports, like any other theme can be really interesting when placed in the hands of an experienced writer, whether or not that person knows anything about the subject.

• 

  I already have those books so don’t count me but …

  I don’t dislike sports themed stories. I do enjoy sports to a degree. I will watch big final games on TV but I don’t follow many leagues. Sure I’m happy when the hometown boys win, but if they don’t. Whatever.

  But for me, 99.9% (it seems) of the conflict in a sports themed story is “oh noes, I’m going to be outed and get my ass kicked and no longer be able to play” and that gets tiring. Because if you are going to be true to the world of sports, it is a closeted homophobic place (if you believe what you hear) so you aren’t going to have stories about guys who are out and proud and their conflict is a stalker (for example). The main conflict revolves around falling in love and then having to decide to either remain in the closet or let the chips fall where they may. I don’t want to read that theme every week.

  I personally find the whole paranoia surrounding getting caught not one of my favourite themes. It’s often why I don’t like historicals and military stories. The whole focus tends to fall on hiding and sneaking around instead of finding out if you actually like the person. Not all of course, there are always exceptions to every rule and I do read sports themed stories but I’m quite content with the quantity out there. Unless there can be a way to not make hiding the main focus and the fear or exposure, it gets a bit ho hum after a while.

  As for the gay men I know. Some would rather leap off a bridge than watch sports, some love it to distraction. Same with women, although I’d say slightly gay fewer men I know are sports fanatics than straight guys. Not that I have a statistically viable sample to go by.

  I did find this little Twitter interaction on Tumblr this week. I’m not sure what triggered it but for those who don’t know, Gareth Thomas is a Welsh rugby player and Nick Youngquest is an Australian rugby player. So there are accepting players out there, and there was the football player who came out in favour of gay marriage at the Superbowl, but I think most are probably told by agents and coaches to keep their mouths shut and do their job to avoid controversy. The public can be very fickle.

  • 

    Tam

    The key is to have a protagonist who is a big star so neither the team nor the other players want to lose him therefore they won’t care about his sexual orientation. Another way of not focusing on the ‘coming out’ aspect is to write a character who is already retired from the game but still part of it – this way he doesn’t give a crap about what people say. Or you could write a story about a character who was already outed like High Line by T.A. Chase. I have read many sports stories where coming out was not a big deal.

    I read M/M books all the time where ordinary gay men (teachers, librarians, bankers etc.) are afraid of the repercussions of coming out but readers don’t make a big deal about it. It’s a fact of life of being gay that your job security is constantly at risk, so sports, while more high profile, carries the same risk with the added dimension of sponsors pulling out. However that’s changing and if writers use their imagination they can use the sports theme to show the way that change is happening in this male bastion.

    I don’t disagree that being outed is a big part of why sports stars live life on the down low, but a skilled writer can write an authentic story and use this as an advantage and not a drag. That’s my view anyway.

    • 

      I read M/M books all the time where ordinary gay men (teachers, librarians, bankers etc.) are afraid of the repercussions of coming out but readers don’t make a big deal about it.

      If I see from a blurb that that is the thrust of a story, no matter the setting, hockey arena or boardroom, I’ll pass on it as well. I know it’s a fact of life but I just don’t enjoy reading it much. But that’s a person thing for me, just like some people don’t like sci-fi or mysteries. We all have our own quirks.

• 

  Heeelp!!
  European woman here!Football,Baseball,Rugby –
  completely alien!
  Hmm…o.k.-boxing.That would be a nice theme.
  (deliberate assault without clothes…*joking*)
  Hah, I know something about baseball…a pitcher,a catcher and the rest is running…correct?
  🙂

  I know,that Keira Andrews has written a book about gay
  tennis players -Love Match.I haven`t read it yet,so it`s not a rec.

  I`m complaining about American sports,but otherwise I can`t imagine a m/m romance with soccer players.:)

  • 

    I know that a soccer player who came out(British Premier League) commited suicide because he couldn`t stand the public pressure/hatred.
    As Tam said,the public can be very fickle – with tragic results.

    • 

      Simsala
      I’m sorry to hear about the soccer player but he must not have had a good support network. People commit suicide for different reasons – all you have to do is check the statistics which are alarming, but the fact that he allowed the pressure to get to him indicates, to me anyway, that there was much more going on in his life and this might have been the last straw.

  • 

    Hi Simsala
    I love rugby and I’m watching the World Cup. 🙂

    I did read that book by Keira Andrews and I think I reviewed it. I liked it a lot but I can’t find it on the site. I’m still looking.

• 

  On the other hand, some of us associate sports with physical education, complete humiliation and therefore won’t even watch a game on TV. So, while we may have a simplistic grasp of the rules, we don’t understand the excitement.

  Our local community center has a terrible time when it’s time for the Gaymes. Darts and chess, sure, we can field three or four teams. But basketball and track? Those events get canceled for lack of interest and no gay man will sign up for softball. (That’s for the lesbians and transmen) It’s a sad sight to watch a 50+ bald man beg people to sign up to run hurdles.

  Yes, we write about men. But there are all kinds of men who behave in all kinds of ways. The men I write about are the kinds that would rather dress in an evening gown and sing in front of people than sit in the bleachers and cheer. They watch football for the tight pants, make snide comments about baseball bats, and compare knees and asses on the soccer players. If they remember Ty Cob .366, it’s only from reading Robert Fulghum.

  I write them because those are the kind of men I am around, whether gay or straight.

  • 

    Angel

    >>Yes, we write about men. But there are all kinds of men who behave in all kinds of ways. The men I write about are the kinds that would rather dress in an evening gown and sing in front of people than sit in the bleachers and cheer. They watch football for the tight pants, make snide comments about baseball bats, and compare knees and asses on the soccer players<< There's a plot right there for a sports story, but from the other side. I would read that and it would be a really funny story. >>It’s a sad sight to watch a 50+ bald man beg people to sign up to run hurdles.<< I laughed so much I split my sides laughing. Who said that a sports story had to be serious? You could write a funny book about sports that would be a best seller. Go Angel. I just read and reviewed Blood on the Ice by A.M. Riley which is very short but very funny.

• 

  I agree. I picked up “Caught Running” a couple of weeks ago because it had a sports plot to the background story. (Advise: if you haven’t bought “Caught Running,” do. It is great.)

  As a woman, I love sports. Baseball is my passion. (Go Orioles!) But I also love Australian Rules Football (Go Collingwood!), American football (Go Ravens!) and hockey (Go Detriot Red Wings!) Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I cannot be passionate about sports. Plus speaking as a girl who has two brothers, one straight (he’s a basketball freak), one gay (he loves tennis), however, irregardless of sexuality, they both love sports. Personally, I think it’s genetic thing in my family. So really I think both sexes can enjoy the topic in a well-written book.

  Great discussion, Wave.

  (Count me out of TA Chase’s books, I have those and totally enjoyed them.)

  • 

    Lasha

    You’re a woman after my own heart. Why is it that M/M writers think that there are no sports fans who would read their sports themed books? We’re here!

    T.A. will be glad to know that you love his books. 🙂

  • 

    “Go Collingwood!”

    *sporfles behind hand*

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      Boasting is not a nice trait in a man. Just remember that your team could be on the losing end tomorrow. 🙂

      • 

        I’m not boasting! Have you forgotten my team is at the bottom of the ladder?

        • 

          I was being ironic. You must be accustomed by now to supporting a team that’s always in the basement. Have they won ANY games this year? How are my faves the Brisbane Lions doing this year?

    • 

      Hey Sean,

      I lived in Tasmania before they had the Devils, so in picking a team, I decided it was the black and white for me. I never understood why people picked on Collingwood, but then I barrack for the Baltimore Orioles, so I am used to a losing, I mean, underdog, team. *g*

• 

  I shall now embark on a gay sumo wrestling book. And I’ll feature that wall of eyes Japanese monster!

  Wave, this one’s dedicated to you!

  • 

    Way to pick up the slack Steve. Not sure about the eyewall though. That was freaky.

    • 

      Freaky = good

  • 

    OK how fat is this sumo wrestler? Don’t think you can con me. I’ve seen these guys. why can’t you write a story about a baseball or basketball hero? You’re so mean.

    Just so you know, I didn’t like that wall of eyes.:(

    • 

      What is wrong with the wall of eyes? Don’t be a hater?!

      And my sumo guy will be at least 300 lbs of the sweetest lovin’ ever to wear a diaper and throw rice around.

• 

  Oh hey, I did a curling story in honour of the Olympics. That’s a sport – despite contrary opinion from some quarters.

  • 

    Tam
    I’m not sure that I’m into a sport with guys who sweep the ice with brooms. I know it’s unCanadian but I just can’t get into curling.:(

    • 

      Isn’t curling when the penis is bent in one direction or the other?

      • 

        Oh Gawd

        Are you now going to send me pictures of bent penises? My eyeballs haven’t recovered from that last lot you sent me.

  • 

    You go Tam! I really like curling. Yes, I know that”s weird. I don’t know why, but I find it fascinating to watch. Granted it’s only shown every 4 years, and I don’t know if it would hold my interest every Sunday afternoon.

    • 

      TJ
      Are you agreeing with Tam that curling is a real sport? I had such high hopes for you. I know that Canada won an Olympic medal or two in curling but that’s one sport you’ll never get me to watch. Too painful. I’d rather watch Steve’s Sumo wrestlers.

      • 

        My curler was very sexy and French. It’s still kicking around free somewhere on my site.

• 

  Steve, will there be tentacles involved?

  • 

    Tentacle stories are reserved for National Cthulhu Month – Octopuber!

• 

  As a reader, I love stories set in the entertainment industry, and my favorites of those are the ones with a sports theme.

  I love watching sports, and think this definitely has an impact on what I like to read. I also wish there more sports stories – I haven’t been able to find too many. I absolutely LOVED Caught Running, and it is probably one of my favorite m/m stories. I have also enjoyed Take Me Out (another baseball) by Gabrina Garza and T.A. Chase’s Home series (about rodeo). I think I have also read a football that I liked, but I don’t remember the name of it.

  Thanks for this awesome post, Wave! I have only recently started reading m/m (in the past year or so) so I haven’t read most of those listed above. Lots of books to add to my TBB list. 🙂

  (I haven’t read any of the free books, but they’ve all been on my TBB for a while. I’m up for any of them!)

• 

  There’s a book by Ben Tyler about figure skaters called Gay Blades (available at Amazon). Most readers seem to have enjoyed it. Don’t know if it’s a romance, but it’s fiction. Supposedly funny, too.

  It’s possible there aren’t more sports-related gay romances (or romances of any sort) because writers are afraid of getting it wrong. Know what I mean? If you aren’t a lifelong, diehard fan or an athlete yourself, the risk of screwing up the facts or “feel” of a sport is great. Any kind of fandom can, I think, sense when an outsider has breached its borders.

  That’s just a guess. I’d love to write a sports-related story, but I don’t have time to do all the research or the money to attend games.

  • 

    KZ

    I heard about Gay Blades but for some reason it’s not on my “buy” list but it is now. Thank you.

    Writing books with a sports theme is like writing other books – you just need someone like a beta reader to help you with the background information. It’s a piece of cake.

    Many writers believe that any sports themed book has to be riddled with stats – that’s not true. All readers want is book that sounds authentic. If you want to do it I can post something on the site asking for a beta reader with a sports background. Let me know if that works for you.

• 

  Though I’m not a sports fan, I find myself attracted to m/m sports themed romances. I own (and love) al three of the promo books (so count me out of the drawing).

  However, like someone before me wrote, a large part of these sports themed romances seems to be about the characters hiding or being forced out of the closet, which can really bother me if it takes over the story. Though I don’t see any immediate remedy to the issue, I think as society becomes more accepting (and it is happening, even if it’s not as fast as people, myself included, want), and gay athletes have less pressure, the writing will follow.

  Just as an fyi, in case you don’t already know about it, there a website devoted to gay sports fans and athletes. You can read many first hand accounts (including a college lacrosse team captain who came out to his team) here: http://www.outsports.com/

  Who knows, maybe one of the real stories there will inspire an author to test untried waters.

• 

  Hello Wave!

  Did you read A.J. Llewellyn & Stephanie Hetch books about 2 boxers & 2 hochey players. Fire & Ice and A hundred fires. Hot, hot, hot.

  I will have to check Sean Kennedy’s book. I don’t know why I still didn’t get that one after all the good comments you made about it here.

  • 

    Hi Aliens
    Thanks for the recs. No I didn’t know about these books so they are going on my immediate TBR list. 🙂

    Wait until we do the draw – you might win it if Randy likes you. 🙂

• 

  I have absolutely no interest in sports and would rather have a pap smear than watch any of them on TV much less live. If I’m dragged to an event, I drink too much out of boredom or take a book to read….surprisingly enough, it’s been a few years since I’ve been coerced to go to one. Huh. 🙂

  I avoid stories based around any type of sport UNLESS it’s by a tried and true author, e.g. I bought “Caught Running” by Urban & Roux simply because I’ve loved their other stuff….but haven’t coaxed myself into reading it yet. I’m afraid they’re going to “bog” it down with some sports chatter that I’m going to have to skip.

  As Shirley McClain’s character in “Steel Magnolia’s” said….. I don’t go to sporting events (she said opera) cuz I can nap for free!”

  But for those who ARE interested and follow teams, there is a lack of stories, for which I’ve always been pleased…. 🙂 As always, an interesting topice, Wave!

  • 

    Hi Sherry

    One of the things I love about this site is the diverse opinions.

    Sports is something many people love and I wrote the post because, as I said, I find it surprising that in a sub genre that’s supposed to be about men there are so few books about sports. However, you’re pleased about the lack so at least you’re happy. 🙂

    Caught Running is a terrific book but if the theme doesn’t appeal to you I’m surprised you bought it. However, there are many other topics in M/M as I mentioned in the post, so there’s something for everyone outside of sports fans.

    Thanks for commenting Sherry.

    • 

      “Caught Running is a terrific book but if the theme doesn’t appeal to you I’m surprised you bought it. ”

      Wave, your comment above…..I bought it based solely on the authors….. 🙂 I love ’em!

      • 

        Sherry
        I would really recommend that you read Caught Running. Many readers who are not sports fans to whom I’ve recommended this book, love it because of the relationship between the guys, and as far as I remember there are no sports stats in the book. Trust me. You will love the book. If you do read it please let me know if you at least liked it. 🙂

• 

  Wave, I sort of love you. If I’d known you were broaching this subject I would gladly have offered up a copy of Caught Running!

  Sports, baseball in particular, have always been a huge part of my life and I know I’m not the only writer out there like me. I grew up on baseball. I coach softball and volleyball. If I hadn’t ruined my shoulder, I’d still be playing instead of writing! Baseball and football season, you can’t drag me away from a broadcast. Braves and Panthers, baby! I am literally sitting here right now watching the Braves and Rays game.

  As for why there aren’t more, I don’t know. I will offer one problem I have seen as an author. It’s obvious when a writer knows about the sport. They use the lingo, they know the ins and outs, they know what they’re talking about. Like the commenter who mentioned the lack of stats in a baseball sotry. It’s glaring when the author doesn’t know what they’re talking about. So that excludes quite a few writers right there. I would never tackle something like a rugby story, or a tennis story. I just don’t know enough about the games.

  But the few who can, it’s apparent. And as a reader, if you know what they’re talking about, it’s all good. The problem comes when you try to balance, as a writer, the ability to tell the story and explain the game smoothly and competently without losing a reader who has no clue.

  Because some readers really have no clue. After Caught Running was released, I got a letter from an English reader asking what baseball was and berating me for using such an obscure and confusing game as a backdrop. Seriously. Obscure.

  As for other reasons, I have no clue. That has been the daunting thing for me, trying to balance between too much description of a game I know way too much about, and not enough. That and a decent plot.

  I can answer your last question, about writers having plans for sports-themed books in the future. I’ve got a baseball story about 3/4 written. It still needs work, and I’ve been wrestling with the question of whether to change the names of Major League clubs or deal with getting permission to use the real names. I’ve also got, count them, four other baseball-themed plots lined up in various forms of doable. And (Maddy will kill me if she sees this) we have plans for Ty and Zane from the Cut & Run series to get tangled up with protecting a pro sports figure in the future, so it would sort of be a sports-themed book.

  I just need time to write them.

  • 

    Abigail……….. “And (Maddy will kill me if she sees this) we have plans for Ty and Zane from the Cut & Run series to get tangled up with protecting a pro sports figure in the future, so it would sort of be a sports-themed book.”

    Swe-e-e-t!

    • 

      But are you going to read it? 🙂

  • 

    Hi again Abigail

    Fancy meeting you here. Does your writing partner know that you have sneaked off to talk sports.? 🙂

    >>Wave, I sort of love you. If I’d known you were broaching this subject I would gladly have offered up a copy of Caught Running< < Don't worry. You will get another opportunity, I'm sure, to give away a copy of CR. >>As for why there aren’t more, I don’t know. I will offer one problem I have seen as an author. It’s obvious when a writer knows about the sport. They use the lingo, they know the ins and outs, they know what they’re talking about. It’s glaring when the author doesn’t know what they’re talking about. So that excludes quite a few writers right there. < < As I mentioned to another writer, approaching a sports themed story is just like writing any other story. You include just enough information about the sport to give a flavour to the romance, but you don't overload the story with a lot of stats. I really love sports especially baseball, but I wouldn't expect a M/M romance to come complete with everyone's batting average and ERAs. I would want just enough to indicate that the writer knows her stuff, but the thrust of the story should be the relationship between the two guys. For those readers who don't understand the sport that's a backdrop to the story they can skip the details and focus on the protagonists. I don't know every sport and curling is one sport I just can't get my head around, but I can read a story with a background in any sport the way I can read a story about a serial killer. It's all about the skill of the writer. >>I’ve got a baseball story about 3/4 written.< < >> I’ve also got, count them, four other baseball-themed plots lined up in various forms of doable. And (Maddy will kill me if she sees this) we have plans for Ty and Zane from the Cut & Run series to get tangled up with protecting a pro sports figure in the future, so it would sort of be a sports-themed book.< < Maddy will definitely kill you but I love you. I can’t wait. Please send me the ARC’s when they’re ready and I’ll be happy to review them for you. Tell Maddy I said hi. 🙂

    • 

      She doesn’t know I’ve sneaked off, but that’s her fault for not being around tonight like she’s supposed to be, isn’t it? We all know my attention span is like a bouncy ball.

      I’ll get advance copies to you of anything they’ll let me.

      • 

        That’s right Abigail. Blame Maddy for not being around to control you. She’s got a tough job.

        >>I’ll get advance copies to you of anything they’ll let me.<< Thanks. I'll look forward to it.

  • 

    >>I got a letter from an English reader asking what baseball was and berating me for using such an obscure and confusing game as a backdrop<<

    This made me giggle lots. As a Brit, I have to say that a fair number of us are amused/amazed by how popular baseball is in America. And these days, mention of the sport brings to mind the reaction of one of Wodehouse's characters to having baseball described: "Oh yes, we have that here. We call it rounders – it's a children's game." I'm pretty sure it's from Piccadilly Jim, though it is a good 18 months or so since I read it…

    I know, I shouldn’t laugh, but you can all laugh at me when I go “shhh! I can’t hear Test Match Special!”*

    *it’s somewhat of a long-standing joke that on Test Match Special they spend more time describing the lunches and teas than they do the game…

    • 

      Tiggothy

      >>As a Brit, I have to say that a fair number of us are amused/amazed by how popular baseball is in America. And these days, mention of the sport brings to mind the reaction of one of Wodehouse’s characters to having baseball described: “Oh yes, we have that here. We call it rounders – it’s a children’s game.” << That is so mean to malign America's and my favourite sport (even though I'm Canadian and I'm supposed to only love hockey). I do know rounders - I used to play it as a child. 🙂 I love how you describe the Test Match Specials. How British. 🙂

• 

  Hi Jessewave, this is an interesting question. I like stories about athletes too und would like to read more of them. I’m not that much of a sports fan that I follow it religiously, but I always liked hockey and swimming. Swimming maybe for obvious reasons, over 6 feet tall guys with very toned V shaped bodies in very small or nowadays not so small but very tight suits. *g* Here in Europe and maybe the rest of the world (except North America) football = soccer is THE sport. I’m normally not interested in that game, but with the World Cup now in South Africa I am going to watch some of it. (After the games the players take off their sweat-soaked shirts and trade those with shirts of the other teams players, and some of them put them back on, *errr*, okay. Soccer players are not overly muscular but they have toned fit bodies). Since we have gotten access to ESPN via digital TV two years ago I have become a “fan” of football the US kind, nobody was more surprised than myself about that. It took some time until I really understood the game, but now I love it. But I have got to admit, those butts and legs in tight tight pants are not bad to look at either. *g*

  Sports is about competition and dominating the opponent, more or less aggressively according to the kind of sport. And maybe that competing, aggressive, dominating edge is what women (mostly) don’t have in that amount. Plus the fascination for the stats of the last ten years of the favourite team is missing in most women. *g*

  But I think that this aggressiveness attracts me to hockey and football, played by men, but I never would want to be in games like that myself. I like to read about *alpha* guys and the fun as two (or more) of those alpha guys meet and have to arrange their attraction to each other to their own very masculine self perception. That goes also for other professions like the military or power play themes like BDSM.

  As this is my first post here, about me, I am female and since my early teens I was fascinated by the idea of two guys “together” and I read gay fiction for well over two decades now, besides these classics written by women which I love: The Front Runner, The Charioteer and The Catch Trap, I “grew up” with reading John Preston and a lot of gay fiction by male authors. Although I have seen it denied here several times (mostly by female authors?), there IS a difference in the writing by male and female authors and that doesn’t just mean if there is explicit sex or not or the amount of emotional content. It’s often nuances or maybe a kind of intuition by reading stories to recognize this. And I think the less “genre” the story is, the less is the difference.

  Sports is often a group activity, either playing or watching with lots of male bonding (I love the bump jump *g*). Maybe it is difficult for a female author to get those “nuances right”, or maybe it is just about what the reader “expects” the characters to be, what they are attracted to. I read “Caught Running” and liked it, the first half more than the second. After the protagonists became a couple, it seemed to me too much like a “typical romance” with “typical romance characters”, that guy-ish element was somewhat missing. And for me that is often the case reading M/M Romance, as long a there is unresolved tension it is interesting, but after the characters realized and admitted they fell in love, the characters get “too female” for my taste.

  The alpha jock football player / quarterback High School / College guy is some kind of iconic stereotype, but one which kind of pushes the right buttons for me and which I like to read and look for at Nifty, for example, not expecting literature but maybe some fun story – and which are – I suppose – mostly written by male authors.

  One of MY favourite feel-good books is “Northridge High Football Camp” by S. Joseph Krol. I read it for the first time when it was published in 1996 and reread it about four times.
  Until about three years ago I never questioned that the author was male and I thought, the reason for the abbreviation of the first name was, matching “Krol” as a last name it might be some “weird” name like “Stanislas” *g*.
  I hadn’t read the book for several years and with the flood of M/M Romance books in the last few years, with female authors with gender neutral first names, I suddenly wondered, does “S” maybe stand for Susan or Samantha? About two years ago I read the book again, and while reading it I didn’t doubt anymore that the book was written by a male author. Vuch and Vinnie, the protagonists, are two high school seniors, members of the football team. The book is young adult and more or less chaste (especially compared to most female written romances), but those guys are really *guy-ish*, *alpha-guys-in-training teenage boys* and not *girl-ish*.

  So for almost fifteen years I have been waiting for a sequel. By googling I found the announcement by the author that he had written a sequel which he was “shopping around”. That was already several years ago, but as far as I know, a publication didn’t happen yet. So if anyone knows how to contact the author or get the sequel published at least as an e-book, please help. “Northridge High Football Camp” takes place at the ten day football camp before senior year and I would love to get to know what happened to them in senior year. (In real time, the guys in the book should be over thirty now. :O)

  I also liked these books: The Dreyfus Affair, Out of the Pocket and Quarterback Sneak. I bought Tigers and Devils but haven’t read it yet and just last week I bought Alone in the Trenches, the bio by Esera Tuaolo.

  Sports themed books I read which I have not seen mentioned here:

  Northridge High Football Camp by S. Joseph Krol (High School Football) YA ***

  Mahu by Neil S. Plakcy (Kimo is a detective AND surfer) ***

  The Wild Man by Patricia Nell Warren (Bullfighting / Spain) ***

  Changing Pitches by Steve Kluger (Baseball) ***

  Eight Seconds by Jean Ferris (Rodeo) YA ***

  Pins by Jim Provenzano (High School Wrestling) YA ***

  Bad Boys by Diane Wieler (High School Hockey) YA

  A Secret Edge by Robin Reardon (High School Track) YA **

  Tag Team Studs by Clay Caldwell (Wrestling)

  The Lions Den by Larry Howard (College Swimmer)

  Gay Blades by Ben Tyler (Figure Skating) Fluff

  There is also a novel with a basketball player somewhere in my memory, but I can’t remember the title …

  *** recommended,
  the others I can’t really remember

  • 

    If you like swimmers Quinn, Sean Michael has the Personal Best books 1-3. A bit on the kinkier side but there is a fair bit about the competitions and Mike practicing and swimming, more than some SM books. It’s one of my favourite of his sports books. He also has the one with the gymnast, a baseball player and a diver. I enjoyed them all because there was quite a bit of info (more than the usual SM but still lots of smexin’) about the sports themselves but not so much that those of us who only follow the sports every 4 years or so at the Olympics couldn’t follow.

  • 

    Hi Quinn

    Thanks for a very in-depth comment and that wonderful list of books. I do know a few of them but many are new to me. What a haul – I’ll be spending lots of money to get uptodate with all of these suggestions. If you find any new sports themed books that you can recommend please either leave a comment on this post or email me at jessewave@gmail.com.

    >>I’m not that much of a sports fan that I follow it religiously, but I always liked hockey and swimming. Swimming maybe for obvious reasons, over 6 feet tall guys with very toned V shaped bodies in very small or nowadays not so small but very tight suits. *g*< < I can see why you like sports. I did mentiion the Sean Michael books about swimming in the post and Tam also made a separate comment about them. I hope you get the books. >>But I think that this aggressiveness attracts me to hockey and football, played by men, < < Women do play competitive hockey - the Canadian Women's Hockey team won the gold in the recent Winter Olympics. >>That goes also for other professions like the military or power play themes like BDSM. < < You'll find that there are many M/M fans who like the military and BDSM stories that drop by this site and we review a lot of those stories. I've placed an order for Northridge High Football Camp through an amazon reseller because you love the book. It's not generally available (maybe it's out of print) and it's not an ebook, in case someone else is interested. >>Although I have seen it denied here several times (mostly by female authors?), there IS a difference in the writing by male and female authors and that doesn’t just mean if there is explicit sex or not or the amount of emotional content. It’s often nuances or maybe a kind of intuition by reading stories to recognize this. And I think the less “genre” the story is, the less is the difference.<< I do agree that there are some difference that an experienced reader can spot and it’s not always the emotional content. For example Mr. Benson by John Preston is not the usual run-of-the-mill BDSM book that I would expect to find at Loose Id because it’s quite gritty and the details may be disturbing to some female readers, but I found the book fascinating. You should read Tigers and Devils because it’s a wonderful M/M book that’s not focused on sex. Thanks again for the recs. I’m forever in your debt and I hope you’ll continue to visit the site.

  • 

    To Quinn:

    Once in awhile when I have nothing to do, i Google my book to see if anything new has been happening with it. I am the author of ‘Northridge High Football Camp’, a book you mentioned in your post. And yes, I am a GUY. LOL. Regarding my name, my first name is Steve, but I don’t go by that. I go by Joey. So I thought ‘S. Joseph’ just worked better. Thank you for your kind remarks about ‘Northridge’. Your post was over a year and a half ago, so you might not even see this reply. I did write a sequel to it, right after the book came out in 1996. My publisher went belly-up and it was not possible to publish the sequel, although it sets in a box in my basement in manuscript form and ready to go should interest in ‘Northridge’ take off in the future. By the way, I never made of point of mentioning how to pronounce the name ‘Vuch’ and when I meet people who have read it and they mispronounce it it drives me batshit. It is ‘Vooch’ (rhymes with Mooch), not ‘Vutch’. I thought it was obvious,his last name is Carvucchio, but I guess I should have mentioned the pronunciation when the character is introduced. The fact you have read it multiple times and regard it as a ‘feel-good’ book really touches me. Thank you. I wrote it as a romance with a real locker room dialogue to it. Some have complained there wasn’t really any sex in the book. I did this on purpose, and followed-up with sex between Vinnie and Vuch in the sequel. By the way, I wrote the book thinking of a kinda middle-aged gay reader and was floored when it came out and the publisher had put it in the ‘young adult’ category. True story, the Boston Public Library (where I live) purchased 3 copies. One for the adult section and 2 for the ‘Youth Room’. I checked on it every few months to see if anyone had checked them out. The 2 in the Youth section remained unread for a good year before I guess someone read the book and freaked out. Then all 3 copies went over to the adult section! Thanks for your fondness of ‘Northridge’, it was my baby as I wrote it, and I love to hear from people who have read it.

    My best,
    Joey Krol
    GymTrainerJOEY@gmail.com

• 

  This is a pretty timely post for me (and not just because I’ve spent the past week watching the World Cup. I’ll even deign to call it “soccer”, and not “football” 😉 — but that’s part of my point too), because one of my current WIPs is set in the world of English soccer.

  I’ve been a soccer supporter for over twenty years, so knowing the subject isn’t the issue for me. My issue is how much any potential audience knows about the subject, and how much of the `stats` I take for granted as a fan would just be a massive infodump for a reader. Would a reader unfamiliar with the sport even glance at it, and if they did, where do I strike the balance between giving enough information about the set-up without it being too much? Kate also mentioned above that setting a fictional team in an already established world creates its own problems. Team names, stadiums, kits etc., even players themselves, have their own licensing deals. I’m not even certain I’d be permitted to use existing teams these days, even if I wanted to.

  I’ll admit to knowing next to nothing about American sports, but, obviously, that’s where a significant proportion of readers live and those are the sports they’d be familiar with. I joked about it earlier, but what DO I call it, soccer or football? “Football” could confuse the readers, but most of the characters certainly wouldn’t use “soccer”. I wouldn’t use “soccer”, LOL. It’s difficult striking the balance between the flavor of the world and keeping the reader from tuning out thanks to an overload of details they don’t really care about — but details the character would need to know and understand as a given. Maybe a lot of writers feel that it’s a niche-within-a-niche, and that it’s just not going to appeal the way a contemporary, or a paranormal would? And if that’s true of hugely popular US sports, then I don’t know where that leaves soccer!!

  It’s interesting to read comments that readers aren’t keen on the `closeted sports star` trope. Like I said, I’m not familiar with the locker room environment in US sports, but in terms of English soccer, UK gay rights group Stonewall last year described it as “institutionally homophobic”. Homophobic insults at matches are ‘acceptable’ in ways racist chants would never be tolerated these days. Players are routinely told by their managers, agents and publicists that coming out would be career suicide. Literally, potentially. Unfortunately, we still live in a world where an out and accepted gay soccer player is not likely to happen any time soon. To have a character completely unaffected by the possibility of being caught/the implications on his career, life, livelihood of coming out, would be unrealistic. It would be a major part of his life, and would affect a great deal of his decisions/actions. If you want the sports theme in M/M, especially in the more “macho” sports, it’s almost always inextricably intertwined with the fears/doubts of what coming out would mean. Not in all sports, I appreciate that, and I can only speak about those I know, but from the research I’ve done I tend to believe it’s certainly most. Without at least touching on it, you might as well write about a lawyer, a chef, a businessman.

  All the above isn’t putting me off writing the book, though. It’s just making it a little trickier than usual! 🙂

  • 

    Hi Cat

    >>knowing the subject isn’t the issue for me. My issue is how much any potential audience knows about the subject, and how much of the `stats` I take for granted as a fan would just be a massive infodump for a reader<< This is always a problem when an author knows too much about a subject - the book could become an info dump. However, here's where your skill as a writer and your beta reader comes into the picture. It's always difficult to judge your own work so having someone else read it and point out where you're going over the line is always best. Writing about a sport is not the same as talking to your friends who are just as knowledgeable and interested in it and love the stats. Baseball is a game of stats and I love talking to my 'baseball' friends about a pitcher's ERA and whether he would win the Cy Young, but someone who is not into the game could care less. Similarly, in hockey, if the writer talks too much about winning the Stanley Cup the reader might lose interest. This happens with any topic that you write about and some books I read make my eyes glaze over because the author is 'telling' instead of 'showing'. Re your comment about whether soccer or football was the appropriate name of the sport, that doesn't really matter. Check out Tigers and Devils which is about two men in the world of Aussie Rules Footy. There's a lot about football in the book, it's set in Australia which is foreign to US readers, but the story is universal because it's about the two men and how the career of one teeters on the balance, in a world where being gay is not a good thing. In case you haven't read the book here's Kris's review http://www.gayromance.org/?p=400 We tease her all the time that she should have rated the book at least 4.75 stars because that's what it deserved, but Kris is a hard taskmaster. :) >>To have a character completely unaffected by the possibility of being caught/the implications on his career, life, livelihood of coming out, would be unrealistic. It would be a major part of his life, and would affect a great deal of his decisions/actions. << You're correct, but again it comes down to the skill of the writer and whether this is the entire focus of the book. I think that T.A. Chase handled being 'out' somewhat better than most in Out of Bounds but others might disagree. If the entire story is about being 'out' then why bother to write it? I think a story should be about the two characters, and the other stuff, while important in a career ending way, should not be so overwhelming that the rest of the story, including the romance, is reduced to a sideline. An option is to write a story about a former player who is 'out' but is still involved in his sport, so you get the sports background without all the hype of what being out would do to his career. You could have an older star player maybe 35 years of age who is in the final year of his contract and will be retiring from the sport so doesn't give a crap about the media or the other players because he knows he's leaving anyway. The team can't afford to lose him because they are in a pennant race so they just have to suck it up. Those are just two plots that can be used to get away from a story being riddled with the implications of being 'out'. I hope this at least gives you something to think about. 🙂

• 

  Hi Wave,
  I haven’t read the TA Chase books yet, so please count me in for those. Hi Randy! 😉

  Interesting post as always. And good questions. I agree that part of the reason that there are so few sports related books is probably the author’s lack of knowledge or interest in the subject.

  I think that although a reader wouldn’t expect or want too much detail, it can be hard to sound believable if you know little about sports to being with. In the books that I’ve read, there was enough description to give the feel for the sport, without giving too much as to overwhelm or bore a non-sports minded reader.

  I also think that since the M/M genre was initially being read predominately by women, that most authors and publishers thought that there would not be a market for sports themed books. Wrong again.

  The good news is we have some new books coming up. Thank you Abigail and Maddy!

  • 

    Hi T.J.

    >> I agree that part of the reason that there are so few sports related books is probably the author’s lack of knowledge or interest in the subject<< Now that we have more male M/M writers I'm hoping that the number of sports themed books will steadily increase. Sad to say that outside of Abigail and Maddy, Gabrina Garza, Pepper Espinoza, Keira Andrews and a few other writers that other readers have recommended, there are very few sports themed books around. I just don't understand how authors can write what appear to be authentic stories about serial killers, a subject about which they know nothing, and which must have required a considerable amount of research on police procedures, yet they say they can't write authentic stories around sports. How is researching one theme different from the other? >>I also think that since the M/M genre was initially being read predominately by women, that most authors and publishers thought that there would not be a market for sports themed books. Wrong again.<< They must have realized that since M/M books are about gay men that sports would rear it's ugly head at some point. Men like sports, that's a fact. And some women are not far behind. So how were the publishers and authors so short sighted to think that M/M books would replicate het romance except the protagonists would be gay men, and the readers would be satisfied with fluffy sweet romances? I hope that this post sends a wake up call that writing about men is slightly different to writing about women. Some of the target audience may be the same but the protagonists are definitely different.

    • 

      Hi Guys

      I have to be offline for a few hours but I will be back to answer the other comments.

      Thanks for all the comments and book recs so far. I really appreciate them.

• 

  As someone who knows absolutely nothing about sports, I agree that sports in M/M stories should be more prevalent.

  I must sadly point out that when gays are portrayed in sports, usually in Hollywood movies, they are in a “wussy” sport. Take Blades of Glory for example; one long gay joke. If Hollywood isn’t taking gay men in sports seriously then it’s no wonder the subject matter is lacking in the book world.

  Then again I remember an episode of Law and Order SVU concerning a football player outed and accused of murdering his lover.

  • 

    Hi Kim

    There are many M/M books where guys are wussy. It’s all in the skill of the writer. Many female writers (not all, I hasten to add) seem to feel that male are similar to female characters and treat them as they would a protag in a M/F book. I hate that! When I read a sports oriented book I expect that it will be gritty and that the characters will be MEN.

    I’m hoping that this post will help to bring those writers into the open who have sports ms just waiting in the wings.

• 

  Wave.
  J.M.Snyders` newest m/m romance Power Play has a plot about a hockey player and a speedskater. The blurb is very interesting, but unfortunately (for you) the novel is very long – 163.215 words 🙂

  • 

    Hi simsala

    I was getting ready to pull out my credit card when I realized you forgot to mention the name of the book and the publisher. 🙁 Please post the information in case other readers are also interested.

    • 

      The name of the novel is Power Play.
      Publisher is JMS Books LLC.
      Also available at AllRomance.

      • 

        I visited J.M.Snyders website.
        She`s writing an ongoing series about gay athletes.Four stories are published.(Hockey,Golf,Soccer(!),Volleyball).Thought I should mention it but I know nothing about the quality of the stories.

        • 

          Thanks for the info Simsala. I vaguely remember hearing about these books but I didn’t follow up because I don’t visit this author’s website since she’s hit and miss for me. However, I’ll definitely check into this series.

• 

  Can I just say we need more hockey stories? Where are all the Canadian writers and what are they doing? 😉 Seriously, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally over (Congrats Blackhawks! Wasn’t that a crazy Cup-winning goal?! Wow.), but now I have to wait until September for my next fix. (Although I’m planning to purchase Blood on the Ice this weekend, so….)

  I was glad to see someone mentioned one of my new personal heroes, Gareth Thomas. His story and coming out were so incredibly moving and inspirational, as a gay man, that I have a hard time reading about him without getting this huge lump of emotion in my throat. (And he has a bangin’ bod, too!)

  Someone mentioned Justin Fashanu, the soccer player who committed suicide in 1998. That poor man’s experience was a charlie foxtrot of epic proportions, and from what I’ve read, his suicide had less to do with coming out than with being accused of inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old, something he denied.

  As for the existing books, Tigers and Devils is brilliant–and all that without a single sex scene! (gasp, I know!) I loved Caught Running until the premature end. (Can we get a sequel already, please, ladies?!) The Dreyfus Affair is hysterical, if occasionally disturbing, and a favorite re-read. I enjoyed Out of Pocket. Quarterback Sneak was entertaining, considering how short it was. And after the truly ridiculous way Out of Bounds by TA Chase ended, that author is on my “never again” list. (Sorry to those who enjoy his writing.)

  I’ve noticed several books centering round rodeo, bull riding in particular, but I the ones I’ve read have generally skipped the actual bull riding part in favor of copious amounts of cowboy riding. Fun, but not the same.

  I understand the reluctance to write about what is unknown, especially something so specific as sports (and, yes, I *do* want to know if my left winger found the five hole, got 5 for fighting or finished the game a -2). However, the women writers have managed (for the most part) to overcome the fact that they’ve never had man-on-man sex, so, yeah that argument doesn’t wash. Much. Lots of Ordinary Gay Joes play sports, and I’m sure many would be willing to help with the nuances.

  So I’m definitely seconding Wave’s suggestion here: more sports themed books, please! Especially hockey. *g*

  (Ms Roux – Stop teasing about Ty & Zane! *g* Love the athlete protection angle! When is Fish & Chips due? I’m more than ready for more!)

  • 

    .Hi Budajsguy

    >>Can I just say we need more hockey stories? Where are all the Canadian writers and what are they doing? Seriously, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally over (Congrats Blackhawks! Wasn’t that a crazy Cup-winning goal?! Wow.), but now I have to wait until September for my next fix. (Although I’m planning to purchase Blood on the Ice this weekend, so….)<< The Canadian writers are writing 'literature' unfortunately. However you'll enjoy Blood on the Ice because it's so authentic. Simsala said that JM snyder is writing a sports series and I believe one of the books is on hockey so you might want to check out her site. I have also seen a couple of hockey stories but damn if I can remember where - I didn't make a note of them and by the time I was ready to buy them I couldn't remember the names. :( >>Someone mentioned Justin Fashanu, the soccer player who committed suicide in 1998. That poor man’s experience was a charlie foxtrot of epic proportions, and from what I’ve read, his suicide had less to do with coming out than with being accused of inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old, something he denied.<< This is what I thought because I couldn't imagine that somdeone who had been a professional athlete where there was so much pressure would be overwhelmed by the pressure of just coming out. >>I understand the reluctance to write about what is unknown, especially something so specific as sports<< >>However, the women writers have managed (for the most part) to overcome the fact that they’ve never had man-on-man sex, so, yeah that argument doesn’t wash. Much. Lots of Ordinary Gay Joes play sports, and I’m sure many would be willing to help with the nuances.<< You're so right. Female writers who don't know anything about sports have male friends who can help them with the nuances if they wanted to write a sports themed story or two. There is no excuse! When I want information about what's true about the gay lifestyle I call up my gay friends who set me straight and if I can do it so can an author. >>So I’m definitely seconding Wave’s suggestion here: more sports themed books, please! Especially hockey<< YAY! >>(Ms Roux – Stop teasing about Ty & Zane! *g* Love the athlete protection angle! When is Fish & Chips due? I’m more than ready for more!)<< Abigail has always been a big tease. Fish & Chips is due in the fall I believe

• 

  Hi Wave,
  I have many sports-themed books published. Two were mentioned above but here they are:
  Hanalei Moon and sequel Blue Moon: surfing
  Stolen Magic: Boxing
  Blood Eclipse: Ultimate Fighting
  Fire and Ice and sequel A Hundred Fires (written with Stephani Hecht): Hockey and Boxing
  Coming Soon:
  Hardsex (with DJ Manly) – skateboarding – July 1 eXtasy Books
  The Mediator -boxing – at Total eBound August 13
  Thanks,

  AJ

  • 

    Hi A.J

    Thank you so much for commenting and including your current releases and upcoming titles. I’m tryng to start a movement to get more M/M authors to write sports themed books. After all, men and sports are almost inextricably intertwined so I don’t understand why a sub genre that’s supposed to be about men has so few sports books.

    I’ll be posting a list of sports books for those M/M fans who like these stories and I will definitely include yours.

• 

  Hi there! I know this is sort of off-topic but I needed
  to ask. Does operating a well-established blog such as yours
  require a massive amount work? I’m completely new to running a blog but I do write in my journal every day. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my experience and thoughts online.
  Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring
  bloggers. Appreciate it!

Comments are closed.