We experience many firsts in life…first steps, first kiss, first love. And so when Wave graciously asked me to post a little note to all of you I decided I would share…
The first time I read M/M fiction or How I fell in love with a throbbing manroot!
There I was…an innocent…quietly going through literary life with Shakespeare and John Steinbeck as my companions. The raciest thing I had brushed up against was Lady Chatterley’s Lover—and oh my god that…well, that is a story for another time.
One day as I was trolling about online I accidentally clicked on the wrong button at Amazon, and my life was forever changed. Yes, it’s true…for once my technological ineptitude paid off, and the gods of all things good and true dropped a little piece of literary heaven into my lap…and let me tell you my lap has been happy ever since. Ahem…anyway. Unfortunately before literary heaven came just a little taste of…well…of this…
As I read along in (no I am not going to tell you the name of the book, honestly Wave these people are so nosy!!) …where was I? Ah yes…as I read along in a state of sublime giddiness I felt myself being swept along as the story approached the penultimate moment of instant gratification. They were going to DO IT!!
That’s right two burning hunks of love—2 MEN (squeal) were going to get it on…no namby-pamby “making love” here—ah no…this was going to be primal, fierce, passionate! My chest literally heaved in anticipation and then, finally, there it was…THE moment…nirvana in gay prose! With breathless wonder, I read…
“Jake stared down at Oliver’s throbbing manroot, his mind abuzz with lusty thoughts of taking the other man right then and there and thrusting into his deep dark cavern over and over and…
What the (bleep) was this?? WHAT the (bleep) was a “manroot”, WHY was it throbbing and, HONESTLY? –a “deep, dark cavern”? I looked at my kindle in horror. Where were the artfully written dirty words? Where was the “in your face, hot, grinding sex that had conservative Christians beating at their chests and crying out “get thee behind me Satan”? Where was the quintessential moment when something other than the words “he felt a stirring in his groin” were going to be uttered and I could gleefully begin password protecting my kindle so that the underage kidlings in the house would not be exposed to such base corruption? I threw my kindle down in disgust.
What was a girl to do?? Where could I turn for comfort? Well, of course I did what any red blooded 50 year old woman would do. I called my best friend—my GAY best friend—my, “Oh Sammy please, of course you can totally do it in the men’s room at Macy’s” GAY best friend. I got him on the phone. He was transfixed as I sobbed out my entire sad and sordid little tale of woe.
After I was “spent” my dearest friend and self proclaimed world-renown authority on “all things gay”, immediately offered up sage advice. Rick, (doesn’t his name just sound so manly and…uh…gay?) reached out over the phone lines with his magical gay fingers and soothed my frazzled nerves. I felt my spirit calm as he dispensed his pearls of wisdom. He said, “Honest to god, what crap are you reading??? Don’t you know any better? Seriously you’re a 50-year old woman who is fairly intelligent and able to handle sharp knives.” (This was a recent development—there was a prior incident with a somewhat large cucumber and a…well, never mind.) I shook myself out of my reverie and tried to keep up as Rick continued to bellow comforting epithets in my ear. “Where in god’s name did you find such drivel? Haven’t you ever heard of Josh Lanyon?? Z.A. Maxfield?? James Buchanan?? What rock have you been living under??”
I could barely contain my tears of joy at his tender, heartfelt words. Quietly, with love and gratitude pouring like honey from my lips, I responded saying, “Well thanks a hell of a lot for telling me about those guys NOW—AFTER I spent a buck and a half on this piece of (bleep)! Just where were your famous “gay words of wisdom then, bucko?”
He graciously replied, “Who the (bleep) are you calling bucko? Look, you like mysteries, right?” I nodded. Hope rising in my chest like a two-dollar whore after giving a blow…never mind.
Suffice it to say, I was about to get the keys to the veritable gay treasure chest of reading nirvana. Rick continued, “Okay, get off the phone, beg that sainted husband of yours to give you another 5 bucks and go buy something written by Josh Lanyon. And for god’s sakes stop calling me with this crap…honest to god Sam anyone listening to you would never think you have an undergrad degree in English Lit! I gotta go—there’s a “throbbing manroot” waiting for me in the bedroom.” (That would be Fred—longtime partner and decidedly friendlier gay best friend!)
So, there you have it dear readers. Palms sweating, clutching the computer mouse in one hand and my kindle in the other, I ventured forth and 
within mere moments I was opening the door to a whole new world. Ah but this time was so different, this time the words on the page danced and flowed as I read…
Taylor had become expert in all Will’s kisses, from the hungry, lustful kisses that always made his own cock rise so fast it hurt, to the tender, almost cherishing kisses that Will generally saved for when he thought Taylor was sleeping. Josh Lanyon ? Blood Heat
Now this was reading nirvana…
So, do tell dear reader…what was your first time like?
I’m glad I’m not the only one password-protecting my Kindle 😉 I got started reading M/M through fanfic. That led to slash fanfic and from there it was a short ho away to M/M. I think the first book I bought was ‘The Back Passage’ by James Lear.
I didn’t find Amazon very helpful in discovering what might be good to read and what wouldn’t, then I stumbled across Goodreads, bought my first Josh Lanyon book and never looked back!
Nithu I could not agree more–Amazon–not the best source!!! I agree goodreads IS a go to place for recs. for me but (shameless PLUG alert) I actually do use this very site as a go to resource as well…Jessewave…run by that wonderfully talented and gorgeous creature Wave!! (did you hear that Wave??? Wasn’t that good??? Surely that assures a future post right??) Ahem, anyway!! Nithu, Josh Lanyon?? Love that man!!!
That Josh Lanyon has a lot to answer to……..Adrien and Jake were my first and I’m very grateful for a wonderful experience……….
Fab post Sammy.
Raine–Jake and Adrien–sigh! Talk about throbbing manroots!!!
My first time was in 1982 and it was the front runner by Patricia Nell Warren. It is still my all time favourite and I have signed editions of the whole series. My second book was the Fancy Dancer by the same author. Her books don’t have HEA’s but the main characters leave with a profound sense of hope of one.
AH–serious moment–that and Mary Renault’s The Persian Boy–truly–the best introduction to this genre!! And HEA’s?? Highly overrated–give me real…gritty…so much better–IMHO!
Hahaha,Sammy please come back and write more notes to us :). I also came to mm through fan fiction – you know, Snape and Sirius black, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy… One day which I remember as if it was yesterday friend suggested I should start reading original stories. She suggested Charioteer by Mary Renault and she also mentioned Godeaters by Jesse Hajisek . The two books right after we’re wicked gentlemen by Ginn Hale and Drawn together by Za Maxfield. And here it all began :). Thanks for a smile in the morning Sammy. 🙂
AH–that Ginn Hale–may I utter the word genius here?? And ZA–can I secretly admit I would like to stalk this writer?? LOL!! And as regards putting a smile on your face in the morning…did I mention that Rick and I make house calls? What’s that dear Sirius? You thought I was suggesting WHAT?? Shame on you Sirius–of course I meant we make house calls to deliver donuts and coffee–honestly, Wave–the people you let on this site!! I never!! 😀
My first MM book was also of Lanyon. I begin to read Mary Renault because I love Greek mythology,then I bought The Charioteer( because by its name I thought that it was one of your books on Greece, and eventually I came across a comment of Lanyon about his book “The Dark Horse” to have some thing to see with The Charioteer. Naturally I search for that book, then I bought its sequel (The White Kgnight) and ever since I didn’t stop more.
Can every one who had their first time with Josh Lanyon raise their hand? (Sammy counts…and counts…and counts…) Dear lord that man has been busy!!! 😀 Thanks MLygia! And I agree–Mary Renault should be required reading in high school English classes!
Throbbing manroot, now seriously…Great post, Sammy, thanks for sharing!
I found m/m via Lynn Flewelling’s “Luck in the Shadows”, about four or five years ago. My first “real” m/m romance was “With Caution” by J.L.Langly, and M. Chandler’s “Shadow of the Templar” series. “Cut and Run” came next, and from then on, I was hooked
Feliz….hmmm…thinking I might have a little book by someone of your name sitting on my kindle? LOL!! Oooh–Luck in the Shadows…Sammy fumbles around for her kindle and swipes the hubby’s wallet for the credit card….shopping, shopping..what’s a girl to do?
Hey! My first real m/m was Without Caution too :XD:
Argh just lost my comment 🙁
I started by reading m/m online, sadly I lost the link to the place a couple of computers ago, then Torchwood happened and I spent a couple of happy years reading that, I’m back to original these days, but fortunately for me some of my friends does original writing now, so I still get to read their stories 😀
I’ve encountered something like the manroot, can’t remember where or by who but the phrase was ‘The rose entrance to his body’ had me in stitches for hours :hysterics:
“Manroot”, “iron hard shaft”, “joystick”!
LOL–that is my favorite–joystick–completely redefined playing video games for me!!! I too have read some of the most incredible stories–all NON-published m/m fiction!! Some of the author wannabees over at goodreads and other fanfic sites are amazing!! I cannot express how much BAD fiction I have read in this genre–thank god for the authors who write fiction that THEY themselves would like to read–it has made all the difference in the world!
Sammy, that was hilarious! I’m glad to say I discovered MM Romance through a Challenge, but I lucked out with Hot Head by Damon Suede and haven’t looked back since! I’ve read a couple of Josh’s books, I’ll add this one to my shelf.
Be forewarned Shirley–this is a series and honest to god it is soooo addictive!! Be prepared to rack up a Visa bill! 😀 And Damon Suede….(dreamy sigh)…that boy has talent with a capitol T!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Great post, Sammy – we’re all glad you had Rick to set you straight. (How sad to think you might have thrown your Kindle against the wall and never looked back again.)
I was creating my own inept M/M long before I knew anyone but me was writing it. My first M/M book was YA – Diane Duane’s Door into Fire. And then I read The Front Runner, and Tanya Huff’s The Fire’s Stone, and The Persian Boy, and I was hooked.
AH…Ms. Harper…can I just say–LOVE your work!!! I know, my bestie Rick has never steered me wrong…well there was that one time in 1981 when he hooked me up with that guy who turned out to be a girl and then that other time when he swore that licorice flavored lube was the best…well, you get the idea! Anyway, thanks Kaje for stopping by! Sigh :loveyou2: …rubbing shoulders with authors—ah Wave, you must let me come back…this gig is GREAT!
My first was Lynn Lorenz. Definitely not dark caves and throbbing manroots. 🙂 I found a blog via a PNR board on Amazon that reviewed m/m and I was like 0_0 Really? They mentioned Loose Id so I went to their website and I gingerly clicked around, having never bought a book from a site like that I wasn’t sure it was safe or I should do it, but I clicked on Rush in the Dark (out of series order, I know – but it had a cowboy) and …. well, it’s history since then.
Excuse me Tam–little known fact but since I am giddy with excitement I must share! Hubby?? Cowboy–honest to god–TRUE. I know–can life get any better??? And let me tell you…cowboys and manroots…well I just have to say…Uh–what’s that hubby? I’m not allowed to share about cowboy manroots? Well I was just going to tell Tam that…What dear? Oh…you want to SHARE your cowboy manroot..with me? :censorship: NOW??? OH–uhm…gotta run Tam talk with you later!!
I ran across a tumescent man rod once and couldn’t stop the gales of laughter. My firsts were Marie Sexton’s Promises and Jordan Castillo Price’s PsyCop series, both recommended in a blog post (and seconded several times over in the comments). Starting with the cream of the crop certainly skewed my expectations, but I never doubted my new love of M/M.
tumescent–I LOVE that word! Ok–don’t hate me dear readers but I have never read Marie Sexton. Wave–make them stop throwing things!! Sheesh–talk about turning on someone! As I was about to say Melora, she is on my TBR list! But Jordan (don’t you love how I am on a first name basis with ALL the authors–LOL!! Ah–the power!!!!!) Jordan–now that sweet author I have read, and read, and read!! You did indeed start at the top!
LOL I loved this post, had me giggling.
I came to M/M through slash fanfiction. My very first M/M was actually a menage M/M/M. A fanfiction author I followed on twitter was reading 911 by Chris Owen. So I went in search of it and was so excited that there were M/M books out there and so easy to get! Just click-click-download! I got a PDF and could only read it on my computer but I loved it. A few months later I bought a Nook and the rest is history. *sigh* I’m thoroughly addicted and I don’t ever want rehab! 😀
I know right–click, click!! Never have I loved my index finger more than when it is poised to buy an m/m book. Uhm…wait I’m not sure that came out the right way…
I had my first m/m-reading-experience 4 or 5 years ago when I surfed the book-sides on ebay and found Joely Skye’s Beautiful Monster (and what a beautiful monster it was, lol). 😀
This was a crossroad of my reading habits and it was one of the last printbooks I bought. I started searching for ebooks and found Jules Jones’ Lord and Master- and Spindrift-books. After that I went wild and started searching all over the internet and on the homepages of many different publishers and found books I never dreamed of. =:)))
And tell you what, I never stopped searching and reading since then and never looked back. :hurray2:
Eve, I can so relate to the “going wild” thing…watch it readers —seriously…the things you think! Anyway, I too have gone far and wide for books–and it’s almost always worth the trip!
My first time? If you don’t count the nifty archive free sections, it was Marked (The Northern Shifter #1) by Joely Skye.
It was Amazon free book and I was curious whether it was a good read. It wasn’t great, just ok. But it opened up my world to the relatively vast foray of M/M novels. Since then my Kindle is flooded with only M/M books 😛
AH Pete–can I tell you (Sammy whispers in Pete’s ear) I have over 89 books on my kindle to read…I know 😯 right–it’s just that hubby keeps me so darn busy…. 😀
I started out reading slash fanfiction. When I decided to venture into original works, and was clicking around the interwebs at the time, I happened upon Josh Lanyon’s website – I think through a banner from an adult fanfiction website – and he had the first Adrien English book up for free reading. I absorbed it and fell in love. To Hell You Say was his new release at the time and I happened to find it being offered as an e-book. It was the first time I purchased an e-book and I was a bit nervous about doing so (I guess because it was uncharted territory at the time). But it turned out great and I waited impatiently for A Dangerous Thing to become available as an e-book. Once it did, I happily bought it and then began to seek out other original works from other authors. I found that some of my favorite slash fanfiction authors had ventured into original writings and the rest is history 🙂
Now Jb—nervous? :afraid: Now that is something I can relate to as well. I kept expecting swarms of conservative christians to camp out on my doorstep with a sign reading: This woman is reading Gay porn!!! LOL!!
The first gay novel I remember reading was “A Fairy Tale” by S. Steinberg. It couldn’t have been earlier than 1984. Later on, in high school, I moved on to Anne Rice… 1st the vampire books, then “all the way” with “Cry to Heaven”. This led me to movies (1st was “Maurice”). After spending years watching many gay movies, I started watching “Queer as Folk” (the American series) and discovered m/m slash fanfiction associated with that show. I read so many, I couldn’t possibly say which was the 1st, but I remember that was made me want to read more and more m/m.
Can we all just have a moment of silence for “Queer as Folk”. :yes: If you can’t be silent moaning, Oh god YES! is also acceptable.) Thank you!
Hey Sammy, awesome post. Hmm, I did it sort of circular. I was looking for D/s books where it was F/m (hard to find). This led to m/m/f which led to m/m. My first book was Drawn Together back in 2009. I had to read on my pc, so I saved all my files on a flash drive and proceeded to carry it everywhere. I now have a Kindle full of m/m both published and fan fic. Soo happy, 🙂
Okay…first off–LOVED Drawn Together! Secondly–flash drive–so damn clever–why did I never think of that! Lastly, I have never read fanfic. (AGAIN with the throwing things–honestly people!)
As I was saying Luci–I WILL be checking it out soon–I hear there are some really hot star trek Kirk/Spock stories out there–hmmm love me some Spock!
Sammy, thank you for a very funny post! Manroot, *snort*!
My very first gay romance was Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner way back in 1987. Yes, I’m that old, ha, ha!
My first real m/m as we know it now was PsyCop Partners (first two PsyCop books) by Jordan Castillo Price and The Tin Star by JL Langley, both in paperback because this was 2007 and I barely knew what the internet and ebooks were. I remember being blown away with delight over both books — my God, this is good stuff and I want more!
My god Val–I snort too–love you for admitting that!!!
And may I say…J.L. Langley–double yum!!! And of course you already know that Jordan and I are like this (Sammy crosses her fingers and nods.)
Uhm Wave…I AM allowed to stretch the truth just a teensy bit…right? 😉
I started reading Star Trek slash (K/S pon farr fic, anyone?) and then bought J.L. Langley’s The Tin Star in paperback for a friend for her birthday. (I pre-read it for her, just to make sure it was up to snuff. Good friend that I am! *g*) And the rest is history.
Excuse me Lasha–you ARE a good friend–pre-reading IS a must! Of course, getting drool stains off the book after is a bit of a challenge–but we “good” friends are more than willing to make that sacrifice–just sayin!
Suzanne Brockmann’s Hot Target, in which the m/m was more of a subplot, was my first. Ally Blue’s Love’s Evolution was my first true m/m.
Laura, I agree. Ally Blue could write on gum wrappers and it would still be just so very lovely!!
Hi Sammy, my first venture into m/m was though Tymber Dalton. I had read Safe Harbor which had both m/m and m/m/f scenes in it . I then took the plunge and bought More Than Make-Believe. Sigh, what can I say? Mmmmmm….
Ah MiaJ–how are you darling?? Tymber Dalton has been mentioned to me many times…so many books..so little time.
Like many other people here, I started by reading slash, and I refuse to apologize for it! It was *wonderful* slash. Sammy, I think if my first M/M had manroots in it, i might not have come back. O_o
Dany, never apologize for anything that can be described as “slash”–it sounds just so decadent!! And yes—manroots did give me pause–but the “man” in the root kept me coming back!!
Great topic 🙂
My first gay book was the Front Runner, followed shortly by The Catch Trap. I then discovered Gordon Merrick, and was hooked. I was just coming out in the mid 90s, and after plowing (heh heh) through those, and other gay fiction I found, I thought I had exhausted the genre. I was surprised to find so many pieces of gay fiction written by women, but the FF fiction (Naiad press) left a lot to be desired in me. I loved Bramwell, Olshan, Agiri, and so many more.
I began reading millions of het romances, but then, after see Brokeback Mountain, I felt the urge to read books that grabbed me like that story had. I went looking, for fanfic or anything else, and I stumbled upon Bareback, by Chris Owen. I was in love, and discovered how big the mm world had become! Now, my mm collection has grown to a shameful (read: prideful) quantity.
Oh Danielle–always take pride in m/m fiction–there is sooo much good stuff out there–far outweighs the manroots–if you know what I mean. I read the Frontrunner in college and have given it as a gift numerous times–such an incredibly brave book for it’s time! And “plowing” LOL!!!!
Excellent point! Only shame in the amount of $$ I have spent! LOL pride the books themselves!! 🙂
Oh Sammy, my face hurts from laughing. Here’s to the manroot! *raises a beer*
Katey Hawthorne–you old scalliwag!!! I must take this moment dear readers to acknowledge Ms Hawthorne (shameless PLUG alert), author of that AMAZING novel Riot Boy! She is actually the reason I wrote on “manroots”! It is her witty musings on goodreads that led to it’s usage in this article–Here’s to you Katey darlin!
I started off reading HP m/m slash, then progressed to original gay fiction. It’s hard to remember the very first story I read, but “The Charioteer” was one of the early ones. I read “Gaywyck” by Vincent Virga and “The Catch Trap” by Marion Zimmer Bradley very early on. Also, Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter books figured prominently in there.
I have very happy memories of that time. I was thrilled to discover such wonderful stories. 🙂
First off–LOVE your name–and unique–not as if one is going to find gay crows hanging out on the tree limbs any day of the week…then again…
And Marion Zimmer Bradley–can we say Goddess??? For sure!
LOL – Sammy – Rick and Fred are just lovely 🙂
I kind of started reading M/M by accident… at the time I was somewhat strapped for cash and as my main vice is reading I turned to the internet to find free stories (this is in, erm, 2004 or so).. I discovered the Literotica site and after browsing through the various categories read my way through most of the M/M stuff (whilst some of the stories are pretty terrible, there are really good ones in there too – and quite a few people who started out on there have gone on to be published).
Several years down the line I was browsing Amazon and Cut & Run appeared on my recommendations list (as I’d read other crime fiction)… it looked interesting so I bought it… and since then I’ve not really looked back.
K
Ah K–you lovely girl!!! Dear readers meet Kate–hails from England–a lovely lass to be sure!! I have now put Literotica on my must visit list!!! Cut and Run…such angst…such a story! Hugs dear girl–thanks for dropping by!
Sammy
I’m sorry that I haven’t been around to congratulate you on your triumph. You were concerned that you would not get any comments and here you are — you can barely keep up with them 😆
You’re doing a great job. 😀
WAVE!!! Darling naughty Wave…oh Wave my fingers are being worked to the bone—now, now Wave get your mind out of the gutter–honestly!
This has been so much fun Wave–and the 50 or so people I paid off to post…er..I mean..50 or so who came by to post have been lovely to talk with as well!
My first M/M was “Forty Two Days” by Willa Okati. I think it was around 1999 when I first started reading e-books I read “Winged Victory” by L F Hampton which had an M/M pairing as a subplot and it was the best part of the book and I thought wow where can I find more stories like this and then I found Torquere Press by accident and started my love of M/M by buying and devouring every book they had on the site!!!! 😀
hmmmm Torquere Press–love to hang out there–such incredible hotness all in one place! :pant:
My journey to m/m took longer than most of yours. I started with anime, than moved to yaoi, and eventually original books. My first exposure to love between two men as part of the media, was via anime.
I still remember watching Gravitation, on Comcast On Demand, about five years ago. It took me a few minutes to realize that the girl with pink hair wasn’t a girl, but a boy. Did I mentioned that I’m slow, right? Anyway, I thought it was awesome! Of course, I wanted more after that. So, I googled Gravitation, and found a link to videos of Ai no Kusabi. Oh, man, it took like four days to get over that one. Seriously, I was traumatized by the lack of happy ending, but I still googled Aarin’s fantasy, where I found many who likes what I started to like, and the site’s fiction section.
Next, like many of you, the first m/m book I bought was written by Josh Lanyon, the second by Clare London and the third, by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon. My collection and favorite authors grew a lot since then, but those books will always be in my heart.
So true Naaju–you never forget your first!!! Anime is huge over at goodreads–lots of folks read and watch–both my kids LOVE it!
My first m/m book was All Play and No Work by Carol Lynne. I’ve been hooked ever since I read it. I had to go a buy her Good-time Boys Series and Cattle Valley Series right away. This was before I got my Kindle so I read the first one in PDF and the rest in print. I have to admit after reading the first book I’ve been hooked on m/m books and can’t get enough of them.
That Cattle Valley series is amazing—what are there like 22 or more of them now–such stamina that woman has!! I must admit I find myself reading them at a frantic pace as well!
Mine was an ongoing journey. There were the same-sex married couples in Julian May’s Pliocene books. There was the Arthur/Lancelot scene in The Mists of Avalon.
Then came the internet and Elf Sternberg’s Journal Entries on alt.sex.bondage. Double fisting, Wrestling where the winner fucked the loser. Centaur sex. Awesome. Also still available, so google.
Fanfic came on the scene with Buffy, and I was hooked on Angelus/Xander noncon. And then there were other fandoms. (over a dozen when I gafiated)
Torquere’s MONSTERS was a GLBT anthology, not strictly m/m but I read it all. I think the first m/m book I bought (as opposed to a trib copy) was Kiernan Kelly’s “A Change of Heart.”
SO much free stuff out there–so much fiction that waits for us all–and let’s face facts–where else can you get centaur sex–I mean–really! Thanks for commenting Angelia!
My FIRST experience was when, as a voracious fantasy-reading twelve-year-old, I was handed paperbacks of Mercedes Lackey’s Last Herald-Mage series by my dad when I asked him for something to read. He had read them, but had only a rather vague memory of what was actually in them. I was a big fan, in a confused twelve-year-old-girl kind of way.
After that, though, and for the next 15 years, I didn’t read any m/m OR any romance, period. I don’t like m/f romance and I REALLY don’t like fanfic (just a weird personal preference!) so I didn’t have those to get me into it.
Then, about a year ago, I got a Kindle. One day, I was on Amazon, looking for free books, and found Oleander House, by Ally Blue. “Why not?” I thought. “It looks better than some of this other free stuff.”
… and I think you know how it goes from there. 😀
Ally Blue, Josh Lanyon and so many more–sweet addictions that I, for one, have no intention of trying to break!
Years ago I was on Amazon looking up the movie Brokeback Mountain (still haven’t seen it)and Bareback by Chris Owen came up, so I bought it, then it did that “you might also like” thing and A Bit Of Rough by Laura Baumbach came up so I bought that too. Then I went actively looking and found all kinds of publishers, authors, sites, blogs, and an awesome review site (hint). haven’t looked back since.
OMG–A bit of Rough–Let’s all repeat Laura Baumbach’s name with a bit of gleeful gratitude in our voices—ah the things that woman did for my sex…er…never mind.
My first glimpse of MM were Jules & Robin in the mainstream Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann. Then when I started skipping pages just to read about Butch & V in the Brotherhood series by JR Ward I knew I had to go looking for more. (Boy, was I disappointed that Butch & V did not get together). So my first official MM books were the Soul Mates series by Jourdan Lane and the Master Chronicles by Jamie Craig. I read those books back to back and had many sleepless nights and loved every minute of it.
I cannot tell you how many times I have dragged myself into work because I stayed up finishing a book–suffice it to say–too many times! And this is not the first time I have heard mention of the Master Chronicles…hmmm…
Sammy slips the credit card from hubby’s wallet and cracks open the computer with a gleeful cackle!
Maria
I have a fanfic of Butch and V getting it on, so if you’re interested email me. I hope your email address has been fixed. 🙂
If anyone else would like a copy, the same offer stands.
Wave, I would appreciate you sending me a copy of the fanfic of Butch and V.
Hi Kathy
Would you mind emailing me? That would save me going through all the comments to find your email address. My email address is jessewave at gmail dot com
Wave can you thank who ever wrote the fanfic for me. It was brilliant! I am an even more pathetic V fangirl now… I know you didn’t think that could be possible, right LOL!
Natasha
It was my pleasure. Glad you liked it.
I can’t remember who wrote it but readers send me all sorts of interesting stuff to share with you guys…. which I do 🙂
Can I just say it’s great reading about everyone’s ‘first times’?
I first got pointed in the right direction by a M/M/F book of Lorelei James, ‘Rough, Raw & Ready’ (hmm, cowboys!), which got me searching straight away on Amazon for more gay cowboys and lead me to The Tin Star by J L Langley (which is still one of my favourites – but then aren’t first loves always the best?)
Of course since then I may have got a little carried away (with the help of Wave’s site of course 🙂 ) – in fact I just went on Amazon to check whether The Tin Star or The Broken H was the first M/M book I bought, and it took SEVERAL minutes for my slightly oversized library to get itself sorted by date :blush:
My lord–Amazon can sort by date?? Ah the things I learn…I agree Pen–it has been ever so much fun listening to everyone’s stories..so I quess that leaves nothing more than to say SEQUEL—did you hear the WAVE???
I hear you Sammy. Coming to a theatre near you SOON … is Sammy the Sequel 😎
I’m glad you had fun and I think we can do this again in a couple of months. Start thinking of a new topic that will energize the readers as much as this one. :bravo:
Yay!
I don’t know if I chuckled more from the original post or the follow up comments.
Sammy you are fabulous 😀
I started reading M/M within the Stargate (Jack/Daniel) fiction genre, some really AMAZING authors, some of whom have since crossed over into mainstream M/M.
I could not believe there were free stories available with so many terrific authors. Some of these authors were (and are still) better than stories I’ve purchsed.
Then I found Josh and the rest is history 😀
So true–“I found Josh and the rest is history”–so very, very true!
MTelle mentioned The Last Herald Mage Trilogy, and i was like OMG. I remember that. I wasn’t 12 but i was early teens and a big fantasy reader and i found those books and it was like i was the first person to ever discover that there was such a thing as same sex love. after that it was like looking for hidden treasure, there was never a section in a book store or library i could go to, and the blurbs usually didn’t say if a story included a same sex relationship. i was to shy to ask anyone for recs, but i became a sort of amatuer detective finding all the stories hidden among the fantasy. Tanya huff was a favorite i can not tell you how many times i got in trouble in grade eight because i was trying to read one of her books inside my math or french text book. I blame her to this day for the fact that i did not retain any of my school french.
Fastforward more than ten years through a lot of good fantasy writers who’s blurbs still don’t lay out the nature of the relationships, to my first e-reader. and the vista’s that opened up OMG. But the first was Harper Fox Life After Joe.
OMG–Harper Fox–Life After Joe–when he copters in to the rig—ah–what an incredible book! What an incredible author!
Other readers who have ideas for funny posts that they think will be of general interest, and are willing to write them, should email me with a brief outline of their post.
I think you might have already done this one but maybe you could get someone to continue with the manroot theme, the strange things authors call penis’ and other parts.
My all time eewww is when I hear man pussy. For some reason it makes me shudder.
My first M/M reading experience was when I was 13 and my GBF, who was 19 (I was rather advanced for my age and he was woefully immature), worked in a bookstore. I was browsing the fiction section and settled on a Gordon Merrick novel and he was somewhat concerned that I wouldn’t be happy with it.
I bought it anyway, then proceeded to devour every Merrick book I could get my hands on.
After that, I slid into an obsession with SF/fantasy and consumed Elizabeth Lynn’s books, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s, Anne McCaffrey’s, and at some point, Mercedes Lackey’s.
I guess it wasn’t that big of a surprise to anyone when I started reading, then writing, Buffy slash-fic (Spander, Spangel, Xangel). LOL
~Tis