High School

In an interview that Indie Reviews did with Tim and me, I made this comment about the anthologies we’ve edited:

It’s interesting that among the three collections, there are stories of adolescent boys with their first crushes who aren’t hiding, aren’t fearful. They’re like any kid with a first crush. That kind of story probably wouldn’t have been written or published until recently.

I was thinking of James Booth’s story “Falling” in Foolish Hearts, and also remembering Josh Helmin’s “Like No One’s Watching” in Fool For Love. I sent the following questions to both writers:

…the real-life stories we hear about high school kids who are gay are usually so grim–the need to be accepted and feelings of isolation, the fear of coming out, bullying, etc. But you consciously chose to create an environment where your characters’ being gay isn’t an issue. There’s support all around; the anxiety is more about “Will he like me?” than “Will I get the shit beat out of me and become a social pariah?”

I wanted to blog about why you chose to create that kind of story and if you had a reader in mind as your wrote it.

Here’s what Josh said:

When I wrote “Like No One’s Watching,” I had novels like David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy somewhere in the back of my mind. One of the reasons I love David Levithan’s writing so much is that his richly-formed characters, many of whom were young and gay, were allowed to just be teenagers, consumed by the world of school, friends, and (hopefully) love. When two guys fell in love, it was about two guys falling in love, and not a prolonged Lifetime original movie dramatizing the coming out process, or internalized homophobia, or parents who were throwing their kids out of the house because they were gay. Are those important and very real topics? Absolutely. But it was also incredibly refreshing to see and experience a traditional kind of boy-meets-girl story recast as a boy-meets-boy story, focusing on flushed cheeks and first kisses and not just on the heavy stuff that sometimes accompanies teen coming out stories. Growing up I would have loved to have read even more short stories and novels like that (heck, I still want to read more of those), so I decided “Like No One’s Watching” would be my attempt at contributing to what I wanted to see, and still hope to see more of, in the realm of love stories between men.

And James’s thoughts:

It honestly just felt right for the story; I wanted it to be a sweet little romance and not have it bogged down by bullying or anything like that. There is still a little fear about being punched in the face due to flirting with a straight guy by accident, but it’s a fleeting thought in the overall scheme of the story. I’m in the middle of working on a Young Adult novel and bullying, being closeted, and that need for acceptance are all big themes in that story, but I need those elements there to tell this particular story. It didn’t seem necessary in writing “Falling.”

The other reason too is that I’ve led a lucky life in that I’ve never really been bullied for my sexuality. I was not out in high school, but I know now that I would’ve been supported by my friends (I had a lot from Stage Crew and Choir, and four of them were also gay, I found out later). I came out in college and was very much accepted. I know that’s not the case for a lot of people, but because of my positive experiences, that’s going to come out in my writing and I feel like most of the stories I plan on telling will revolve around, like you said, more “Will he like me?” than becoming a social pariah.

And while we need all kinds of stories (obviously, I’m writing both kinds), I feel like we’re really getting to a place where we can write about gay characters in high school/college who are accepted for who they are and have to worry more about regular teen things and less about just making it through the day. It’s not such an outlandish concept anymore.

As for the reader question, I didn’t really have anybody in particular when I wrote the story. But I do think the story is for anybody (though teens in particular since that is the age of the characters) looking for love and giving them the confidence that they’ll find it someday.

Thanks, Josh and James, for your time and your thoughts.

Here’s an excerpt from “Falling”:

The rest of their story can be read in Best Gay Romance 2014, on sale now in ebook format and trade paperback.

Excerpt reprinted with permission from Cleis Press. All rights reserved.