Welcome to author Jayne Lockwood, who’s stopping by on the tour for her new Sci-Fi novel, Euphoria, from DSP Publications!
Keeping Things In Perspective
Hi everyone, and very many thanks to The Novel Approach for letting me take over your blog for this post.
As I write this, the MM Romance world is yet again in turmoil. Authors are falling out with each other on social media. Misunderstandings and hurt feelings abound. It happens frequently. There is a period of calm before the next storm blows up and arguments flare, people get upset, others wade in, often not knowing the facts or thinking about what they want to say before the knee-jerk reaction kicks in. I don’t think a month goes past without some kind of fracas.
So it’s easy to forget when beautiful things happen in real life. Social media is one form of reality, but really, we should be looking around us. The people shooting off comments will probably turn around to get their kids’ tea ready, walk the dog, put a full day in at work, smile at a stranger, have their nails done, worry about aged parents, wonder where their next meal is coming from, think about the person far away from them in service. In short, we all have lives and things that happen to us every day. It’s easy to miss the good stuff. We have to remember to breathe, to live.
What’s this got to do with my writing?
The point is, a rather lovely thing happened yesterday, which to my shame I had forgotten amidst the tumult in the MM Romance world, as well as all the concerns which go with everyday life. In fact, the more I think about it, the more wonderful it actually was.
I’m lousy at taking praise, as she pointed out, but she wanted me to know because it was important to her, as a self-professed non-reader, that I understood what she was saying.
“Your books have got me back into reading again.”
That’s pretty hot-damned awesome.
I don’t mainly write for profit, because I’m realistic enough to know I’ll never buy an F-Type with my royalties. If I did, that would be great! But if that’s the only reason to do it, you’re on a long, hard, stony road with no guarantee of success at the end. I write because stories roil around inside my head, itching to get out. I love it, pure and simple. I’m rubbish at marketing, advertising, and tooting my own horn, but I love the weaving, the adventure, the creation of characters and worlds, the more diverse the better. My writing has changed over the years to become more inclusive, not for profit, but because as you get older, your eyes get opened to a wonderful, colourful, sometimes dangerous world which it’s important to acknowledge. I’ve been accused of being niche, as if it were a bad thing. I disagree. There needs to be more diversity in mainstream fiction. Not in a politically correct, “right-on” sort of way, but in a manner that it will become normal, and people just see each other as people, not gay or straight or odd or queer.
The recent upsets on social media have been upsetting, and it’s important to remember we authors actually want similar things. There will always be poison pills exploiting certain groups of people for profit, but most of us want to reflect the wild, beautiful world we live in, or create different worlds we can lose ourselves in. As authors we need to do that responsibly without appropriation or exploitation, and if we can do that, we’re on the right track.
See beauty in the everyday.
Jayne x
About the Book
It might take the arrival of an alien being to remind an isolated man what it means to be human.
With a stressful job, his boss breathing down his neck for profitable results, and an estranged wife and daughter, scientist Kurt Lomax doesn’t think life can get much harder. Until a nonbinary extraterrestrial with an otherworldly beauty, captivating elegance, and a wicked sense of humor inconveniently shows up at his apartment.
Vardam watched the destruction of their own world, and they don’t want to see the same thing happen on Earth. They are lonely, and feelings soon develop between them and the supposedly straight scientist—feelings Kurt reciprocates, much to his confusion.
The arrival of cheery interpreter Tom Soames—whose Goth appearance belies a gentle heart—is like a ray of sunshine in the somber lab. He acts as matchmaker for man and tentacled extraterrestrial, unwittingly instigating a national crisis when the news breaks out.
But will a misunderstanding ruin Kurt and Vardam’s chances for happiness together—along with the hope for peace between humanity and the Var?
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About the Author
Jayne Lockwood has always wanted to learn to fly. Spending free time honing her Peter Pan skills on an aerial hoop, she also creates flights of fancy in her books, mingling sex and romance with angst and a healthy dash of dark humor.
Since she was a small child, Jayne has always sympathized with the villain. It all began with Alice Cooper, even though she was banned from listening to his music by her mother. From wanting to sail away with Captain Hook or redeeming the Child Catcher, the antihero has been an enduring fascination ever since.
Jayne is an outwardly respectable member of an English village community. She also is one of the founder members of WROTE podcast, which is dedicated to showcasing LGBTQA authors and their work, and now writes book reviews as well as diverse fiction.
She is also in a sub/Dom relationship with a cat called Keith.
Where to Find Jayne: Web page, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, QueeRomanceInk
