Let's Talk Happy

[wook77]

Rather than fixating on how stressed and annoyed I am, how about a celebratory post?

DADT has been repealed! WOOHOO! About damned time! Plus, Someone I know just got married. I love that they timed it so that as the repeal went into effect, they were getting married. Couldn't happen to nicer people, as far as I'm concerned. I'm only sad cause I think this means that the person I know is moving to Sierra Vista and I won't see him as much any longer.

Same Sex Couples will be available in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Considering how much I love Star Wars and I love Bioware, this is great news as far as I'm concerned. I'm disappointed that it'll be add-on content but if that add-on content is free, well, that'll be awesome. I'm curious how it'll work if I have the add-on content and someone else doesn't - will they see my same-sex partner and/or acknowledge that relationship? Or can people still have the gay blinders on and not see any same sex relationship? Inquiring minds want to know.

I pre-ordered Assassin's Creed: Revelations, finally. I also pre-ordered Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I hated the other Elder Scrolls game I played but, I'm voting with my wallet and supporting games that have equality in them.

I was following the #yesGayYA hashtag and reading all the various and sundry. So I bought about 20 books from a list that was put on cleolinda's post. Lee Wind has a ton of great books listed. I've already made arrangements with the library system here that, when I'm done, they'll be very happy to take the books off my hands and put them into circulation. Can't ask for more than that from the librarians since they're not allowed to buy any new books right now because of budget cuts. They can, however, use donated books. So I'll have to be gentle with them.

Which leads me to my question for all of you - what are your favorite "traditional published" books featuring gay characters? Can be young adult, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, whatever. Just not an e-publisher since I read so many of those already. I ask for any of them because, for as much as I want to see more LGBTQ characters in young adult, I want to see them in regular fiction, too. And in fantasy. And in romances on the shelf, under the "romance" filing rather than the "LGBT" section. So to help with that, I'll continue voting with my wallet and showing publishers that I will buy LGBT books. Lay your recs on me, oh great and wonderful Flist!

Comments

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

My favorite will always be my first.

Tales of the City (series) by Armistead Maupin.

[elanorofcastile.livejournal.com]

Seconded like whoa.

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

I never read the last two that were published in the last few years. Did you? Were they good or should I keep my original memory intact?

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

Havemercy, by LJ's own ladyjaida and danibennett! Published by Bantam Spectra, so legit big-name publishers. The leads are queer. Huzzah!

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

Storyteller by Amy Thomson is a very good little known sci fi novel. The gay is in there, but it's not shoved in your face to make a point - it's a naturally evolving part of the story/plot, which I like.

Have you read any Sarah Waters? Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet are particularly good, and the adaptation of Fingersmith in particular is wonderful.

[ficlette.livejournal.com]

i remember reading the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay by michael chabon as an assignment for a class in high school and loving it, but to be honest the only thing i remember about it now is that it had a small gay storyline.

also the h/d writer sansa (on the last day of our world, paying the piper) has a few fantasy books published with gay leads, but i'm not sure whether or not they're actually classified as fantasy.

[butterflywings3.livejournal.com]

These are not necessarily normal gay characters (and the author never actually specifies if they are gay, per se), but I highly enjoy reading Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles from back in the day. They aren't really considered YA and I love her narrative form in describing the characters.