Gay Wolves Changed My Life

I like writing about gay characters. I'm not sure if it's my long and torrid love affair with slash fan fiction (more on that later) or what, but several characters in my mainstream books have been gay.

So when I stared this indie writing thing, I discovered a gold mine: gay romance/ gay erotic romance. It was like a fangirl's dream come true. Original fiction written about hot guys falling in love and getting it on with each other. What could be better?

I know. Writing my own! Score!

So I did. I got nice reviews and some fan mail, but not a huge influx of sales. Well, I didn't have a huge number of titles, and in this business volume matters. I just wrote more.

But since I usually stare at a computer screen all day I need some kind of human interaction. Forums are a place where we writers gather to hang out and exchange info. It was on a forum that I learned a wonderful truth: gay wolves (gay werewolves) are publishing magic.

I'm not sure what it is about rough alpha males fighting for pack dominance that makes ladies (and men) love them, but it's true. At least for me.

The first gay wolf story I wrote hit the Amazon hot new releases chart back in late May early June and stayed there for a whole month. It also peeked at #4 on the All Romance site wide bestseller list and hit several iTunes bestseller lists.

It made me a lot of money and opened a door for several sequels.

It gave me a loyal following of rabid gay wolf loving fans. That's the best part because if a fan likes one gay wolf story, they will buy more gay wolf stories. And I have a lot of gay wolf stories to offer my hungry base.

Gay wolves also gave me the confidence to quit grad school and do this weird erotic romance thing full time.

There is a lesson to be learned here: if something works, writing wise, then do more of it. If something doesn't work, try it one more time. If you fail again, try something new until you find that magic formula.

I can't really say why my gay wolf story took off -- it was a perfect storm of timing, blurb, cover and story all mixed into one. Luck played a big part too. Do I hold a special gay wolf secret? No. But I do like writing about werewolves, and pack politics and gay men falling in love with each other under those conditions.


Even when I take a break from gay wolves to work on a BBW romance or a gay contemporary romance, I still thank those howling beasts for their help.

I wouldn't be here without them.

Coming out of the writing closet, so to speak

I write for a living -- I'm a professional writer, if you will. It's weird to say those words, much less type them. Wrapping my head around my job, although I've been doing it for about 4 years now, is still difficult.

Even harder since the last 8 months have been very different.

I freelanced for about 3 years. Basically, I wrote boring articles about computers or gardening and it paid the bills. And I got to work from home in my PJs. Life was good. Then the Google panda update hit and my cushy freelancing gigs dried up. So, as we started 2012, I was out of a job. Really. Totally unemployed. 

Now, I wasn't homeless. No. I had a savings account and grad student loans. I could find something new. I had too.

Then I stumbled on a ghostwriting gig. The pay was decent, and it came with a lot of creative freedom. While I dabbled in non-fiction and article writing to get by, fiction is my real passion. I jumped at the opportunity, but I had to learn how to write something I'd only ever penned in fanfiction before.

Okay. Deep breath. I can do this.

I write erotica and erotic romance. 

There. I said it. Secret out!

The ghostwriting gig paid more for erotic stories, so I wrote a few. Then I started reading forum posts and blogs about self-publishing. A lot of writers were making a lot of money doing what I was doing, only they got paid in royalties instead of an up-front ghostwriting fee.

Why wasn't I doing that?

Long story short (too late) I did/am. And it's the best decision I ever made in my entire life. 

So, that's why I started this blog. I'm not going to tell anyone my pen names (or my real name, although it's not really a secret considering I'm posting this on FB. Hi, friends from FB who chose to read!) But I do want to talk about my journey and decisions -- why I made them and how much I enjoy what I do. 

I'm the Indie Writer Girl, and I have a few things to say.