My name is Marcus Lopés and I’m a writer.
In my first blog post, “The Journey Begins … Again,” I talked about why I write. Let me share that with you again:
I write because each morning when I awake, and at night when I lay my head down to sleep, writing is what becomes me. It quells within me, gnaws at my heart, enlivens my soul. I write because of the stories within me that I long to tell. I write because of the beauty that is this world. I write because of the ugliness that is this world and perhaps, with my words, I can challenge it. I write because I have a vision of today that may spillover into tomorrow. I write because it is the passion that consumes me. I write because writing is all of me. Writing is who I am.
But, today, I want to go deeper …
With the publication of my novel, The Flowers Need Watering, I entered the world of indie publishing. I write “literary” or “contemporary” fiction, but because my lead characters are gay, my writing is often tagged as gay romance or gay fiction. There is romance in my stories, but not erotica (which seems to be a staple and expected in mm romance); and that can disappoint a reader expecting steamy sex scenes. That’s not my style.
What I attempt to do through my writing (and I hope successfully) is to explore, through the lens of a personal story, the aspirations of the individual against those of the collective. I hope to challenge the reader’s, as well as my own, belief system. It’s not just about asking, for example, “What are we doing here?” but also “How did we get where we are?” and “Could we get here another way?” For most of us, life is anything but linear. I want us to think about the choices we make and how we respond, either under duress or when our emotions take control, to the challenges we face in life each and every day. Whether the theme is family, love, relationships, forgiveness, etc., it’s my hope that The Flowers Need Watering — my short stories and essays — will foster more love, tolerance, respect and kindness towards each other and ourselves.
Marcus Lopés’s debut indie novel, The Flowers Need Watering, is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats.
You can connect with him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.
Hi Marcus,
I really love the idea of LGBT fiction being more than romance and erotica. Of course sex and romance happen, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I’m far more interested in human stories with rich characters.
Several years ago I heard an interview with Tom Perrotta on NPR—he had just come out with his novel ‘The Abstinence Teacher’—where he talked about the inspiration for a lot of his books. Basically, he likes to take characters, present them with a difficult situation or opposing viewpoints, let them have a conversation, and see what happens. I think its a great system, very much in line with your own, and I think of it often when approaching my own writing.
I’ll be self-publishing my first novel later this year, and posts like this from other writers like you in the “gay genre” are both inspiring and uplifting. Its nice to encounter like-minded individuals striving to create LGBT fiction with the kind of substance that is sometimes lacking in the genre.
Finally, I picked up ‘The Flowers Need Watering’ a couple weeks ago and am really enjoying it. Its taking a while because of an insanely busy schedule at the moment, but I’ll be sure to leave a review on Amazon when I’ve finished.
Thanks for writing (and reading). I’ll definitely look forward to more blog posts from you in the future.
Gregory Josephs
Hi Gregory,
Thanks for taking the time to write. I really do love the idea of LGBT fiction being more about romance and erotica, and that is a huge part of my writing. I love seeing how characters play out against, and with, each other. A lot of that stems from my time living in France as a student when I discovered Jean-Paul Sartre and existentialism. It left a huge mark on my life and how I came to see the world and myself in it. It helped me to find my writer’s voice and to let myself grow comfortably into it.
And your words – “Its nice to encounter like-minded individuals striving to create LGBT fiction with the kind of substance that is sometimes lacking in the genre” – reassure me that I’m writing from a perspective that is true to who I am. Thanks for that!
Tbanks, too, for picking up a copy of The Flowers Need Watering. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying it. If you’re anything like me and you have a day job, trying to balance everything and get in time for writing and reading is a constant challenge. It’s a lot and we can only do what we can.
I really did enjoy your short story, “The Arousal of Danger,” and I’ve shared it to my Twitter followers. I hope they’ll enjoy it, too.
And good look as you work to self-publish your novel later this year. It’s a lot of work but it’s well worth the effort. Let me know when it’s out. I look forward to reading it.
Marcus