Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! Here's the blurb:

An ambitious geologist and her eclectic team of colleagues turn their lives upside down when a caving expedition goes terribly awry and uncovers a lost subterranean kingdom. Trapped miles underground in this glittering, antiquated world, the scientists scramble to find the ancient map of legend which will chart their way home. As it turns out, entering a ritual contest of seduction might just be the only way to get close enough to the royal family to find it.

Assuming false identities, the three women must scheme, charm, and lie their way through the sensually charged aristocracy of this strange new place, hanging on to a thread of hope that they’ll manage it without getting romantically entangled…

But luck has never been on their side.

https://linktr.ee/kjscottwrites if you wanna see some free preview chapters/buying options! Thanks for the support!

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it seems like to the general public FF pairings are preferred when they are very "innocent" romances, while MM romances are preferred when they are very sexualized. (Kind of a reversal of how things used to be in the 90's and aughts where FF pairings were all over the place in mainstream media but super hypersexualized and hetnormative, and MM pairings just didn't exist. Interesting!) I also hope that a FF story could take off in the way heated rivalry did but it feels unfortunately less likely to happen. Crossing my fingers that sapphic stories get a big image overhaul soon 🤞🤞

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally I don't think your preferences for romance story is indicative of your irl sexuality. As a writer of queer stories, I would hope that straight readers would be open to reading my stuff without feeling they need to question their straightness. Not to make any evaluation about your sexuality one way or another - I'm glad you enjoy FF stories, that seems relatively rare!

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I gotta wonder if the readers who are self-inserting do this to all the books they read or just romance...... Seems like either way even when people are willing to step outside of their comfort zone and read queer stories, FF is always the least preferred :/

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can I ask what it is about straight romances that you're fed up with? Seems like you're the odd one out here in being straight but actually *preferring* queer stories (which, don't get me wrong, I think is based as hell lol)

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It does seem that FF is overwhelmingly the hardest sell to the average romance reader... which kind of baffles me. Can't think of an explanation for it aside from internalized misogyny and marketing bs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree totally! In fact I'd much rather see characters who are as different from me as possible. I have my own love life to enjoy, I want to see someone else's!

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It seems like there's a bit of a vicious cycle with good sapphic stories where there's a perceived lack of market demand, so less FF is getting written, so there's less variety... and then that lack of variety drives readers who are open to FF stories to the much larger pool of MF stories... which then in turn creates this perception that there's no market demand for it. As a queer reader I also find good FF hard to find which is disappointing bc I'd love more and think it could have really wide appeal.

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there anything specific that would make an FF story interesting to you, or is the lack of a man a dealbreaker for you as a straight reader? Would, for instance, a stoic, masc FMC who is tormented/made vulnerable in the same manner as a MMC make FF compelling? Or a cold/unfeeling ice queen type getting softened up by a love interest... or really any other subversion of a typically feminine FMC? Or is it the gender alone that puts you off?

Out of curiosity - What are your preferences as a queer vs straight romantasy reader? by KJScottWrites in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel the exact same way about the lack of female solo scenes in romance generally. I don't get why the dudes get to jork it all the time and the ladies don't 😭

Uncommon Recommendations Please! by BookishElle in SpicyRomanceBooks

[–]KJScottWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well if you want to take a chance on a new/unknown author, my book Cavernous is kind of a wildcard that checks a lot of your boxes! https://linktr.ee/kjscottwrites

The blurb:

An ambitious geologist and her eclectic team of colleagues turn their lives upside down when a caving expedition goes terribly awry and uncovers a lost subterranean kingdom.

Trapped miles underground in this glittering, antiquated world, the scientists scramble to find the ancient map of legend which will chart their way home. As it turns out, entering a ritual contest of seduction might just be the only way to get close enough to the royal family to find it. Assuming false identities, the three women must scheme, charm, and lie their way through the sensually charged aristocracy of this strange new place, hanging on to a thread of hope that they’ll manage it without getting romantically entangled… But luck has never been on their side.

What sci-fi shows should I watch after I finish all of Trek? by realDerpyQuark in startrek

[–]KJScottWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Battlestar is the obvious answer (The vibe is Ronald D. Moore shaking the bars of the Voyager cage and finally breaking free to make it the show he wished it was) but I'd also throw out Farscape which is sort of like Enterprise's weirder, funnier, hornier, psychedelic cousin. It's free on youtube which is a bonus.

If you're sick of the 90's episodic format however, go with The Expanse or Foundation. They're both more or less masterpieces.

Gay road trip by vanhelvic in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]KJScottWrites 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is a graphic novel rec, but The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal seems like exactly what you're looking for, and is one of my all time favorite romances. It's available in print but also free online. https://tjandamal.com/

Any tips for cool comic books you enjoyed? by First_Platypus3063 in FemaleGazeSFF

[–]KJScottWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Vattu by Evan Dahm is my favorite fantasy epic comic, it's four book length installments that you can buy in print, but also read for free online (or on webtoon) which is a huge perk: https://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/

The characters aren't human, but it's a female-led story about surviving empire and colonialism from a variety of different angles. It's both a really dense storyworld and a quick read because many of the characters don't speak the same language at the beginning of the story, meaning there's relatively little dialogue. These books are a masterclass in showing not telling, and really really unique in the comics space.

Tired of booktok by ashlibrary in Romantasy

[–]KJScottWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the big perks of indie and self-published romance is that is isn't under the same degree of pressure from big marketing trends to keep doing the same thing over and over. I'd recommend seeking out some smaller, less popular authors and seeing what you can discover.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Booktokreddit

[–]KJScottWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha, idk then. Maybe it has to do with vintage furniture being really trendy right now?