Today, I have Daniel A. Kaine answering some questions. He's also answered a few of the discussion questions, so you might be hearing from him at some point later.
Is there any specific reason you prefer writing LGBT fiction with supernatural elements?
When I’m reading a book, I like to escape from reality. It’s the same with my writing. I like to go to other worlds, or experience things that you wouldn’t see in the real world—deep space travel, shapeshifters, vampires, and magic. I do have a couple of non-supernatural books that I’m working on right now, but they both have something else to offer that sets them aside from contemporary works. One is set in a dystopian future following the collapse of society as we know it, and the other is a rather dark crime/romance that, in my opinion, will really push people’s comfort zones.
‘No Angel’ is the most contemporary of my books, but even that features a bit of the supernatural. All five of the main characters have special abilities, ranging from turning invisible, to creating force fields, and scrambling electronic devices. Sam, the eldest of the group, can even sprout a set of white angel wings. For me, this adds a layer of mystery to the story, because if these things can happen, then anything is possible.
Was Dreamspinner Press the first publisher you approached?
Yes, it was. I had self-published two novels previously, and, in all honesty, was going to continue doing so with my future books. But then I made some great new friends at GayRomLit in Albuquerque last year, and they’ve been such a great support. They encouraged me to take the plunge and try submitting to a publisher. After weighing up my options, I chose Dreamspinner Press, and after almost nine weeks of checking my emails every day, I received an offer from them. That was the best feeling ever. Having being through the submission process now, I feel a lot more confident and am going to, hopefully, continue signing books with publishers.
What was your favourite book to write?
Of the books I’ve finished writing, my favourite was definitely ‘No Angel’. Firstly, I loved writing the characters. Each of the kids has their own quirky personality, and with everything they went through, I couldn’t wait to give them their happy ending. But also, it was the first book where I looked at writing and could see how far I’d come since I started back in 2010. That newly found confidence in myself made this book a pleasure to write, and I hope that others will feel the same when they read it.
How do you make your characters different?
That’s a tough question. My characters tend to come to mind almost fully formed. I don’t force them into being different, but instead let them be who they are. Of course, I’ll try and avoid too many clichés, but I think it all comes down to the situations you place them in. Even the most ordinary character can become something great, if you give them the push they need and the opportunity to shine.
One thing that I do, though, is try to include a diverse range of sexual orientations. Mik, from Dawn of Darkness, doesn’t identify as gay, despite his love interest being
male. He originally, and mistakenly, believed himself to be asexual/aromantic, but quickly came to fall for his best male friend. Even then, there was no attraction to other men. Ash, from the same book, is bisexual, an orientation I feel often gets overlooked. Sam, from ‘No Angel’, is gay, and Josh never labels himself as anything. I can’t recall that I’ve had any lesbian characters yet, so I’ll have to work on that one.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Every day, homeless youths die on the streets. The fact that these young people have been forced out of their homes in the first place is something that sickens me to the bottom of my stomach. Even worse when it’s because of their sexuality. And so far, I’ve done nothing about it. I want to change that.
‘No Angel’ will be out on August 26th. The five main characters are all young people, who have either been thrown out, or ran away, simply because they were born different. They each have special abilities, which they use to help make survival on the streets a little easier. In reality though, homelessness is harsh and degrading. Statistics say that an LGBTQ youth dies on the streets every four hours.
I’m not going to sit back and do nothing any longer. I want to give something… anything… even if it’s only enough to help out a handful of teens for one night. To that extent, I’ll be donating a portion of my royalties from ‘No Angel’ to charities that work to provide shelter for LGBTQ youths when they have nowhere else to go.
Daniel A. Kaine was born and raised in the Land of Rain, more commonly known as England. Originally trained as a biology teacher, he was always unsure what to do with his life. That is, until he chanced upon a fanfiction site and began jotting down stories between his favourite anime characters. To this day, he still cringes at the mere memory of all that cheese.
In 2010, Daniel came across the NaNoWriMo boards and started work on his first original piece of fiction. Since then, his fingers have been unable to keep up with all the ideas and characters his brain keeps throwing at him. When he's not writing, Daniel enjoys staying active, whether that be by running along the river banks near his home, or going to the gym. He also enjoys reading, playing video games, and learning new skills, such as image manipulation.
Daniel is very kindly offering 1 ebook copy of No Angel, in formats epub. Mobi, html and pdf. Book is due out from Dreamspinner Press on August 26th. Giveaway ends 29 September and is open internationally to people over 13.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Today we have Zoe Marriott, author of The Night Itself (which I really enjoyed with a review to come), Frostfire (which I really enjoyed last year, with a review to come if I find time to re-read it), Wild Swans and Shadows on the Moon (which I plan to read one day).
Stereotypes are basically a result of a lack of knowledge. They're a product of only having One Story about what gay or transgender or genderfluid means; the fact that really no one in our culture gets a fair and nuanced representation in media apart from straight, white, cis-gendered, able-bodied males. So the first step in avoiding stereotypes and one dimensional or offensive portrayals is to learn. Read books, watch films, seek out TV programmes that portray all kinds of different QUILTBAG people doing all kinds of different things, like falling in love, conquering strange planets, solving crimes, making funny YouTube videos. Seek out and join groups that seek to promote allyship among different groups. Talk to people in real life and online. *See* people. See people as people first and whatever other labels are attached to them later, not even second, but way down the list af
When I’m reading a book, I like to escape from reality. It’s the same with my writing. I like to go to other worlds, or experience things that you wouldn’t see in the real world—deep space travel, shapeshifters, vampires, and magic. I do have a couple of non-supernatural books that I’m working on right now, but they both have something else to offer that sets them aside from contemporary works. One is set in a dystopian future following the collapse of society as we know it, and the other is a rather dark crime/romance that, in my opinion, will really push people’s comfort zones.
One thing that I do, though, is try to include a diverse range of sexual orientations. Mik, from Dawn of Darkness, doesn’t identify as gay, despite his love interest being male. He originally, and mistakenly, believed himself to be asexual/aromantic, but quickly came to fall for his best male friend. Even then, there was no attraction to other men. Ash, from the same book, is bisexual, an orientation I feel often gets overlooked. Sam, from ‘No Angel’, is gay, and Josh never labels himself as anything. I can’t recall that I’ve had any lesbian characters yet, so I’ll have to work on that one.
Today, we have Suzanne van Rooyen answering our questions! Suzanne actually answered a lot more, but it didn’t all fit in one post, so you’ll see her other answers in the main discussion posts.
w important it is to have LGBTQ characters in books where the focus is not sexuality. 
Over the Rainbow is at the heart a romance between two girls who never know if they will ever meet each other, but it's also a rip-roaring action adventure, the kind geared for boys, that just so happens to have a lesbian protagonist at the forefront. Should this element make the action scenes any less enjoyable for male teenage readers? There are car chases, sprints through the forest, a duel to the death with a velociraptor on the top of a moving vehicle. I want readers to see Zippy as a bad-ass, not as a gay bad-ass. And I especially want young lesbian readers to find a character on the page that they can truly call their own.
Hi guys, I'm sorry, this week's hiatus was really unexpected. My computer completely died and I had to have it wiped, so the post from Lou Morgan, who, over the course of two days, became my one ofhave you filled in the discussion form yet? Answers don't need to be long, you don't need to have read millions of LGBT YA books, but a few more opinions would be nice) Normal service should resume soon!
