Byuck & Sex

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The reëdit of my novel Byuck (out later this year!) is getting to the story's moments of greatest crisis. And as I'm reading these scenes I'm remembering the varied responses editors and other readers have had to them in the past.

And it occurs to me that it's no coincidence I started the LDS-eros series seven months after the most painful of the novel's many acceptance-then-rejections.

Viewed from this distance it's particularly obvious that with Byuck the young author is grappling with (sex-related) problems he and many other LDS youth have grappled with. The parts of the novel most difficult for some readers to accept are---isn't it always the case---the parts closest to his actual experience. And I can see why some people refuse to believe that the protagonist's neuroticism might be true. Because how awful would that be?

If only Dave had allowed himself to consider the topics addressed in LDS-eros.

Or, on the other hand, if only he had read Byuck.

Hhhhhhh.

In other news, I should rush to point out that while certain aspects of all the main characters in Byuck reflect me (proving the truism: all first novels are autobiographical), very little that happens in the story can be traced to my own experiences, and young Theric resembles Curses as much as Dave. Fun fact: People who know me primarily as Theric have generally assumed Curses is me; people who know me primarily as Eric have generally assumed Dave is me; people who know me primarily as The Richmond Ripper have generally run screaming from the room.

And in other other news, can't wait to see the Matt Page cover Strange Violin Editions is arranging. I don't think he's actually started on it yet, but I'm still excited.

And in other other other news, I need to get back to that edit I mentioned. I'm not supposed to be blogging right now.