Why I write LGBTQ characters

Happy pride month! It’s a little late, but I wanted to make sure I got this in.

Now, as most of you might know, I’m not a member of the LGBTQ community.

That being said, I have included at least one homosexual character in almost every book I’ve written.

I don’t do this for praise, or to virtue signal. Today, I want to talk about why I include LGBTQ characters in my books.

Writing about people just like me is boring.

There’s a whole bunch of stories about straight Christian white girls. Like, a lot a lot. And, as I wrote about before, I don’t want to write the same sort of character over and over again. I want to write new kinds of characters who have new kinds of stories. Stories that maybe I’m not so familiar with.

Homosexuality is totally normal, and it’s unrealistic to not include them.

I bet you know someone who’s a part of the LGBTQ community. If you don’t, someone you know isn’t telling you something.

If that’s the case, why aren’t there more LGBTQ characters in fiction? Sure, there are more now than there used to be. But it’s still not proportional to the actual demographics.

Honestly, no offense to the books I read, but I don’t think I’ve read a book this year that included a homosexual or bisexual character. Not a one. Does no one see the problem with that?

I want characters who are real people who also happen to be gay. I want to see people who have story arches that have nothing to do with their sexuality. And since I’m not finding them, I’m writing them.

I want LGBTQ teens who might read my book to see representations of themselves.

Imagine how frustrating it must be to read about characters who have one very important thing in common with you, and there’s literally nothing else to their character. Doesn’t that sound frustrating as hell?

Now, imagine almost every time there’s a character with that one thing, that’s the only thing about them.

I know that there are some great LGBT characters who are well written people. Who are textured and layered and everything a good character should be. If you know about them, please give them a shout out in the comments.

Here’s what it comes down to. I want to write characters who are real, worlds that feel real. Ignoring the LGBTQ community isn’t real, and it isn’t right.

I want to write real stories, real people.

Station 86 is shocked when a Khloe assassin begins killing members of the all powerful council. Officer Sennett Montgomery and Councilman Godfrey Anders swear to find the assassin after Godfrey’s wife is falsely accused. But the killer, and the council itself, are not what they seem. Neither, as it turns out, is Sennett’s daughter.

Get it here now, for free.