Guest Blog: Jaxx Steele: Guy Meets Guy and Falls in Love - It Happens!

I'd like to share how I started writing gay romance. As a kid I was surrounded by readers, both parents, aunts, baby sitters... Anyway, one day I was at the baby sitter's after school and she put her book down to make me something to eat and I picked it up. I was hooked! I read everything she had on her shelf. When I had tackled the many Danielle Steel and Barbara Cartland books I took my first Bertrice Small book from the shelf. Once I read that and the Thea Devine novels she had, well, the rest, as they say, is history.

I was a mere boy of 14 at the time and couldn’t wait for my own relationships to be like that. I wanted to be that guy in the books, to be loved unconditionally, adored by his lover. I wanted to see that look of bliss on my lover’s face when I was done that was described and I didn’t even really know what making love was at the time. By the time I was 17 I knew girls were not in my future, but I still wanted to be that guy. I loved the romance and the sex I read in Ms. Small and Ms. Devine's books. I hunted them down and read as many as I could find. After a while I wondered if I could be that guy as a gay man. I had only seen examples of that type of love and affection in hetero books. Was there anything like that for gay men? Romance novels with gay men falling in love, going through their drama and finally ending up together with the culmination of mind boggling sex?

At that time there was no Internet so I took my search to the library doubting I would find anything, but wanting to confirm it anyway. When I turned up empty handed I decided to write my own. Thus began my journey into the writing world. In college I took elective courses to improve my writing and asked my English and writing teachers as many questions as I could without giving away what I was really doing. And then, lady luck smiled upon me...or should I say gentleman luck. I ran into a gay teacher! He wasn't out of course, but kindred spirits and all that. Anyway, I gave him one of my stories and he loved it! With someone other than myself liking my work I kept writing. The Internet blew up a few years later and I finally was able to see that there was plenty of gay romance to go around out there! Knowing that encouraged to me to write even more and eventually search for a publisher.

I graduated and went into my career. I am still friends today with that teacher and I have never forgotten the three rules he taught me that I still use today.
1) Find your voice and stay true to it.
2) Keep improving your skill as a writer.
3) Learn all you can from other authors who have been there and done that!

BLURB: Papa Knows Best
Dominick 'Papa' Pappas was a handsome, young photography teacher at Indiana University given to impulsive behavior and an overwhelming passion for his craft. Professor Bradley Louis taught philosophy at the college and had the reputation of being the sternest and most unsocial of all the teachers on campus. When Papa first laid eyes on Professor Louis it was love at first sight. Professor Louis was handsome, intelligent and twenty years his senior. Papa approached him, but the professor turned away from his advances claiming they had nothing in common and belonged to two different generations. Because of that he didn't think they had a chance to survive as a couple. Can Papa convince him of otherwise or will Professor Louis' theory on May-November relationships prevail?

BIO:
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but I escaped and I now live in Indiana. My dream is to buy a house near the beach and write all day and make enough money to live off of. I spend most of my time working a nine to five and traveling, when I can, to new and wondrous places that I can incorporate in my stories (or that will at least inspire me). I do have love in my life thanks to my life partner, Hou, and our cat, Judo, who graciously lets us live with him in his house. So, all in all, I have a full and happy life.

Thanks for having me!
Jaxx Steele has left the building!
http://www.jaxxsteele.com