Pride Author Interview Grayson Bell

Hello everyone and welcome back to another installment of our Pride month celebration going on here! This month has been flying by and as it gets hotter and hotter, I find I’m doing a lot of my best work late (and I mean LATE) at night. How are you doing with the weather, whatever it may be for you? Today we are going to be having an interview with a really cool author named Grayson Bell who you can check out over on Amazon to view his works or on Twitter @GrayBellAuthor.

Grayson Bell has had a love affair with the written word since the age of four. He taught himself how to read with the help of a phonics segment on Sesame Street, and he’s been devouring books ever since. Writing has been a part of Grayson’s life in one form or another for decades, everything from academic and technical writing to blogging. In 2015, the spark of an idea inspired him to dive headfirst into the world of LGBTQ erotic romance. Since then, he’s written dozens of works of transformative fiction, and published his first novel in 2018.

Sharing his home in Colorado with his dogs, Grayson also enjoys whipping up something creative in the kitchen or escaping into the world of video games. He is an out and proud gay, transgender man. Grayson and I share much in common, from reading to a young age to a love of writing and video games, however, I don’t tend to whip up anything creative in the kitchen unless you count making a huge mess “creative”!

Well first, let’s start off with a question everyone says will be easy but I never know how to answer and suddenly forget every fact about myself – tell us a bit about yourself? Anything you want to share with us about you or your books.

I’m Grayson Bell, and I’m a gay trans guy who writes queer fiction. I’ve mostly written queer erotic romances with gay or trans male characters, but I’m now branching out into science fiction. The main characters will continue to be queer, and there will be a romantic subplot because my characters can never seem to keep their hands off each other! Besides writing, I’ve been a gamer since the 70s, when I first played Pong. I love to cook, and I’ve started baking my own bread at home, and I enjoy crocheting. One fun fact about myself, is that I’m a first generation American. Both of my parents were born in Europe and immigrated to the US as kids back in the 1950s. I’m a mostly Polish and German mutt.

What kind of advice would you give to a younger LGBT person who’s looking to get into writing books?

For anyone wanting to get into writing books, I always advise to both read a lot and write a lot. You can study every writing guidebook in the world, but until you start doing it, it’s all theory. The adage of “practice makes perfect” is very true. Also, and especially for LGBTQ folks, never let someone tell you what you can or can’t write. Write for yourself first. Write the stories you want to read. Readers will pick up on all the heart and passion you put into your words, and if you try to follow some formula that your heart isn’t into, the readers will pick up on that as well.

Tell us a bit about what you like to read from other people. What is your favorite book or author? Is it very different from what you write?

I’ve been devouring books since I taught myself to read at the age of four. It’s difficult to choose any one favorite, but in general I’ve read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. Also, a healthy dose of non-fiction science. I got more into reading queer erotic romance when I discovered fanfiction, and what I write is very much a reflection of the kind of stories I enjoy reading.

Where do you find inspiration for your writing, and what makes it hard to write? For me, I can’t write anything if it’s silent – I spend too much time focusing on how it’s too quiet!

When I began writing, my inspiration came from a video game called “Dragon Age.” I have written a lot of “Dragon Age” and “Supernatural” fanfiction, and I still occasionally write fanfiction, if the mood strikes me. I also daydream a lot and that sparks a lot of ideas for stories. Once I began writing, I couldn’t stop the ideas from pouring out of me. With my fanfiction, I quickly began writing more ‘alternate universe’ stories. Eventually, I came to a point where my stories were more original than fanfiction. That’s when I started writing my first novel.

If you could meet any of your characters in real life, who do you choose and why?

This may be because it’s the current book I’m working on, but I’d love to meet Ardyn and Jevan from “Artifact of the Dawn.” That’s the first book in my upcoming sci-fi series. Ardyn is an elf-like alien with pointed ears, naturally lavender hair, and a very pale complexion, because his species lacks melanin, and Jevan is a tall, dark-skinned human. They were both born on a distant planet and have gone through some incredible adventures together. Jevan is incredibly charming, and Ardyn is quiet and thoughtful. I would enjoy spending time chatting with both of them. Plus, I’d love to see both their world. I doubt my mind’s eye does it justice.

Random question time, and I love putting y’all on the spot like this – you have to wear a t-shirt with one word on it for the rest of your life. Which word do you choose?

You ask the hardest questions, especially since I hate wearing clothing with words! Well… I guess I’ll go with the word “queer.” It sums me up pretty well.

What does your writing space look like? Is there any snack or drink that you always have by you when you write? Any trinkets or decorations, or just you and your work?

My writing space is my home office. It’s a large, warm, well-lit room with lots of natural light. I have this big U-shaped desk in one corner with my Alienware gaming PC and a 32” curved UHD monitor, which is where I do most of my writing. The room also has a small couch and end table in another corner, along with a record player that I use to play some old vinyl albums I grew up listening to back in the 70s, like Captain and Tennille, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Sonny and Cher, or John Denver. There’s also a faux fireplace and a Smart TV hanging on the wall that I can watch either from my desk or the couch. It’s both spacious and cozy at the same time. When I’m writing, I require absolute silence, but if I’m doing more tedious tasks, I occasionally will play music or turn on the TV to follow along to a baseball game or something that doesn’t require my eyes on it all the time.

Which do you think is more important – stellar characters, a perfect plot or a gorgeous setting?

A great story requires equally great characters, plot, and setting. They all complement each other, and one is not more important than the others.

Absolutely, fair enough. Do you find as an LGBT author that you experience being passed over for other writers who aren’t LGBT, or do you feel your books are looked at fairly?

I’m an LGBTQ writer who writes LGBTQ stories for an LGBTQ audience. Keeping that in mind, I believe my books are looked at fairly. Are they passed over by the cisgender, heteronormative world? To a degree, they probably are, but that’s not who I am writing for.

Tell us your thoughts – do you think it’s important that young LGBT people or those who think they might be LGBT have characters in books who are LGBT that they can read?

Yes, it is absolutely critical that LGBTQ youth have representation in all forms of media, especially in books. It’s because of that lack of representation, especially when I was young back in the 1970s and 80s, that it took me so long to understand my own queerness. If I had seen myself represented somewhere, either in a book, TV show, or movie, I would have figured out who and what I was much sooner. I would have felt less like a fish out of water and far less alone in this world.

How do you think LGBTQ representation has improved or expanded in recent years? Or do you think it hasn’t?

LGBTQ representation has vastly improved from when I was a kid. I think the earliest representation I remember was when Billy Crystal played a gay man on the comedy “Soap.” His character, as most queer characters of the time, was played for laughs. Now we’re seeing queer characters, played by queer people, in TV shows and movies. Books with LGBTQ characters are becoming more mainstream. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’ve come a long way from where we were.

Last one, and as I’m a cruel master, let’s make it a bit of a random one – if you could mix three animals together, which ones would you choose to make the ultimate animal?

This is because I’m both a huge “Supernatural” fan and I participate in Misha Collins’ annual event called GISH (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt), where we have mashed up animals as our mascots every year (so I’m kind of stealing one of their mascots and modifying it). This would be a mix between a moose, squirrel, and bee (to represent Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, and the angel Castiel). It’d be called a Sqroosee. (Head of a mini-moose, body of a squirrel, with bee’s wings).