David asked Michael J. Sullivan:

Do any of your books have gay male main characters? Or a gay male supporting characters?

Michael J. Sullivan Yes and no. None of my books have explicit sexual content so the "sensual" aspect of a relationship isn't covered for either heterosexual or homosexual couples. Some of my characters tend to be attracted to the same sex (and some are attracted to either gender) but it's dealt with very casually. For instance, Braga (a minor character in the Riyria books) is homosexual - but many readers will not even pick up on that fact because it's a "subtle aspect" of his overall character.

There are several other characters (both main and minor and both male and female) who might have a scene where they discuss a recent break-up or will be found sharing quarters with members of the same sex but that's about the only reference you will find. And I have discovered that I have readers that find even these very "minor mentions" offensive to the point that they no longer read my books, which I find a bit surprising.

The reason I touch on the subject so subtly has nothing to do with my concern about people taking offense, or a fear of lost sales, but rather my own insecurity at being able to portray a homosexual character without inadvertently offending someone that is gay. I don't know enough to "do it well," and I fear I would make some terrible blunder that would not only make me look foolish (which I don't care about) or would be harmful to the people of that community (which would bother me).

Do I think we need more diverse representation in books in general? Absolutely. Do I think I'm the one to make that happen? Not at all. Could I do it if I tried really, really hard? Maybe - but it would require a lot of sensitivity readers to make sure I didn't screw up - and in general I don't work in that kind of environment. In other words - I'm used to serving only one master - myself. And so writing a well-written gay character would require a level of collaboration that I'm just not wired for.

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