I loved writing STRONGMAN and I absolutely, flat-out adored writing the Epilogue for it. It was…um…very satisfying. 
Don’t ask me what it is about two gorgeous alpha men loving each other. I dunno. More bang for your buck? *wicked chuckle*
If you didn’t know, the film, Brokeback Mountain, was the original inspiration for STRONGMAN. By the time the credits rolled up, I was in tears. I was also furious - what an appalling waste of true love! Fort is essentially Ennis, the character played by Heath Ledger. Griff turned out to be - well, Griff. He’s unique.
Elaine talked about the movie in a comment a little while ago -
Of course I couldn’t find another solution for them. In that time and in that society, they would have butted up against the brick wall of bigotry at every turn. The only solution would have been to take them to a totally different world. And that’s exactly what Strongman does. That story was responsible for helping me pull myself out of the funk caused by Brokeback Mountain. At least Fort and Griff made it. They’re happy. *sigh* There’s hope for every other couple after reading about them. Thank you Denise.
The link for the complete epilogue (two whole chapters’ worth) will be in my next newsletter - second week of July. http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/deniserossetti It’s my exclusive gift for the members of my newsgroup. Why? Because I love ‘em all to death for sticking with me, that’s why.
Also because I’ll be away from mid July to September, travelling in the US and Canada. And I feel bad, because my Internet access will be intermittent.
Here you go ~ BTW, the drawing is by John Singer Sargent. It encapsulates so much of what I’m trying to convey about masculinity and aggression and eroticism. And it’s beautiful.
Epilogue
The click of metal on metal sounded very loud over the sound of their panting breath, the breeze whispering in the trees. Six fucking months it had taken Griff to win a wrestling match with Fort - but now, Twister be praised, he had. First fall.
Carefully, Griff rose, backed away. Any second… One, two -
“What the fuck-?” Fort’s roar of fury shook the hidden valley. He lurched to his feet, awkward because of the wrists cuffed behind him. “You little shit, you cheated!”
Griff staggered over to a handy boulder and collapsed, his heart singing even as the breath rasped in his lungs. “No more than you did, that first time.” He shot the big man a feral grin, full of evil promise. “I wasn’t going to lose, not again.” Twisting around, he rubbed the back of his thigh. “Shit, I think I pulled something.”
“Serves you right,” said Fort sourly. “But cuffs, Griff?” They rattled as he tested them, the muscles writhing beautifully under olive skin. “Was that necessary?”
Griff straightened, brushing off the bits of grass, the crushed daisies, checking for bruises. He took his time, trying to still the internal trembling. He was naked, they both were, the daylight illuminating every muscle, every tendon and sinew, the scars on Fort’s huge body. “I didn’t think anything as flimsy as leather would hold you,” he said.
Exclusive to members of my newsletter group.
If you enjoy male/male romance, especially that written by female authors, what is it that draws you? Do you have authors to recommend? Josh Lanyon’s good, and I like Jet Mykles and Morgan Hawke when they do Yaoi.
I’m still astonished at how it pushes my buttons. Do you think that’s weird? (It’s okay if you do!)
If you don’t like it, what is it that turns you off?
Subscribe in a reader or Subscribe by Email
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting. You will only see this message once, I promise!
I’m not sure what it is about male/male romance that’s so compelling. In typical romance, the passion and desire that develop between characters, the devotion to one another…those are the things that capture me. They’re the same emotions that are so riveting about male/male romance. Love is universal and wonderfully appealing in all its varied forms. Joey W. Hill’s Rough Canvas is so beautifully written I cry each time I read it. Marcus and Thomas leap off the page.
It pushes my buttons too Denise, so if you’re weird so am I.
It’s the differences and contrasts that get me. The fact that men FEEL deep emotion but have to express it in such different ways to the ways women generally express it. I’m talking generalities, and stereotypes here. I know there are exceptions: I live with one.
When physical strength and mental stubbornness are transposed into emotion, it becomes a very powerful kind of love. When it’s directed at another man - another physically strong and mentally stubborn person - it doesn’t have to be muted or softened to avoid damage. It can remain pure and powerful. Undiluted. Raw. Reading that level of involvement gets me every single time. I love it.
I can’t wait to read the epilogue and see how Griff turns the tables on Fort.
And I just love being quoted by someone - pushes all my buttons of self-importance.
I agree with Tina P “Love is Universal”. I stumbled across e-books b/c previous issues of an author’s works could only be bought this way. This lead to Ellora’s Cave and in turn to Denise’s Phoenix Rising series. I love the series & the teaser for Strongman was awesome. As soon as I read that paragraph I was so you go Griff. Denise you have the great ability of putting me right there on the edge watching your scenes & you did with the 1st sentence. Now I find out we are getting two whole chapters-WOO HOO!!!
Brokeback Mountain was awesome & I still can’t get hubby or narrow minded relatives to watch it. On another note you asked about other series & Sean Michael’s Jarhead series is great. I laugh my fanny off reading them. I have them all on e-book. I have other authors but only individual stories. Before e-books I had never even known their were M/M or M/M/F stories out there. Goody for me!
Thank you & keep pushing my buttons,
Susan
I don’t care what sex they are, what world they’re from - a love story will get me every time.
And thanks for letting us know the drawer of that fabulous sketch. It’s very powerful.
Tina, I’ve always said it doesn’t matter what skin suits the people are wearing - love is love. One reviewer said of STRONGMAN, “The underlying theme is that we don’t pick who to love, love picks us… it tore at my heartstrings.” Which was the effect I was after.
And yes, Rough Canvas is simply incredible. So wrenching and so very, very beautiful. I ended up trying to critique it for Joey through a veil of tears!
Oh Elaine, you’ve expressed this so perfectly. As in - what she said!
I’m fascinated by the way men think and feel. Sometimes, I can totally believe they come from another planet. Other times, I feel very complete understanding. If there’s one thing I simply cannot bear it’s “the girl in a man suit”, where a female author writes a male character reacting the way a woman would. And I don’t care even if he’s gay. A man is a man is a man. Testosterone makes a difference.
So I try. Which is one of the reasons Fort and Griff express their love by beating the hell out of each other. I’ll never get it exactly right, but hopefully, I can do well enough to make the characters masculine in a way that’s believable for a female reader.
Ah, Susan, there’s a whole new world of m/m and menage hotness out there!
Fun, isn’t it? BTW, thanks for the recommendations.
And yes, you’ve exposed my Cunning Plan. The idea is to make the first paragraph of anything so intriguing that the reader is compelled to continue - and hopefully, purchase the book. Just think about how quickly you scan a book in a bookstore - cover, blurb and first page. One minute? Two max? It’s not long and it’s a scary thing for a writer to contemplate, because that’s how long we get to close the deal. I wish I was better at beginnings, they’re absolutely crucial. But I’m learning.
Hi Amy. Yes, without the love story, what is it? Nothing much, just two people of whatever gender, talking, fighting, having sex. I don’t finds docking procedure a turn-on. A great love scene is all about the emotions, as well what goes where - slooowly…
II know what’s going on with their heads, as well with their hormones.
I have the utmost respect for category authors like your Good Self. To pack that degree of emotion into such a tight space - wow!
I know I couldn’t do it. Funnily enough, I think STRONGMAN is my closest to a “pure” love story. There is some adventure, true, but the central, continuing emphasis is on the relationship between Fort and Griff.
For me what attracts me to M/M & M/M/F romance is the rawness. Men love differently than women. They express it differently both emotionally and physically. It is really wonderful to participate in that bond and not have to deal with the games often played in M/F romance. The “mine” factor plays as much more important role in M/M and that point in each M/M book I read just *thud* gets me everytime.
I rarely read M/F romance anymore unless it is by an author that I trust. Thank you Denise for being one of those authors.
I love M/M and I never expected to do so. I read my first a couple years back and realised that a good love story well written was what I was looking for; and given that I love men, I can see other men loving men just fine. Plus the fantasy aspect of M/M or even menage. However same picky bitch rules as with any other romance or book. It has to work on all levels. I can’t get my fix on fantasy and romance if the book is so badly written that it keeps jerking me out of my little world.
This is the Susan from Greece, who has posted before and is different from the Susan above. (That sounds incoherent, but I thought I should clarify).
Hi Pamela, that’s very insightful and I think that’s what fascinates me too. Which is why I can’t bear the books where one man is really a “girl in a man suit”. Effeminate men do nothing for me. Yeah, I know I’m repeating myself. It’s the pure masculinity of it I adore. Which is one of the reasons I like being in the hero’s head, especially during sex. Though I think most men are just thinking stuff like “yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, baby, that’s so good, baby, baby etc” There’s something about that total focus that’s completely feral and that I love.
Interesting that you’ve gone off m/f romance. I do enjoy m/m, very much and I’d like to read more of it - that’s good, I mean. But so much of it is so very very baaaad… And the Picky Bitch lives!
Hi Susan-from-Greece, we know who you are, don’t worry.
yep, that’s the trouble with so much m/m romance written these days. There’s more and more of it, with the consequence that the market is flooded with really ordinary books, banal, unrealistic, cardboard people. I only want to read something extraordinary, like Joey Hill’s Rough Canvas. Now that was really something!
I’m with you and Amy and so many others - if the love story’s good enough and the characters real, I’m totally there! But if not - *sigh* - not even the titillation factor will hold me.
It certainly pushes all my buttons! I adored the book and am about to post a review on my site. So, check it out when you have a spare moment.
As for m/m romance, I love it muchly! I do wonder why women enjoy it and have written a blog post about it here. I’d be really interested to hear anyones thoughts.
http://sharrow.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/why-the-man-smexin/
Welcome, Sarah, and thanks so much for the review.
I’ll look forward to reading it. Your blog post is terrific, especially the links. Once I’ve got myself to the US in one piece, I’ll go back and take another - longer - look.
[…] I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that Denise writes more m/m books because this one rocked my socks. This might be my new measure of a good book, sock rockingly good! I might even go and read her 2nd book in the series, here, which is a menage, with a girl in it!! Eeep! You can get the goodness here. AND if you join her yahoo group you get an epilogue! Check it all out at her blog here. […]
Sarah, I’ve done a fly-by on your blog.
Loved the epiloge….it wrapped up the story wonderfully….I’m really hoping you’ll come up with another m/m in the future.
Hey Denise… OMG that was wonderful
It was the perfect epilouge. I was so moved by Forts emotional reaction to his vulnerability while bottoming for Griff. It just was *THUD* *fans self* *melts* Thank You.`
Denise I hear you on the bad writing and Hell yes let the Picky Bitch rule! Since M/F is much more mainsteam there are a whole bunch of excellent writers out there for me to choose from. I do read M/F when my favorite authors publish something. *Hint, Hint whispers* Write Faster!
But for finding new authors… I do the same for both M/M & M/F I use the Boards & Forums on the net to gather recommendations from like minded readers. I have found many great reads in all genres listening to fellow readers gush. And I gush right back. Oh have you read Denise… is one of my fvorite lines. 
(shamelass fangirl buttering up moment here)
Add A Comment