New Orleans, Here I Come!

I’m so excited to be going down to New Orleans in October to attend the first annual Gay Romance Literature, affectionately known as GayRomLit,  retreat weekend. It looks like it’s going to be a blast, and I’m using it as an incentive to get a new story out so that I have something interesting to talk about! I’m attending as the “famous” author that I am *snort* even though I’m also an avid fan of pretty much every other author who will be there. Check it out here:  http://www.gayromlit.com/ and come join us! It’s gonna be amazing, I think.  I’ve signed up for just about everything, including the men’s evening on Thursday night. I mean, look who’s going to be there! What fan in his/her right mind wouldn’t want to be? LOL

I’ve actually had fun this winter attending several events where Dreamspinner has had a table, like BishieCon in St. Louis, the sci-fi con in Boston in January, and the most fun? Rainbow Book Fair in NYC at the end of March. There were 10 of us from Dreamspinner Press at the single table, as most of us used it as an excuse to meet other authors. We were squished around the table trying to engage people so that we could sell books, but most of us concentrated on each other. Who have I met over the winter?

• Andrew Grey
• Scotty Cade
• Zahra Owens (who came to NYC from Belgium for the weekend)
• Clare London (who also came to NYC from London)
• Felicitas Ivey
• Pearl Love
• Jeff Erno
• Lori Toland
• Rowan McAllister
• Damon Suede
• Carolyn Levine Topol
• Julie Lynn Hayes
• Jamie Fessenden
• Sullivan Wheeler
• Trina Land
• Ariel Tachna
• Nicki Bennett

And I apologize to those I’ve missed in my list. Of course we all get along amazingly well because we’re all interested in the same things. The Dreamspinner Press authors are very active in our Yahoo! group and we have lots of fun, so it’s not surprising that the togetherness extends to when we’re gathered in person.

Even with all this fun and travel, I’ve still been writing. An overview of my works in progress next time. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Whew, this was hard and I’m not gay!

I must admit after thinking and analyzing and changing my mind constantly about whether I should keep Jonathan as male, I feel a strong sense of relief that everything is out in the open! One of my fellow Dreamspinner authors commented that admitting that you write m/m romances is a bit like coming out of the closet. I feel a little like that admitting I’m female, I think. But most of all, I feel relieved and much lighter in spirit. Thank you — to those who have commented here or via email — for your support and encouragement! I do think I’ve made the right decision, and I hope that my readers will agree.

However, I imagine that actually coming out of the closet and admitting you’re gay to friends and family is 1,000 times more difficult that what I accomplished this past week. So please do not feel that I am belittling your courage and strength. In fact, I admire you for making the decision to live your life as you want, regardless of the possible loss of your loved ones.

Frankly, I could never imagine cutting off my child to support some religion or other reason; why would you have a child if you can stop all contact like that and never look back? Since I waited until my mid-30s to get pregnant, my child is a miracle to me and I will always love her no matter what happens in her life. I want to hug every teen close to me who has to face this kind of decision and let them know that there are many of us who support you and admire your strength. I wish I could bring them all home and love them like they deserve. Well, that’s the Mom in me. Sorry for that brief rant!

Cheers to me, and cheers to those who have actually come out of the closet! We straight allies love you all!

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog at WordPress.com!  I am a gay romance/erotica author, with two stories published (so far) and about five novellas underway.   I thought I would introduce myself, and admit that I am female, not male. 

I originally started writing under an alias because I was job hunting and wasn’t sure how being an author of gay romances would be received.  However, I’ve been employed for a while and feel that there really isn’t a reason to hide anymore. 

I’ve always felt uncomfortable pretending to be a gay man when I was really a middle-aged straight woman, but felt trapped because I was already published with two short stories available under Treadway, and my day job being what it was.  In discussions with fellow authors, however, I realized that posing as a gay man could be seen as deceitful by my readers, and I definitely don’t want to be seen as a fraud.  My original goal was to be published and still be able to carry on with what needed to be done in real life.

So I want to apologize to those readers who thought I was male, and come clean.  I will still continue to publish under Jonathan Treadway, but my bio will admit I’m female.  Just so you know, Jonathan’s original bio was honest, just worded as male.   

Here’s my (new) official bio:

Jonathan Treadway is the pseudonym of  Jennifer Tilt, who lives with her family in northern Massachusetts, very close to New Hampshire.  Jen has a professional job doing market analysis during the day and writes in the evenings and on weekends whenever she can.  Her stories focus on the romance between two men and all the trials gay men have to survive in order to have a healthy, happily-ever-after (or for now) relationship. To her there’s nothing sexier than two men exploring each other physically and emotionally as they fall in love.

When Jen’s not writing, she may be trying to relearn how to play her recorders; planning designs and buying supplies for an endless number of quilts (although actually putting them together seems to be a bit slower); or reading any M/M story she can get her hands on — anything to avoid housework. In addition to her human family, Jen also has a pushy rabbit named Annabelle.

So I welcome all comments positive and negative!