A Slash Reader's Diary

I used to read all the time. For a long time, it felt odd to me to be without at least one book in my bag at all times. Then I went back to school, and between schoolwork and the readings for classes, I stopped reading things on my own. After I graduated, I found it was hard to pick up the habit again. I tried to start reading again a few times in the following years, but without much success. I would pick up a book, read the first few pages, then set it aside and forget about it. It wasn't until I picked up the Harry Potter series (I know, young adult books, what does that have to do with the subject of this blog?), and soon after, I was reading Harry Potter fanfic to fill in the parts of the story that I felt were missing.

In reading fanfic, I soon found myself reading more and more pieces with slash in them. For those unfamiliar with the idiom, Slash is a term generally used in fan fiction (though coming to refer to all fiction or media) where two characters of the same sex show attraction toward each other. I will be going into more detail about the term in another blog post, but for more information see Slash at TV Tropes. I'd heard of the term before Harry Potter, but stayed well away from it. At the time, Slash pairings seemed silly and wrong to me. Why would you ever pair those two characters together in a story, especially if they weren't gay? But as I read more and more Harry Potter fanfic, I soon found myself drawn in, and became engrossed in this new-to-me type of romance.

Slash gave me something that was missing from the Romances I had read before. The characters were of equal (or mostly equal) stature and therefore were able to meet each other on a completely different level than your average romance novel. It involved introspection in a way average romances could only dream of because traditional romances show men and woman coming at passion from completely different perspectives. In Slash, though, the characters are the same sex, so the focus could be shifted to something far more subtle. It gave the stories depth in a way most romance never could, because the characters had to be examined on a level that traditional romances just never bothered, both by the characters themselves as well as the reader.

The more slash I read, the more I wanted to read. It also made me want to try my hand at writing it myself. I admit to having written quite a bit of male/male fiction myself, including a few original pieces that I hope to someday publish. Unfortunately, despite reading more than I had in some time, I was still not reading "real" books, which I felt would be even harder now that my focus for stories had shifted.

Then I got a divorce, and had to return to work. I'd gotten a Kindle passed down to me from an aunt who couldn't figure out how to use it, and began to download stories from the web, both from Archive of Our Own as well as Amazon (seriously, Amazon has an amazingly broad selection of free books, if you just know where to look), but I ended up focusing on the fanfic over the books even then. Mostly it was that I felt safe in the fanfic, knowing that it would involve at least some of the themes I was interested in, while the books probably would not.

It wasn't until I began to make friends at work that I really began to read again. Between talking about books and getting recs for things to read, books began to filter into my collection again, a book here, a fic there. One of my friends began to give me tips to help me find cheaper reads on Amazon, now that I had actual money to spend again. I made a special wishlist on Amazon and began to check it regularly to see if any of them were currently on sale. Suddenly, my Kindle became full of books I couldn't wait to read. The second half of last year, I managed to read 32 books, according to my Goodreads account. And this year, I'm shooting for 60. Next year, who knows?

This blog is dedicated to those stories I read that have a Male/Male focus. From Fanfiction (though only the best ones) to free online or downloads, to Amazon downloads and even paper books. Anything where the main characters are men attracted to men. Particularly those that are genres I prefer: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Supernatural, and Historical, as well as any books with a BDSM focus. The reason behind having such a specific focus is that when I first started looking for those male/male books I might like to try, it was difficult to find anything that wasn't set in modern day. For every one I found that fit my list above, there were at least ten others. I'm sure the stories set in modern day are just fine, but they're not what I am interested in reading, and I figured I wasn't the only one, so I wanted to create a blog that would make finding those stories easier for others who enjoy them as well.

At the moment, my plan is to post reviews of books I've read for others looking for similar books to read. I'll also be posting my current reading list, links to deals, and other posts related to fiction of this sort. Suggestions are always welcome, and comments as well. I will only be posting reviews of completed stories, so please do not ask me to review your unfinished online story, because I won't do it. I may give periodic updates of those stories I am currently reading online, though, so you're always welcome to link me to them. If I do end up doing a review in return for a free book or other compensation, I will make certain to let everyone know in my review, but I also intend not to let it affect my review of the story itself. I am very particular in my tastes, and being given compensation for reading a book will not change that in the least.

So welcome to my Slash Reader's Diary. Look around. I hope you find many great things to read here. And I look forward to hearing from you all!