From the Introduction…
The essential definition of M/M fiction is that regardless of the genre—mystery, military, paranormal, historical—the romantic relationship between the two male protagonists is going to be the main story. The romance is the foundation. The superstructure is whatever genre you choose to build on that foundation. So you can have an M/M mystery or an M/M paranormal or an M/M contemporary romance, and the story will have to meet all the requirements of that genre plus it will have to meet the requirements of an M/M romance.
Because M/M is genre or category fiction, there are inherent expectations. Some people refer to this as “formula.” Call it what you like, every genre is defined by its structure, conventions, and tropes. An obvious example in romance would be The Happy Ending or HEA (Happily Ever After).
This is not to say that if you write a love story about two gay men it has to have a happy ending. Gay fiction has no genre requirements. It does not require a happy ending. But if you are going to label your story “M/M Romance” in the hope of getting better sales, then it damn well better have a happy ending. Or at least a hopeful ending. You are not obliged to write happy endings or M/M romance. You are obliged to label your work correctly.
Now, having made a big point of all that, the trend in ebook publishing is moving away from the M/M label. More and more publishers are simply labeling male/male romance as GLBT. I honestly don’t know if this is ultimately a good thing or not. It does simplify everything, but it’s also liable to exacerbate frustrations in the gay literary community.
Is there a difference between M/M romance novels and gay romance novels? I’m going to generalize here and say yes, there is. Usually. Not always. Usually gay romance novels are going to make an attempt at exploring (a personally experienced?) reality. There is no such burden on M/M romance, which is why you see a lot more stories about hot cowboys and hot vampires and hot spies in M/M romance than you do in gay romance.
M/M romance also has an emotional tenor, and a distinct sensibility—regardless of whether it’s written by male or female writers. In fact, there are male M/M writers who pen some of the most sappy, saccharine stuff out there. In effect, M/M is about gay men in love and making love (frequently) versus gay men figuring out who they are and maybe just fucking. You don’t see a lot of experimenting or infidelity in an M/M novel—any more than you would in a heterosexual romance novel.
Overall, there is WAY more sex in an M/M romance than a gay romance. Not only is there more sex, the sex is different, and that difference has to do with sensual and evocative details. It’s about the choice of language. It’s about emotions rather than mechanics. Perhaps it’s a more sentimental and romantic approach to love and sex than you might find in a gay romance novel—let alone gay porn.
That’s my take, but this is a question that cannot be answered to everyone’s satisfaction. As more and more gay men flood into M/M as both authors and readers, the genre continues to change and redefine itself. What I do know, and what you need to know, is that you must understand and appreciate who your audience is. Essentially what we’re doing here—and I apologize in advance for wiping the fairy dust off—is creating a product. In effect, you’re in the business of producing stories to sell to specific readers, the audience for male/male romance. So you need to write the kind of stories that audience will want to read.
