Creating My Own Brand

This post plays off the last post, I guess. I can't beat myself up for not being like other others who can write LOTS and LOTS and zillions of words a day, and who publish book after book. That is not me, so I have to remind myself often to stay positive and think about what I can do. I can bring to readers a "fresh voice", as one reader e-mailed me to say.

I have said it before in the past, and I need to repeat myself because I often forget what I say and I end up frustrated for not writing faster. (Notice the vicious cycle?) I said before, I don't write "cookie cutter" novels. At least I try not to. I strive to layer the story and add sub-plots and a message to what I have to say. I like to write about life and life experiences and cultural issues and what I see happening in the world. This is not to say I observe something and I write a biography of a particular bystander. NO. I say this in a general sense.

For example: Hate Crimes. I kind of touch on this in My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! Hate crimes DO exist and people do get beat up for being gay, or have their stuff trashed, or get the word "faggot" spray-painted on their lockers etc. It happens. Is it all the time? IDK. Does it happen everywhere? IDK. I present the issue in the context of my characters because it might have happened to you, or the kid down the street that you know. Shit like that happens. But what else in JOCK did I write about to make people think? Um, Christianity.

I even had a guy e-mail me in the last week or so about just that! I wrote about Christianity as I have seen it in some people I know. I am not saying ALL Christians are like this, we all know how horrible some "Christians" can be. (I know this first hand.) But, some go against the norm and I wanted to pose that thought. Jocks can be stereotypicalized, but so can "gays." I suggest that "Christians" can also get stereotyped but the word/name without questioning that some do not fit the "hate monger"/judgmental label.

In When Love Is Not Enough I wrote about suicide. I was depressed when I wrote it and the area of pain seemed appropriate to describe. I started with the idea of a guy touching his best friend's coffin and the story grew from there. I talk about hate and how teens can be pressured to the breaking point by merely trying to win approval and love of family. Jimmy started the story at 16 and by 22 he snapped. There is no telling at what point someone you know will snap. Some can take a lot of pain when others crumble faster when they have no where to take the hurt. This book has touched so many and I am thankful for the pain I went through and the depression in order to write something more personally meaningful.

The Cost of Loving spins off of that one (being a sequel) and talks about being persecuted by the church for sexuality. Matt's character is gay, and a Christian. Something that SOME people might think impossible, but I do not side with that. I think it is very possible. He struggles with his beliefs and his family and the church they are attending. Why do I write this? BECAUSE IT HAPPENS! I know people who have gone through a type of excommunication. I have, to some extent, experienced this. I write what I know and feel.

In Names Can Never Hurt Me I address labeling people and stereotyping, also some bullying. I touch on promiscuity vs. commitment. From experience and observation, there are people who think all different ways and live different life styles. Why not talk about it? Where you the one in high school beating on the "loser kid"? Did you bully the outcast? OR, did you know someone who did? Or did you simply watch, too afraid to try and help? There are all kinds, especially when we are young and dumb and too weak to feel like we can make a difference. This book is about 20 somethings (not teens).

I have discovered a new term. Probably not new to most but it was to me. NEW ADULT. I basically write NEW ADULT gay romantic fiction as it is written about kids from 18 ish to mid twenties. YA is for younger readers, and that is not me. But I am not strictly ADULT either because the characters are younger. Hence, NEW ADULT. So spread the word, Wade Kelly writes New Adult gay fiction.

So with the idea of "Creating my own brand", I have to ride out this slow rise to recognition. I have novels. I am still writing novels, I simply don't have 45 written and published in the last 5 years. Nope. I have basically written and pub bed one per year. BUT, things are in the works to change this. For one, I have support of my family now. Something I did not have for years. I have support of my church friends now, something else that not only did I not have, but I also got hammered for because I have a different vision and voice than some people want to believe in. AND, I have fans! It may not be a large number (although growing), but you people are awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting e-mails and FB messages of encouragement. That is so exciting and positive. It helps spur me on to want to write more for you out there who appreciate my "voice." There are readers/fans who like that I am not a typical m/m writer. (Not that I can really tell you what that is. I think MANY are atypical.)

I have my own types of stories and when you come to a "Wade Kelly Novel" many of you will know what to expect. Right? I have even coined the phase that some readers use, the "Wade Kelly Special." What is a Wade Kelly Special? Um, well, if you read When Love is Not Enough then what did you observe? I write pain, angst, tears, multiple POVs, flashbacks, and basically rake you heart over a roller coaster of turmoil before the end. THAT is the Wade Kelly Special. Are all my novels labeled this? No. I don't think so. JOCK isn't painful. It is funny for the most part. It does have multiple POVs and a flashback chapter, but I don't think it meet all the "Wade Kelly Special" criteria.

Names Can Never Hurt Me? Hmmm, tough one. You might even think someone else wrote it. HAHA. It is ALL one POV, and chronological. Yes, I said it. ONE POV with no flashbacks. So with the "Wade Kelly Special" definition above, this would not fit into that list. BUT, be warned, there is some angst and some possible tears to be had. It is not as funny as JOCK, it might make you laugh, but it is not as angsty as WLINE. It is in the middle. See chart:

On the above chart, you will notice Misplaced Affection high on the angst side. YES, this one will rip your heart out. (I assume based on crying as I wrote several scenes.) MA (Misplaced Affection) IS a Wade Kelly Special!! I am half way through writing it and I hope to have it out this year. We shall see.

For those interested… I just started a "group" on Facebook called The Wade Brigade. Michael Kudo came up with the name and I thought it was funny. Like I would have a cult following. LOL…. But there are other authors who have "groups" to discuss their own books and places to post excerpts that is only for the "group" thereby making it more special or whatever. We'll see. I started it today. Here is the LINK. Join if you would like. :)

Ciao for Now.

Wade

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT BOSTON!!! :)