In 2012, I was a member of what was then called the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America. My first male/male romance novel, Salad on the Side, had been published several months earlier, and readers seemed to like it, so when I saw that NECRW had a Readers Choice Awards, I wanted to enter Salad on the Side.
It’s been 13 years, so I may be misremembering, but I recall there being a bit of debate as to whether a male/male romance novel belonged in that contest. And some judges refused to read it *because* it was male/male romance. I was competing against almost exclusively heterosexual romances.
Salad on the Side (this was the original version, published by MLR Press) took third place in the Paranormal category that year. It was, however, taken out of print in 2016, and I rereleased it in 2022 with some pretty extensive revisions (mostly to update it from 2012…)
Fast-forward to now…
New England Romance Writers has separated from Romance Writers of America and is now its own entity. I’m a member again but haven’t attended any meetings due to time and the fact that they’re on Zoom. (I’m not great with Zoom.)
When I saw they were taking books for their 2025 Readers Choice Awards, I chose to enter Ebb and Flow. Another male/male paranormal novel; and, actually, a spin-off from the Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat series, which was spawned from Salad on the Side.
A few weeks ago, I was notified that I was one of three finalists in the Paranormal category. The other two finalists were heterosexual romance novels.
And Ebb and Flow… won the category.
I sat watching the Zoom awards ceremony, and watched as they announced the third-place winner in that category…and it wasn’t me. And then the second-place winner…who also wasn’t me.
If my kid hadn’t been upstairs sleeping to prepare for an overnight work shift, I would have screamed when I realized. And again when they actually announced Ebb and Flow as the winner and read the book’s blurb.