J. M. Snyder
  Interview at Frost's Freeze

Originally appeared online in October 2007 at Frost's Freeze

J. M. Snyder is an outstanding and prolific writer of Gay Erotic Drama. Reaching into the depths of the heart, J. M. peels back the layers of Gay love, romance, eroticism, and emotion without missing a trick. In addition, the plot lines are stunning and the secondary characters are drawn with just as much consideration.

Frost: J. M., you are one of the most prolific authors I can think of. From your Complete Book List, I count 21 discrete books, 9 short stories, and entries in 5 anthologies. How in the world do you accomplish this, in terms of time but also in terms of stretching your imagination?

J.M.: Basically, I live to write. I'm always working on a story, or mulling over an idea, or dreaming up a new plot, new characters, new settings. Everything is inspiration to me. I find inspiration in songs, in strangers, in odd phrases that make me think what might happen if ...? There isn't a time when I'm not writing, or thinking about writing. It's just who I am.

In terms of time, I work at a full-time job from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday, but every morning I wake up at 6 AM and write for at least an hour, sometimes two, before I have to leave for work. In the evenings I also try to write for another hour or so before going to bed. On a good day, when a story's really flowing or I'm about to wrap something up, I write about 2000 words at a time. But even on my off days, when I can barely scrape together 400 words in all, I still try to write something. Writing is like any other discipline: you only get better through practice. You can't expect an athlete to run a marathon without training every day; neither can a writer finish a story of any length without working on it every day until it's done.

Frost: Why did you choose this particular genre (what I'm pleased to call Gay Erotic Drama)?

J.M.: I started out writing fantasy, but doesn't everyone? Along the way I discovered slash fan fiction, which is the homoerotic pairing of heterosexual characters. My favorite was Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan slash from Star Wars: Episode 1. Then I stumbled upon 'N Sync slash and God, I never looked back.

After writing a few slash stories myself, I found that some people liked them enough to drop me encouraging e-mails, which was more than I ever got writing fantasy. Apparently I had stumbled upon what I was meant to write. My mind just works that way, I guess ~ I can watch the most non-sexual scene between two men and think of them in bed together. What can I say? People seem to enjoy what I write, and I enjoy writing it, so it's all good.

Frost: Please tell us about your new review site, Rainbow Reviews. Why did you decide to open this particular site? What does it have to offer that differs from other review sites?

J.M.: I was never a fan of review sites because as a reader, I don't hold much stock in reviews of any sort ~ it always seems to me that reviewers are jaded and no longer seem to enjoy what they review. But as I started to build a name for myself online within the last year or so, I've learned the value of reviews from an author's perspective, because a lot of readers do look at them. However, until very recently, I was self-published and found it very difficult to get my books reviewed. Most of the "big name” review sites out there only want to review books by certain publishers, or by popular authors, and aren't willing to give new authors ~ or authors whose books embrace homosexuality ~ much of a chance.

I guess I just got tired of submitting my books and waiting for reviews that never came, while the sites would review and re-review the same books over and over again. And I felt that despite the increase of gay/lesbian books in the e-publishing world, many of those books weren't being reviewed unless they were erotic. I thought it time that there was a review site dedicated to reviewing only homosexual books, regardless of erotic content, regardless of how they were published or who the author was, and Rainbow Reviews was born.

Frost: What would you like readers to know about J. M. the individual?

J.M.: Well J.M. the individual is very much J.M. the writer. But some things that people may not know about me ... hmm, I'm not sure. I tend to be pretty much what you see is what you get. I like animals (I have 2 cats) and I love video games, and boy bands, and Broadway musicals. I love to read, but I read very slowly, so it's taking quite some time to get through my "to be read" pile of over 500 books. I'm a bit of a computer nerd, love graphic design and HTML, and still remember my first personal computer fondly (a Commodore 64, if you'll believe it). I also have a fierce crush on Britney Spears, even if she is a bit off her rocker. I still think she's hella cute.

Frost: What would you like readers to know about J. M. the writer?

J.M.: J.M. the writer is very outspoken, particularly against those who refuse to see homosexuality as a natural part of the human experience. It makes me sick, people who write gay erotica just because it sells and not because they believe in the beauty of a loving relationship between two consenting adults. I personally feel that writing should come from the soul, and anything less than your own truth betrays your reader and corrupts your words.

I'm a bit fanatical about that. It bothers me when writers are two-faced, writing about gay relationships but refusing to believe in the sanctity of gay unions in "real life." I've met a few e-book writers who write gay fiction because they know it will make them money, but in private writers' groups, they complain about how they find it hard to write because it goes against their religious beliefs. WTF? Why write something you don't like? Jesus, people who write what's popular or what sells turn my stomach.

Each word a writer sets to paper should be a part of his soul; write because not writing would be anathema. Any other reason is a lie.

* Steps down from soapbox *

Frost: You've written so much; is it possible for you to choose a favourite among your writings (of any length)?

J.M.: Hmm I have a few:

  • "Henry and Jim" would have to be my favorite short story. It's very bittersweet, a loving look at two men who have spent a lifetime together but whose relationship is now threatened by Jim's fading memory.
  • Persistence of Memory is my favorite novella. I wrote it as fan fiction years ago and believe it's one of my strongest stories. Though Joah's memory is erased by the government, he somehow still remembers his name. When he finds his former husband, Tobin, he risks even that to bring back the love they once shared.
  • Stepping Up to the Plate is my favorite novel. It took up a large part of my life ~ 3 years ~ and at times I was afraid I'd never finish it. I grew to know Stacy and Ange and Darian more than any other characters of mine to date.

Frost: Is there anything you wish you had written but haven't, or haven't yet?

J.M.: Well yes :) I have a ton of ideas just waiting to be written down. The problem is I can only write but so fast! I'll give you a sneak peek at what I have coming up in the near future:

  • The Positions of Love is an upcoming short story e-book series that I will publish through Amber Quill Press. The stories will revolve around my "superhero" characters, Vic and Matt. In the first story, "The Positions of Love," Matt gives Vic a titillating Christmas gift ~ a copy of the Kama Sutra for gay men. Each subsequent story will involve one of the positions in the Kama Sutra, and what superhero abilities it triggers in Vic.
  • The Gambler is a forthcoming novella I haven't started yet, but which will involve a gentleman's bargain between a blackjack dealer and a poker player who make a bet to see which of them will bed a certain rich gambler first, while trying not to lose their hearts to each other.
  • Stealing Second is another forthcoming novella, which will involve two men in a loving relationship who both play for the same minor league baseball team. Then one of them is traded. Their parting is mutual, but when they end up facing off against each other in the International League Governor's Cup playoffs, they find that neither has managed to forget the other.

Frost: Your genres are wide-ranging. Tell us about why you choose to write in these particular genres, please.

J.M.: Well I write what I like to read. I love sci-fi, futuristic societies on the brink of destruction, worlds torn apart by disease or warfare, underground resistance movements ... I'm a bit strange :) I also love fantasy stories, though more high or urban fantasy than elves and fairies. And I like contemporary tales, so a lot of my fiction is set in today's society.

Frost: According to your web site, your favourite author is Stephen King. Can you tell us why? Do you have other authors on your automatic Must-Read list?

J.M.: My "must-read" list is pretty long! In addition to Stephen King, I love to read Tom Robbins, Margaret Atwood, Jeanette Winterson, Terry Pratchett, Jude Watson, John Krakauer, Charles Pellegrino, Stephen R. Donaldson, Dean R. Koontz, and Christopher Moore.

Frost: You've been the self-publishing route, and now you publish through several different publishers. Can you tell us how and why your writing has taken this particular path?

J.M.: I've always been a writer. After I graduated from college, I tried my hand at fantasy and couldn't seem to break into print. When I found slash fan fiction, it helped rekindle my creativity, and I found it easy to fall into a story without having to create characters from scratch. After two years, though, I felt that fan fiction stifled me, and I wanted to reach beyond that to original fiction again.

However, I didn't think that e-books were a viable market then (this was around 2001) and I couldn't find a print publisher who would be willing to take gay fiction, particularly gay sci-fi (I was working on my first book at the time, Operation Starseed). If they did take it, I didn't want to be pigeon-holed into writing only one genre. So after much research, I opted to go the self-publishing route.

Looking back, I am very glad I did that because it taught me a lot about how to market myself and my writing. I learned what works and what doesn't in book promotion, and I learned how to edit myself to an extent most authors unfortunately don't bother with discovering. Working with publishers is a humbling experience ~ each editor has their own style, their own way of doing things, and you can only grow by working with them to make your writing the best it can be.

Also, I now understand the value of promotion ~ so many new writers are unable or unwilling to get out there and talk up their books, but it's an essential way to connect with readers and get your stories out there to a wider audience.

Frost: Please tell us about your "former fan fiction," and how you've incorporated that into new stories for publication.

J.M.: A lot of the fan fiction I wrote were what's known as "alternate universe" stories, where basically I took someone else's characters (in this case, the guys from 'N Sync) and plopped them down into a world of my own creation. Sometimes I mixed universes ~ I had a really fun story set in the Star Wars universe, à la boy band style, and another one where I mixed 'N Sync with The Wizard of Oz.

But the fan fiction that I'm "recapturing" now are those which I wrote in worlds of my own devising. For instance, the short stories in my current Working Man series, published by Aspen Mountain Press, are just stories about men who find love and lust in the workplace. Some of the stories originally had boyband or "real" celebrities as the main characters, but with a few name changes and a make-over here and there, you'd never know it.

Frost: Can you share anything about upcoming projects?

J.M.: You mean in addition to the ones already mentioned above?

Currently I'm wrapping up a novella entitled Undertow, which is an urban fantasy story that's a little different for me. Derek Meredith is a young man whose lover of ten years, Tad Archer, drowns in a boating mishap. Four months later, Derek receives a strange phone call from a man who claims to have "found what he's lost." When Derek agrees to meet the man, he finds himself face to face with an old friend he thought relegated to his past, who has an indecent proposal to make if he ever wants to see Tad again.

I also am in the editing stages of The Bonds of Love, which is my first novel-length Vic & Matt story. When Vic foils a late-night convenience store robbery and his picture is flashed across the front page of the local paper, Matt's former boyfriend tracks them down, hoping to claim Vic's powers for himself.