Today I am so pleased to welcome Jordan L. Hawk to Joyfully Jay. Jordan has come to talk to us about writing awesome female characters in m/m romance (and shout outs to my favorite girl crush, Dr. Christine Putnam!) Please join me in giving Jordan a big welcome!
Writing Kick-Ass Women in M/M Romance
When I was initially planning Widdershins, one of my first thoughts was “okay, how do I keep this from being a total sausage fest?”
Which is often a question in gay romance anyway. The two main characters identify as male already, and even though they would logically have female-identifying family members, friends, and co-workers, by default the focus is already on two dudes. Compound that with setting a book in the late nineteenth century and…well, I had a quandary.
Ladies worked outside the home quite a bit by then, of course—in mills and factories, in laundries, behind department store counters, running telephone exchanges, and a dozen other occupations. The Pinkerton Detective Agency had a division of female detectives. But in the museum setting of Widdershins, there were few jobs other than secretary available to women, and I really felt like Whyborne should have a female friend who was also a colleague.
Enter Dr. Christine Putnam.
If you’d like to read a bit about the many female pioneers of science who helped inspire Christine, Trowelblazers.com is an excellent starting point. But a lot of what informed Christine’s character actually came from an anecdote my husband related. In one of his engineering classes in college, a professor began the first day of class by ordering all the women to leave. Women couldn’t be engineers, you see, and this very self-important man wasn’t going to waste his time teaching them.
This was in the 1980s. Imagine what it was like in the 1880s.
So just to get where she is, Christine would have to be loud, opinionated, sure of herself, and absolutely determined not to back down. And honestly those traits made her the perfect foil for Whyborne, who is something of a doormat at the beginning, so I wove her into the story with no little amount of glee.
Since then, “strong female characters” seems to have become something I’m known for, or that at least is mentioned quite a bit in reviews.* Christine, Heliabel, Daphne, Fiona, and Persephone (Whyborne & Griffin); Jo and Lizzie (Spirits); Tiffany and Indira Kaniyar (SPECTR); Beatrice and Taryn (Hainted).
I sometimes get the feeling that people think there’s a trick to it, but if there is, it’s the same trick as to writing any secondary character. It’s simply conveying the feeling they have their own lives, and don’t function merely as props to either get the two guys together or provide conflict to keep them apart. These ladies are too busy digging up ancient mummies, or keeping malevolent ghosts from killing everyone, or saving the world from demons, thanks. Sure, they might offer a word of advice or encouragement to one of the MCs, because that’s what friends do. But they have more presence in the story than just those scenes.
And “strong” doesn’t mean they can kick ass or take names. Given I write action adventure stories, there is a lot of ass kicking. But Heliabel—who arguably has one of the most badass moments in the entire series—is a house bound invalid who never threw a punch in her life. Jo and Lizzie are very competent at what they do, but again, not going to deliver a beat down (to be fair, neither are the two male MCs in Spirits).
Sure gay romance by its very nature is focused on the dudes. But I say there’s still plenty of room for interesting ladies—mothers, friends, sisters, and more—and that their presence will add, not detract, from the genre.
*Full disclosure: I have also had reviews citing Christine as evidence I can’t write women at all and shouldn’t even try. So YMMV.
Blurb
Sorcerer Percival Endicott Whyborne and his husband Griffin Flaherty have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the calm is shattered by the arrival of a package from Griffin’s brother Jack, who has uncovered a strange artifact while digging for gold in Alaska. The discovery of a previously unknown civilization could revive the career of their friend Dr. Christine Putnam—or it might kill them all, if the hints of dark sorcery surrounding the find are true.
With Christine and her fiancé Iskander, Whyborne and Griffin must journey to the farthest reaches of the arctic to stop an ancient evil from claiming the life of Griffin’s brother. But in the rough mining camp of Hoarfrost, secrets fly as thickly as the snow, and Whyborne isn’t the only sorcerer drawn by the rumors of magic. Amidst a wilderness of ice and stone, Griffin must either face his greatest fear—or lose everyone he loves.
Bio
Jordan L. Hawk grew up in North Carolina and forgot to ever leave. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave her a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When she isn’t writing, she brews her own beer and tries to keep her cats from destroying the house. Her best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook at Amazon and other online retailers.
It seems like one of the good things about m/m is there are fewer expectations for how the women characters should behave. If you’re not forcing your heroine into ‘perfect girlfriend’ mode, you’ve got a lot more room to maneuver. That can go one of two ways – either the girls become puppets for the plot, or they get to be actual people.
#GirlsArePeopleToo
😉
Wow – that is fascinating about your husband’s anecdote. I graduated HS in 1980 and because I was good at math and science, I was repeatedly TOLD to go to Purdue and be an engineer – something I assured my teachers and guidance counselors I had ZERO interest in being. And it wasn’t just me – they tried to get my sister too. Neither of us wanted to do that – although we have a couple of Purdue engineers in the family – male and female 🙂
I love Christine. She is one of my all time favorite secondary characters and she adds tremendously to the W&G universe! The thing about your characters is that they are human and not defined by their gender but by their character which makes reading them a LOT more fun 😉 Keep up the good work!
Yes, I love Christine too! And I totally agree, Jordan’s characters just feel so real and are all so fascinating.
One of my favorite things in reading m/m is the great women I get to meet. It’s always a surprise but such a welcome one. I love women, and I love reading about women, and just because I often read about men’s romantic lives doesn’t negate that. I love this line: “It’s simply conveying the feeling they have their own lives, and don’t function merely as props to either get the two guys together or provide conflict to keep them apart.” Thank you for thinking that. Thank you for saying that. Thank you for doing that.
Yes, that struck me as well Carolyn. Because side characters are so often just there as background and have no real agency of their own.
Count me as another fan of Christine. Even if I do want to echo Whyborne’s protests at her bluntness sometimes. 😀 “Christine!”
I try to use women characters where I can in my books too. In one of them nearly every supporting character is female!
I just finished Hoarfrost – must 20 minutes ago. Loved it! And the entire series. Christine rocks – thanks for sharing her with all of us. And for the invitation and the end of Hoarfrost. Looking forward to it.
I totally loved this post! First off, yay Christine! Jordan knows she is my total literary girl crush, one of my absolute favorite female characters. I love that she does what she wants and stands up for herself, even as people are constantly telling her that as a woman she should be content with far less. I love that she has no filter and suffers no fools and is brilliant and just all around awesome. And of course, I love her as Whyborne’s BFF and the way the two of them interact.
I also particularly loved this point: “I sometimes get the feeling that people think there’s a trick to it, but if there is, it’s the same trick as to writing any secondary character. It’s simply conveying the feeling they have their own lives, and don’t function merely as props to either get the two guys together or provide conflict to keep them apart.” Because yes, too often side characters have no agency of their own, they are just there is the best friend or the sibling of the main characters, but don’t really do much other than window dressing. I think this is especially true for women in m/m romance because while male side characters are often a bit more fleshed out as potential sequel fodder, women aren’t likely to become MCs in their own books so their role is solely supporting.
Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to my girl Christine and than Jordan for a great post!
Christine is awesome! The series wouldn’t be the same without her influence. I love the relationship she has with Whyborne. With colleagues and family both looking down on how they live their lives, both of them truly needed a friend and found one in each other. It’s amusing how others mistake their involvement for a romantic one and hilarious when they realize someone is doing that. Christine rocks!
Yes to all of this! I love their friendship and how they are kind of kindred spirits. And I love when Christine gets all exasperated with Whyborne’s drama, lol. They are so fun together!
I adore Christine. Jordan does a great job in writing her female characters. Whyborne’s mother is another wonderful character. In some m/m stories that I’ve read, the female characters seem to be stock characters. Often times, the female is cast as the villain as the shrew or ranting bigot.