Six Words to Describe a character from my book What Love Means. Calvin Winthrop-Scott: High-strung, clean, intelligent, conflicted, anxious, scholarly
-What Love Means by Finn Manning
Six Words
Six words to describe the character Max Keller from What Love Means: Brother, Flirty, Rebellious, Cynical, Clever, Adventurous.
–What Love Means, Finn Manning
The Five W’s
Here’s what you need to know about my book What Love Means using the five W’s: who, what, when, where, and why.
Who: Finn Manning. Me! That one was easy enough. And I’m not an egomaniac by putting that one first, it’s just how the list goes.
If you want to know a little more about me: I’m a queer author who writes queer fiction. I’m in my early 20’s and I live on the West Coast in North Carolina. I have two nephews I adore, a dog I spoil, and my interests include Zumba, going to the beach, and working my way through a giant queue of books and TV shows. I’m currently reading Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me by Becky Jerams and just got done watching the latest season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I planned on watching season five of Arrow next but started Wild, Wild Country instead because Netflix told me to.
What: What Love Means is a gay YA romance. Without falling back on my fancy synopsis, it’s about two old friends who parted on bad terms. Max and Cal are about as opposite as can be. One is rich and the other is poor, one is an uptight academic and the other is a bad boy with a motorcycle, one is brunette and the other is blonde. You get the idea. Aside from mutual lust, the only other thing they have in common is that they both have younger siblings. When the kids both start competing in spelling bees, Max and Cal must confront their past and find out whether they could have a future together.
When: It’s contemporary, so it takes place now. The main characters are beginning their senior year of high school.
Where: New Jersey. Let’s see, the action takes place in many locations. There’s a party at an abandoned warehouse where our heroes have a chance encounter that makes sparks fly. There’s one tiny apartment and one fancy ass mansion. Max has two uncomfortable conversations in two coffee shops. A sexy scenario happens in the least appealing place Cal can think of: his old middle school. An emotional conversation happens in what Max considers the worst place for a serious discussion: the parking lot behind the auto shop where he works.
Why: My previous work, One Little Word, involves the classic jock-nerd dynamic. I wanted a similar opposites attract scenario without doing the same thing, and I love spelling bees. That led to the concept of two old friends meeting again years after their last bee. One of them is the studious, hardworking teen one might expect would come from the spelling bee (i.e. an uptight nerd for those who aren’t familiar with spelling bees) and the other has gone through a complete transformation and become the dangerous, carefree rebel that first character really shouldn’t be attracted to, but dammit, he is anyway.
What Love Means is available now on Amazon.
Gay YA Staples
What started as a popular book is now a popular movie with Love Simon. I didn’t rec Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda because it’s one of those books that come up on every rec list. If you’re looking for LGBT books for young adults, you’ve probably heard of this one already if not read it.
Just for good measure though, let’s look at some of the favorite books in teen and young adult gay fiction. If you want a gay book for teens where you can’t go wrong, here’s what I think of as the holy trinity:
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
(click on the image for a link)
Some other popular titles in LGBT fiction for teens are:
The Great American Whatever
Noah’s Song (Port Haven) (Volume 1)
Openly Straight
True Letters from a Fictional Life
Carry On
These are on my must read list, what’s on yours?
The Meaning of Life… or at least names
Okay, this post doesn’t discuss the meaning of life, unless you mean the Monty Python movie, which I will discuss now to say that I thought it was alright. I saw it in like fourth grade after I watched and loved Holy Grail and I didn’t think MOL was as good but I would likely appreciate it more now.
Actually, I do have a guess about the meaning of life: dogs. That’s it. Just dogs. Dogs are totally the meaning of life.
Anyway, I wanted to discuss name meanings. My book What Love Means came out in April, and April is also the name of a character, the little sister of one of the protagonists. Apparently I like month names because the last name of another character is March.
I wondered what April meant; did it have a cool name meaning? If you’re named April, does your name just mean the fourth month of the year? No, it’s a little better than that. April is latin (isn’t everything?) and means open.
Then I wondered what my other characters names meant? Brendan is the other little sibling in the book and his name means brave.
Calvin goes by Cal. He got the short end of the stick. His name means bald, but I promise he has hair.
Max means greatest. I think Max would be very pleased with his name meaning and Cal’s while Cal would not be amused.
What Love Means is available on Amazon. Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter:
Max
Bodies filled the decrepit, rusting building while the chilly night air had many openings to invade the space inside the run-down walls of the old warehouse. Maybe that was why several empty barrels held fires or maybe that was for ambiance. It didn’t seem like this forgotten place would have any electricity, yet someone somehow got music playing.
People cheered and danced while the booze flowed liberally. Then glow sticks appeared. This was going to turn into a rave. I fucking hated raves. I missed the days when it was just me and the guys breaking into some ramshackle place that no one even used or cared about but went through the trouble of locking anyway.
And now snobs infiltrated the party, their stares boring into me – the scowling guy who filled out his leather jacket – with disdain and grudging interest. Rich kids were all the same, with critical eyes and upturned noses, both envious and judging of those below them. Good to fool around with sometimes but that was all they were good for.
What Love Means release!
After much excitement and anticipation, What Love Means is officially available! Yes, a lot of the anticipation and excitement was from me. It still counts. Thank you to everyone who downloaded the sample. I hope you enjoy the book! It’s more than 300 pages and is on Kindle Unlimited too.
Max is a walking bad boy cliché; Cal shouldn’t want anything to do with him. Cal is everything Max hates about rich people, but he comes in the prettiest package.
Can you spell sexual tension? They can. Can you spell love? Okay, that’s a pretty easy word to spell. Cal and Max can spell it, but they don’t what it means. They’re about to find out.
This is also the last day to enter my contest for 10 queer YA books, so enter while you still can!
Here’s a snippet from the book:
The purr of the motorcycle sent vibrations up my thighs. The wind whistled in my ears as I shot around a corner. I leaned into the motion and tightened my grip on the handlebars. A jolt of adrenaline zinged down my spine as I relied on skill and luck to carry me through. I felt invincible as I raced down back alleys and reveled in the soaring sensation that came from rushing down the road.
I parked my motorcycle at the latest worn-down, abandoned warehouse that had turned into a party spot for vagrants like me. While I hadn’t had anything to drink yet, the ride made me feel buzzed and on top of the world. I guess that’s what people meant by a natural high. Huh. I normally go for the unnatural highs when offered, but being on a bike almost beat anything drugs or alcohol could do.
Almost. It depended on whether a guy was pressed up behind me on the bike or not.
The lot held bikes and beat up cars along with some kids I recognized from school, but the Lexus’s, Audis, and BMWs made me sigh. Even in the dim light they sparkled. Some rich kids from a prep school must have wrangled an invite to see what the kids from the ‘other side of the tracks’ got up to. My friends loved scoring with the yuppies who did things with them no self-respecting girls could do with their boyfriends while the girls loved hooking up with someone their parents would disapprove of.
Too much hassle for me. Besides, I gave up girls years ago. I didn’t know the preppy kids at this party and didn’t care about them. Until I saw him.
What Love Means- April 15 Release!
What Love Means- April 15 Release!
It’s almost here! My new book What Love Means will be released on April 15. You can order it here. As a celebration, I’m giving away ten gay YA romances and you can enter here.
What Love Means
Can two opposites turn their attraction into something more?
On the surface Max Keller and Calvin Winthrop-Scott should repel each other. Between their shared past that ended badly and their polar opposite personalities, there should be no love in their love/hate relationship. They have nothing in common. Except for their attraction to each other.
A friendship between their siblings and the kid’s shared interest in spelling bees brings the former best friends back together. Neither one of them wants to be friends anymore, but can they admit to themselves and everyone else that they want something more?
Max and Cal know how to spell love, but they’re about to find out what it means.
This high school romance features a bad boy with a soft spot for his little sister and a prep school brat whose perfect world is about to get more complicated. In this teen LGBTQ story, opposites attract, enemies become lovers and a second chance means two old friends could become more.
Excerpt:
Our jibes weren’t really antagonistic or biting, and the mood had turned almost playful. I only realized once it ended. Max scowled and his hands clenched. Oh well, I might as well take the advantage when it’s offered. “Touch a nerve?” I asked.
Just when I thought I might get the upper hand, Max smirked. “You touched more than that,” he leered. His face turned wolfish. I wanted to smack that look off his face or bite and kiss it away.
It was my turn to grimace. “About that.” I couldn’t let my stupid libido win. I had to be reasonable about this. Being reasonable and careful was as easy as breathing for me. Except when Max was around.
“We should keep it between us?” he whispered, sounding mocking as he stepped closer. We probably looked ridiculous: two teens outside a library acting like we were auditioning for West Side Story as we postured and glared. Or maybe Romeo and Juliet. “Well, what’s in it for me if I do?” he flirted.
“The feeling of being a good and decent person?” I suggested, struggling not to lean into the tempting heat of his body.
“Maybe I’d rather feel you instead.” His hands ghosted right above my chest. I prided myself on not moving into the touch. It was just a little chilly out suddenly, and his broad, hot body next to mine was alluring. Because of the temperature. It’s not like I had a leather jacket to keep the cold at bay.
“This doesn’t have to be a big thing,” I said and immediately realized my mistake.
Max grinned. “Oh, you didn’t just say big thing.”
I made a frustrated noise. “Can you take anything seriously?”
“Do you wanna see what I can take?” he shot back. I was the one to walk away this time even though Max followed merrily after me.
“Is this what we’re going to do? Just annoy each other to death?” I asked while he trailed behind me.
“Why, you can’t handle it?” Max caught up and stopped me before I entered the library. His hand was on my arm where I wore a navy long-sleeved shirt; the heat of his hand bled through easily. I didn’t say anything. “Hello?” he asked after a few moments.
I thought of and rejected several responses to his question. “I just don’t know how to answer in a way that won’t sound like an innuendo,” I admitted.
His lips pressed together in a mocking pout. “You’re no fun.”
“You’ll stop teasing me then?”
His eyes sparkled with mischief. “I didn’t say that.”
Yeah, I didn’t think it would be that easy.
Simon Says
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens is a book I haven’t put on any of my rec lists. It’s not time for an unpopular opinion like GOD I REALLY HATE THAT BOOK. But maybe you will see those words I put in capital letters and be tempted to read. Is that clickbait? Hey, lots of websites do it, why can’t this little blog join in? Anyway, Simon is one book I’m confident people already love or will find anyway when looking for gay teen fiction.
But with the movie coming out, I wanted to talk about the Simon franchise a bit. I read one Love, Simon appreciation article from GLAAD that I enjoyed:
Love, Simon should not be held to a higher standard than any of its heterosexual contemporaries. When discussing any film from the litany of teenage rom-coms, no one is ever going to ask, “But do straight teens really need Teen Beach 2?” In my opinion, it comes down to this: If straight teens are allowed to happy-ending rom-coms, queer teens deserve at least the same. The good news for us is Love, Simon delivers that and more.
I have to give some love to the book and the movie Love, because I am all for the lighter side of queer representation, especially when targeted towards youth. We deserve lots of happy gay rom-coms and I hope this is only the first of many. That reminds me of a tumblr post I saw once asking for a Grease remake with Taylor Swift as Sandy and Kristen Stewart as Danny. Who do I pay/threaten to make that happen?
We’re Number One!
Thank you to everyone who got a FREE copy of L-O-V-E on Amazon! It ranked as the top free book in YA LGBT fiction. I’m thrilled so many people are checking out my book about stubborn boys and spelling bees. I hope you enjoy the excerpt. Those who haven’t gotten a copy yet for free still can here.
My contest giving away 10 gay romances for young adult readers is also still going on. Enter for your chance to win!
And once again, thank you for selecting and reading my work! It means a lot to me (and my dog) while I try to support us as an author.
Gay Paranormal Romance 