Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Hop Against Homophobia & Transphobia



Welcome to my part in the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia (HAHAT). I'm new to this hop but it's my understanding that it was created last year to spread awareness of homophobia and transphobia. Bravo. The world needs more tolerance. Just a note worth mentioning. May 17th was the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Learn more here:
http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/


Join me and 176 authors as we stand together against discrimination. Love is love and it exists without boundaries. And, as is the case with tolerance, our world certainly needs more love too.

There are prizes to be had! Be sure to leave a comment on all the blogs for your chance to win. For my giveaway, I'm offering an authorgraphed copy of Loving Leonardo.

Follow this link to participating authors.

http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/

>۞<


I enjoy learning new things and often immerse myself in research when writing my romances. While working on Loving Leonardo, I chanced upon a reference stating liturgical documents of the early Christian church in the 10th through 12th centuries showed ceremonies for same-sex unions between men. Given the vitriolic views often shouted from the pulpit, I was surprised to read that. Where did the intolerance come from?

Historically speaking, homosexuality and bisexuality have been part of every race and culture, every socio-economic class and educational level, and have existed since the earliest human societies. There are those who consider this to be abnormal and worthy of a death sentence. But the truth is, homosexuality and bisexuality are seen in many species throughout the natural world, including the primate family of which the species homo sapiens belongs. To some cultures, this duel-nature has long been seen as a divine gift. Possessing two spirits is a powerful and celebrated occurrence.
 

Loving Leonardo, is a Victorian era, bisexual, polyamorous, romance with a touch of reader-interactive art history. The story takes place in 1897 on the cusp of a new millennium. Ideas are changing -- the rise of the middle class, children in school, and voting rights for women are just a few key social issues ringing in huge changes. The end of the death penalty for homosexual men ushers in a new, yet guarded, freedom to love. It's also the era of the Decadent movement. That's decadent with a D. This time of change is the backdrop for my romantic tale. The story itself touches upon the many shades of humanity from love and friendship to obsession and prejudice.

The main observer in this romantic tale is Nicolas Halstead: a homosexual man of means forced by society to wear a disguise. It‘s through his perspective that we see and feel his world. An art historian by profession, Nicolas can‘t help but compare life to art. (Because of this, he leaves many references to artists and artworks scattered throughout the pages. It isn‘t necessary for the reader to look them up, though to see what he sees will certainly add color to the tale.) 

In an odd twist of fate, Nicolas meets a woman with a proposition who's fully aware of his nature and the secrets that must be kept. Seeing the wisdom of having a tolerant spouse, he marries her. The pair go off on an adventure to save a rare and priceless book -- a book of love written and illustrated by one of the greatest minds of the Renaissance -- Leonardo da Vinci. Compatibility, comfort, and a deeply abiding friendship come to redefine their long held notions of themselves. And then Nicolas and Ellie meet Luca.  

At this point you'd want me to say and they lived happily ever after, but a dangerous man with a deadly obsession has other ideas. The story is told in two parts. I've enjoyed my three lovers in Loving Leonardo so much, they're bound to have other adventures.







  
Loving Leonardo
Setting the Stage: Nicolas, Ellie, and Luca discover they have more than an interest in Leonardo da Vinci in common.

Excerpt:

I shook my head and explained my opinion, “For fifteen years the Mona Lisa went everywhere with him, it was even with him when he died. That’s hardly the action of a man who’d painted that portrait as a commission, is it? No, I see the work as a riddle. Her face compels us to try to read her character. Leonardo challenges us to interpret her thoughts, ‘to capture,’ as he said in his own words, ‘the motion of her mind and the passion of her soul.’ Then he draws a veil of ambiguity across her features and creates a riddle of her smile. On top of that, there is nuance to the form and shadow… something deliberate in the smoky quality akin to a magician’s trick.”

Luca asked, “The sfumato?”

That he knew the proficient’s term for the shadowy quality found in da Vinci’s oils surprised me. Nodding, I sipped my wine and continued, “The sfumato plays a role none of us knows, unless we learn the reason behind it from Leonardo’s own words. As I interpret it, the background and the subject are one and the same. In the Mona Lisa, I can see the artist’s face in the work. That’s clear when you see the man’s self-portrait and compare the two. But beyond the deliberate ethereal quality to the piece, there’s a part of me that believes the painting is a blending.”

I could tell Ellie was intrigued by the idea when she sat forward. “A blending, how so?”


“A blending of the artist himself, and Gian Giacomo Caprotti. This was the person for whom Leonardo held passionate love.”

Luca nodded. “Ah yes, Salai, the ‘little devil.’ I can certainly see that, now that you’ve mentioned it.”

In that moment I had the distinct impression Luca too was drawn to homoerotic art, led perhaps by his own sexual proclivity to identify with artists who walked a very different path in both love and life. Knowing how compatible Luca had been with our blond Dutchman, I was certain he’d find it interesting that Salai’s face and body could be found in several da Vinci artworks from sketches to oils to frescos. In for a penny in for a pound, I threw my seeds to the furrow and voiced it, “He wasn’t free in society to love whom he wished. So he used his lover’s face and form in many works he created. What he didn’t reveal blatantly, he concealed in symbolism. But it was there, his lovers were there.”

Pausing with her grape in mid-air, Ellie said, “I find this topic utterly fascinating.” Then, in her bold-as-brass fashion, she turned to our guest and asked, “You’re not put off by the topic of Leonardo’s homosexuality, are you Luca?”

In Great Britain the topic on the table was not usually discussed in a lady’s presence. Not that my nymph of a wife minded, indeed, she voiced it plain enough. Luca didn’t answer right away, instead he sipped his wine. I wished in that moment I could read his thoughts for he appeared nervous. I wished for a lot in that moment.

Luca met her eye. “Did you know the ancient Greeks didn’t consider sexual proclivity to be a social characteristic? They didn’t distinguish a person’s sexual desire by biological sex, only by the role that he or she played in the act.”

Ellie took on her lovely blush, and for the first time I realized both desire and discomfiture lie within the hue. She asked plainly, “Do you mean to say all that mattered in ancient society was whether someone played the active penetrator or the passively penetrated?”

Bold-as-brass. I chuckled.

Luca’s smile widened and his shadow-blue eyes sparkled. “Yes.”

I believe we were all aware of a sexual tension growing in the intellectual-rich loam. There were little things at play now: the way Ellie moistened her lips and looked at us with eyes that lingered from one to the other. The way Luca’s irises had darkened from snow shadow to moon shadow as he looked upon her. The way I’d catch myself with a reminder to breathe as my eye was drawn to these small distinctions. Like da Vinci’s sfumato, our mutual attraction hung in the air, and I was struck by the notion that the smoky quality depicted in his art was desire. Desire like this.

“Ah.” Ellie nodded in understanding and circled the rim of her wine glass with her fingertip. I could feel the gears turning in the perfect machine of her mind. She proved my estimation right when she laughed suddenly, “Why Signore Franco, I do believe you’ve evaded my original question.”

He touched his heart with mock surprise. “Would I do that?”

That made Ellie laugh just as she was about to sip her red wine, causing her to slosh it on her white silk blouse. “Fiddlesticks! Please excuse me gentlemen, I must see to this before it sets.” Giving us an adorable self-deprecating smile, she quickly excused herself. We watched her go and shortly after the tap ran in the bathroom.


To a man such as I who’d lived on the same side of the fence for so many years, Luca’s answer had been plain enough. There was a silent language men like us used in public that only those of the same persuasion might guess what lie below the surface. Society might speculate all it wished, but unless the intent was blatant, no one knew of it for certain. In a world of unfounded prejudice, discretion might save one’s life. Our eyes met. We knew.

He told me sincerely, “She’s a treasure. Your Ellie is unlike any woman of my acquaintance.”

I smiled. “Indeed. My good fortune is beyond measure because she’s my match in all ways that matter.”

He set his glass aside to rest his hand beside mine on the settee. “She seems an open-minded woman. I confess other than with my sisters, I’ve never found myself so comfortable in the presence of the fairer sex. She makes this easy.”

My little finger stretched slightly, I swear by its own accord. “She does, at that. She declares herself a progressive in her world view. Ellie is extremely open-minded, and this is a truer fact than many know.”

He raised his hand to the side of my face, and there his thumb traced along my bottom lip. My heart started to pound and my cock swelled. The hand slid around to the back of my skull and pulled me close for a kiss. A kiss I very much wanted.

I could taste him under the sweet tang of grapes and wine. I fed my tongue into his mouth and found his. The small whiskers trimmed so close to his upper lip and chin were sharp exclamation points along my heady exploration. I’ve no clear image of how exactly it happened, so absorbed was I in the sensorial bliss of the moment, but shirts and flies opened as magically as if Ali Baba himself called “open sesame” to the cave.

Lean-ribbed and fit, he had a raven thatching over his chest that was slightly thicker than my own, and I petted him as though he were a sleek jungle cat. We freed each other’s cocks as we kissed and caressed and I soon learned that chest hair wasn’t all that was thick on Luca. Da Vinci himself couldn’t have sketched a finer image than this bold firm cock. His kiss deepened and he stroked me slowly with an expert hand while I closed my fingers around a shaft a few inches shy of the length of my forearm. Driven to make free with all he offered, I broke from our kiss. It was then I saw her.

Assessing her attitude quickly, I detected no condemnation. However, my years of secrecy and constant vigilance made me pause. Luca followed my gaze. Appraising the scene she’d walked in on, Ellie stood quietly, her breathing erratic and her cheeks quite pink. This time I knew why. Naturally, Luca was unable to discern what passed between my wife and I. Wary, no doubt from a lifetime of similar conditioning and secrecy, his eyes went to us from one to the other. And he very much looked like the cat that ate the canary.

The sensually-charged static in the air was palpable. No one said a word.

>۞<


Want more?  Read another excerpt inside the cover with Amazon's Look Inside feature.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LS3H6Q

Then check out
Loving Leonardo - The Quest
The adventure continues!


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMHMK02

 

Love Waits in Unexpected Places

Main Blog:
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

Satellite Blog1:
http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Satellite Blog2:
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/


Come discuss great topics. Add one!
Salon Blog:
http://anotherstoneunturned.blogspot.com/


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson/e/B004XDGWL6
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/MusesWritingTablet

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.anderson.7524
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roseanderson_
Tumblr: http://author-roseanderson.tumblr.com/
Google+: http://plus.google.com/rose.anderson
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4317188.Rose_Anderson



And many author's pages around the web. Too many to list here! Stop and say hi. I follow back.


14 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting and joining in on the Blog Hop!

    Angela

    Angela@angelastone.ca
    http://www.angelastone.ca/blog-3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for taking part in the hop!

    and loving leonardo looks like a fun read

    parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loving Leonardo and LL the Quest are wonderful books! The only thing missing in them is pictures of the art you mention. But otherwise, I loved their sensuality, and I didn't mind the trip around Europe. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your books sound great! I'm also a big proponent of historical inspiration, there's so many fascinating things to uncover.

    Ryal

    ReplyDelete
  5. So wait... they were performing same sex unions in the 10th and 12th centuries? I'm intrigued. What are your sources?

    sophia-martin at hotmail dot com

    Check out my HAHAT post: http://sophia-martin.blogspot.com/2013/05/hahat-hop-against-homophobia-and.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for stopping by everyone!

    :)
    Rose

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am intrigued about your research. I Would love to read more.

    debby236 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the combination of art, history and romance your story promises. Thanks for participating in the hop.

    nona (at) nonaraines dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for the wonderful post and for taking part in the hop!!

    humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great excerpt! Good to have the art, history, culture society all blended with erotic tension. Nice! Thanks for joining this hop,
    Urb
    brendurbanist at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice excerpt :)

    Thanks for participating in this great hop!

    penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the excerpt. Thank you for taking part in the hop!
    sstrode at scrtc dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for the post.

    peggy1984 at live dot com

    ReplyDelete