Guest Blogger West Thornhill

Please welcome back author West Thornhill, who today is going to discuss one of her passions - yaoi! For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, yaoi (pronounced yow-ee) is also known as boys love. In other words, when a man loves a man... Yaoi originated in Japan, where the best yaoi is still written. Join West and me as we sit in our favorite butler cafe, enjoying the food and the tea and the pampering. I've persuaded our butler to allow us to take his picture! Go ahead, West, while I get to know him a little better.

Yaoi Obsession by West Thornhill

I have an obsession that grew out of reading fan fiction – Yaoi. I love Yaoi. I even have a bag that boldly proclaims this. I kind of fell into yaoi when I was watching the anime Weiss Kreuz. The fan fic was always pairing up Yoji and Aya, either together or with members of Schwartz. Then I discovered P.L. Nunn’s artwork and my obsession grew.

In the past few years I have found one anime/manga that I can go to when I need a pick-me-up. That would be Junjo Romantica by Shungiku Nakamura. The three couples—Misaki/Usagi-san; Hiro-san/Nowaki; Shinobu/Miyagi—are fun and engaging. While I love Misaki and Usagi-san, Hiro-san and Nowaki are my favorites.

Shungiku Nakamura has another series that is just as much fun —Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. The best part of this series is the fact that it’s about a shojo manga department of a publishing house. The ups and downs of putting together the releases and the relationships between the characters are great.

I enjoy several others—Loveless, Fake, Gravitation, Kizuna, anything by Nitta Youka and Minase Masara, the Finders series by Ayano Yamane, and more. Also among my Yaoi obsession is an obsession with Bleach by Tite Kubo. While Bleach is not Yaoi, there is a huge fan fic following dedicated to M/M pairings.

So, if you have read my first novel, Transcend, or seen the cover, I think you might understand a little more about the creation of my main characters, Gael and Jason. It took me a little while to figure out I was actually writing Yaoi-based characters. It doesn’t bother me in the least because it continues to be a fun and exciting journey. I love all of my guys and every one of them embodies some Yaoi aspect.

West, I totally join you in that love of yaoi!   Thanks for sharing with us today!  Ah, I could sit here all day, couldn't you?

Do you like yaoi? Who's your favorite author? Favorite characters? We'd love to hear! Leave a comment or a question!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie