Hello all! My name is Jaiyde Thomas, and I am an indie author of mm romance. I love books with lots of angst, a character-driven plot, and of course, lots and lots of sex or BDSM scenes. My favorite romance tropes are hurt/comfort and first-time gay, and I’m a sucker for happily-ever-afters. What I wish to see more in fiction, whether it be TV or books, are disabled characters.
I have been blind since birth. I was told that because I was born premature (1lb. 6oz.), I was placed into an incubator to help with my growth and development. Too much oxygen to my brain led to my cause of blindness, retinopathy of prematurity, which is an eye disease that causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina in premature babies. I was in the hospital for two months before my mother was allowed to take me home. At some point, I was also diagnosed with glaucoma, which is increased pressure in the eyeball that causes vision loss.
Being blind had its challenges and its advantages. As a young child, I had moments of doubt because of my disability, and I felt I was different when I was around sighted peers or family. I had many passions as a young girl that kept me feeling normal, and one of them was reading. The Library for the Blind would send me stacks of books, and I would sit on the floor and devour all that I could. Sometimes, I wouldn’t even take off my shoes after school, or I’d be late for dinner, my Granny having to call me multiple times before I understood: stop reading and come eat. Then, I was allowed one day to bring a Braillewriter home from school, and that started my writing journey.
I won’t bore you with my entire life story, but I started writing songs and short stories at around age nine. Then, in seventh grade, I decided to write my first story about a teenage pregnancy. When I became bored with that, I wrote a seven-story series based off my own experiences in high school. In one of them, the main character is blind for a few months, but regains her sight soon after. I wanted her to deal with what I was in real life.
In 2020, under my other pen name, Kelanie Black, I created The Red Lair book series. The focus for this was to show that disabled people, such as the blind, could explore BDSM just like sighted people. Each book had one or two blind characters, each dealing with their exploration of the lifestyle and disability in a different way. After the series was completed, I had decided to try my hand at a new genre: mm romance.
A question online made me push forward writing disabled characters. I will address it below:
Why do you always write about blind people?
Firstly, I don’t believe that we as disabled persons get enough recognition. In TV shows and movies, there are some, but they only have a small role where they are seen and forgotten about, or the disabilities are portrayed inaccurately. I haven’t read a book that includes sex and disabled characters, but I’m sure they’re out there.
Secondly, BDSM is stigmatized just like blind people having sex. People think that because we are blind that someone has to help us all the time and watch over us 24/7. That’s far from the truth! I know many blind people who enjoy sex and BDSM and don’t have a sighted person with them to guide them. We are just normal people, we just do things a bit differently, and we may need accommodations to do them, but we still get things done.
Finally, I write about blind people exploring the BDSM lifestyle so that I can educate others. If you aren’t blind, you wouldn’t know what the day-to-day experience of a disabled person is like. I encourage questions, comments, and even feedback regarding blindness, BDSM, accessibility, because how will you learn if you don’t ask?
Thank you so much for having me! I will post my socials below, and please feel free to follow, friend, and PM me with anything of interest that catches your eye from this post or questions.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaiyde_thomas
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jaiyde_thomas
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jaiyde.thomas2142/
Website: www.trustsayyes.blogspot.com
Claim Me, Love Me by Jaiyde Thomas
The Red Lair series by Kelanie Black:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GLM4WWH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn
