Thank you, Delilah, for hosting me today.  I want to share a bit of my journey into a subgenre I’d never considered writing!

The first MM romance I ever read was an Ava March historical novella.  I almost didn’t notice the main characters were both men — the lush setting, vibrant period, and brilliant story carried me away.  I was enchanted. Enthralled. I moved on to other authors as I discovered the joys of free e-books, but I often returned to pick up a new March story.

Fast forward a few years.  I’d hired a wonderful person to edit my stories and to whip them into shape so I could publish them. But I didn’t know what I was doing.  So she recommended I read authors who were better than myself.  She listed a number of her favorite authors, including Tara Lain and Kaje Harper.  Both of the authors had audiobooks, so I snapped them up and dove in.

My life changed forever.

Now…the transition was gradual.  I listened to the MM audios from these authors.  Then I listened to more.  Then I sought out blogs that discussed queer books.  Then I started writing reviews for one, and my immersion was complete — about eighty percent of what I listen to is queer fiction.

One book, though, has always stuck with me.

Kaje Harper is a talented writer — and someone I’m proud to call a friend.  Her book, Into Deep Waters, had a profound impact on me.  It is just a simple story about two sailors serving in the Navy in the Pacific Ocean during the Second World War.  Two men who struggled with their identities. Two men who earned a richly deserved happily ever after.

Now, I never saw myself writing historical stories.  Ava March, Kaje Haper, KJ Charles, and Joanna Chambers make it look easy. It isn’t.  Layered into the historical periods are the societal prejudices and outright illegality of being a homosexual.

Plus, you know, historical accuracy.  Apparently, that’s a thing.

All fine and good.  I wasn’t going to write a historical novel.  Just like I wasn’t going to write a paranormal gay romance (oh, wait, ghosts are paranormal…huh, yep blew that idea out of the water…).  The tipping point for me came from a charity anthology last year.  The premise was each story would be Jane Austen adjacent.  So my characters would either interact with an Austen character or in fact be an Austen character.

I checked with the anthology folks that gay romance was okay.  They said, sure.  They said representation mattered.  They said no light switches.

I figured even I couldn’t screw this up too badly.

I also secured a beta reader who is a former history professor since my editor doesn’t specialize in Regency England either.  Turns out I made a few mistakes — easily corrected.

In a short span of time, I had my short story. An Uncommon Gentleman is the tale of two sailors — onboard Captain Frederick Wentworth’s ship — whose lives are upended when one gets an unexpected inheritance.  It’s a simple short story. Just under 8k words.  I submitted it, and the charity anthology raised some money, for which I was thrilled.

The comment from several reviewers was the story ended abruptly.  Well, yeah, I had a word limit.

When the rights reverted to me, I added an epilogue, and then I had the audio recorded by the very talented Michael Ferraiuolo. I published the e-book and audiobook and sat back to enjoy my lovely story.

In 2024, I did another Austen charity anthology.  This time, instead of Persuasion, I chose Sense and Sensibility.  Those rights reverted back to me and Michael will be narrating the audio shortly.  Finally, this year, I’m doing another charity anthology.  This one won’t be specifically Austen, but I’m choosing to set my redeemed rake in the same period, and I’ll make him Austen-adjacent.

Man, I’ve had so much fun.

Outstanding beta readers, strong editors, tons of research…finally, historicals are (almost) within my grasp.

Moving from short stories to full-length books isn’t yet possible. I don’t think.  Never say never, though.

That’s how An Uncommon Gentleman came to be!  I would love to hear your thoughts — historicals? Love ’em or not for me?  Leave a comment and you might win either an e-book or audiobook copy of my story.  Or another book from my back catalogue.  Random will pick the winner.

An Uncommon Gentleman

John

I have served as a sailor in His Majesty’s Royal Navy for the past ten years and had no intention of changing that path. The death of my uncle means I must return to Blackthorne Estate to take up my position as Lord and Master. I’ll step up to do my duty. My dearest wish is that my beloved joins me. When he chooses to accompany me, I set my mind to making him mine—body and soul.

Philip

I have been a sailor for nearly thirty years and never planned to retire until my captain orders it. When my beloved is called to attend to his family’s estate, he asks me to accompany him as a valet. I’m happy to do so as it keeps me close to him. He wants to grow the affection between the two of us, but I feel the need to hold myself apart. In the end, though, I suspect he will win this argument.

An Uncommon Gentleman is an 8k Regency gay romance short story.  The story was previously available in Austen Tea Party: A Historical Romance Collection for Charity Inspired by Jane Austen. This version has been expanded.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/AnUcommonGentleman
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Gentleman-Regency-Romance-Short-ebook/dp/B0CLKZDW9H
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201840113-an-uncommon-gentleman

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.