“Is it gay? Do you bury your gays or focus on gay trauma?” – Question from a Potential Reader on Facebook.

Warning, there are some minor spoilers for White Trash Warlock ahead.

When I started writing this book, at the very beginning, Adam Binder didn’t exist. His brother Bobby, the doctor wanting the perfect life, was the first person I saw in my mind. What is now chapter two, the scene with Annie, was the very first image of the book I had.

Adam came later and as I shaped his character, I quickly realized he was me. Well, okay, not me, but I poured a lot of myself into him. A lot of my pain and family history went into him.

And when an early reviewer suggested the book needed trigger warnings, I blinked.

“But it’s my life. My experience,” I said aloud.

That doesn’t mean it’s not hard for someone to read about.

Good art makes us feel something deeply, and often those feelings are painful.

As I wrote this book, and as I write this series, I’m putting a lot of thought into who Adam is and who I want him to be. One of the best things about writing fictional characters is wish fulfillment. He gets to say the things I wish I could have. He gets to confront his family, dead or alive. He gets to stand up to the bullies.

He gets to fall in love.

Adam gets to be who I didn’t. And he gets to go through some things I didn’t.

But again, he’s not me. For one thing, he’s younger. I have the benefit of hindsight, and being gay in your earlier twenties now isn’t like it was when I was that age. I also left Oklahoma. He didn’t.

That said, I knew I wanted Adam to be out, proud, and comfortable in his skin. I also wanted to telegraph that to readers early on, which is why he’s flirting with a guy in the first chapter. He is who he is and he won’t be saying sorry for it.

Please know that:

1. I do not bury my gays.
2. Adam is not the only LGBTQ character in this book.
3. This book is not a coming out story, a story about AIDS, or a story about gay trauma.

That said, I did want to answer the questions the reader asked, and give some trigger warnings, because pain is personal and I am not here to add to anyone else’s:

1. Adam and his brother experienced child abuse.
2. Adam’s father did abuse him for being effeminate.
3. There is a couple dealing with miscarriages and the fallout from that.
4. Adam was put in an institution in his teens. This touches on Adam’s mental health, which is discussed further in later books.
5. Adam’s immediate family is not supportive of him.

I truly feel the first function of my writing is to entertain, never to hurt.

I put a lot of myself into Adam. I hope you’ll read or listen to his story, but if any of these are deal breakers for you, I genuinely understand.

Oh, and because you may be wondering…you might notice that a lot of people in or from Oklahoma will call him Adam Lee, because that’s what they do. They call you by a combo of your first and middle names.

Which is why, when I’m back home, you’ll hear me called David Ray.