The Lonely Heart Is a Hungry Hunter

On Rosana Briel’s “Como un torrente” (“Like a Torrent”)

Months ago, during an interview with Bésame y vente conmigo author Olivia Ardey, she stated that one of her favorite Spanish M/M romance fictions is this short story by Rosana Briel. Once you have read it you can surely agree.

Seth, an orphan, self-sufficient guy on his 28^th birthday, recalls his life so far. Very wild in his teens, his past can be summed up as a constant moving from foster families back to orphanage over and over again. He only could find peace in his sole friend Aidan, another orphan. Painfully, a lethal leukemia took him away from his side too soon. Aidan was not only the love of his life, but also his big brother, his mate, the one who taught him the most important lesson: Nobody cares about you, so do it yourself.

Years went by and Seth could make his living. Now he is a successful professional illustrator, as well as a 6’3”, long wavy dark-haired, amazing green-eyed lone wolf who is sure of one thing: he will never ever love again—

This unsatisfying exposition could make the reader feel we are dealing with a sad story…By no means! From this moment on, Seth is keeping a conversation throughout the story with a group of women (his “muses,” as he calls them) that he is agitating, teasing, joking with..., while they—together with the reader—are playing the role of witnesses in his vivid account of his birthday celebration. A hot celebration, indeed.

Instead of a pleasant party with friends (if any), our stand-alone hero plans to club tonight to have some fun, probably to wipe away those sad memories from the past. That is why he turns down an invitation from a mild guy who looks like an absent-minded teacher. No way. Tonight he really needs an extra-challenging stimulation. And Seth the hunter will eventually find it close to the bar.

There, an irresistible wave of Davidoff’s “Cool Water” invades his nostrils. A picture of the scented prey, you ask? Dark eyes. Thick lips. Short hazel hair. Strong arms. Powerful thighs in tight blue jeans. A hunky trunk wrapped up in a raw lumberjack shirt. The name: James. Or, the perfect chance for a sex & drugs & alcohol night in a hotel room.

By now, you are presumably expecting a swinging series of meticulously described sex sessions starred by this charming pair who do not believe in underclothing. Well, you are truly right—and will be overwhelmingly satisfied! Anyway, what the reader might not imagine is that tonight will turn crucial in Seth’s destiny.

Like Scheherazade in Arabian Nights, we find unarguably true that Rosana Briel is an amazingly skillful storyteller. Reading “Como un torrente” is like being on a rollercoaster: The first paragraphs make us think of a weepy, heartbreaking narration; all of a sudden, the whole thing becomes a light ironic comedy—until the plot slides into the realms of eroticism…But Briel has kept an ace up her sleeve, and what could be another witty-but-idle story about two horny beefcakes enjoying a big time turns into something deeper. Love at first (torrential) ejaculation, could be said? Paraphrasing Warner Bros. all-time screen classic Casablanca, though changing the last word (as Briel does at the end of her story): “This is the beginning of a beautiful love.”

You can read the original text in Spanish here.

Interview with Olivia Ardey

The nice, gentle author of Bésame y vente conmigo, Olivia Ardey, has talked to spanishgayfiction.blogspot.com. We have discussed interesting issues such as romance fiction, the role of social networks in the current literary world, or gay characters in chick lit by straight female authors. Hope this appealing author will not leave LGBT themes behind in her future projects.

SPANISH GAY FICTION: Was Bésame y vente conmigo your first approach to LGBT themes in your fiction? What attracted you to this issue?

OLIVIA ARDEY: Until then, I had noticed—especially in American narrative, where homoerotic fiction is very appealing—that there were gay romance novels and straight romance novels. And in the latter, if there was a gay boy, he always was the main protagonist’s funny friend, but his love story was rarely told. Then I said to myself, “If in real life we are all together, why not in the novels?”

SGF: What is the difference between Nico and other gay minor characters in romance fiction?

OA: The only difference between Nico and Álvaro, the male lead, is that the one likes men and the other likes women. Nico’s somewhat divo personality arises from his TV stardom as a popular cook, and not his sexual condition.

SGF: Have you ever met any Nico? Or, is he rather an idealized mental projection? Where did Nico arise from?

OA: Yes, I have met more than one. Men who are the way they are with absolute easiness, with neither secrecy nor fuss. This character grew out of my imagination. I imagined a handsome, famous chef. I found funny he could drive women crazy when he was into men.

SGF: What do you think the recurrent presence of gay minor characters in straight romance fiction is due to? Is it just a nod to the homosexual reader?

OA: In contemporary comedy, I feel it is somewhat a reflection of films and TV comedies. I do not think that this is just a nod. As I said before, when I read several novels with gay guys, I got bored as they were always in the same roles of the girl’s confidants, perfect friends.

SGF: What has been the response of gay readers to Bésame y vente conmigo? Do you have many followers from LGBT groups?

OA: The truth is they have never got in contact with me. Romance male readers are a minority.

SGF: Regarding the impressive development of homoerotic literature by heterosexual writers and for heterosexual readers in the English-language narrative, would you say that Spanish literature is light years away in comparison? Or, are there already many examples in the current Spanish literature?

OA: It takes years to reach the levels of publication and audience reception of the homoerotic romance genre in the USA today. I do not know many Spanish writers devoted to this. As for Spanish publishers, I also know very few.

SGF: In the group of Spanish female authors who write homoerotic fiction, who are your favorites? Would you highlight any work in particular?

OA: I have read very few examples of homoerotic fiction, and even less written in Spanish. Mi favorite is Aeren Iniesta and her novella Segundas oportunidades (“Second Chances”). I was also fascinated by Rosana Briel’s story “Como un torrente” (“Like a Torrent”).

SGF: The ending of this novel would have been impossible ten years ago in this country…

OA: If you said eleven, I would say so. But just ten years ago the Spanish regulation handed this ending to me on a silver platter.[1]

SGF: Keeping with modern times, what importance do you assign to social networks and other digital platforms in the current literature and, more specifically, romantic fiction or chick lit?

OA: Loads of romance novels are published…In some months, there are 70 new releases. Romance readers are truly faithful and read a lot. For writers like me, the presence in networks is essential to be in the spotlight. This is an excellent way to put yourself on the map, and that helps daily communication with readers, interaction, and word-of-mouth.

SGF: May fans support become an imposition? Are you afraid that, if you were riskier as for themes, you could lose your readers’ support?

OA: I am so fortunate that I have the support of readers, whether I write historical romance or contemporary comedy. They eagerly welcome a novel set in Italy, New York or Teruel[2] in the same way, and that allows me not to be pigeonholed but write freely.

SGF: As far back as I can remember, I have always heard that two women having sex is one of the heterosexual men’s typical fantasies. Interestingly, many romance female novelists are showing that two men making love is a very recurrent erotic fantasy for heterosexual women. To what extent do you think that romance fiction by women has been relevant to develop, conform and give social visibility to female sexuality, so obscured and repressed over history?

OA: I think that this has at least been useful to speak about sex and our likings naturally. Many prejudices have fallen. Years ago, readers wrapped up the covers of romance novels. Today, romance books are recommended, discussed, and can be the main subject in conversation.

SGF: I am not the only one that sees in Jane Austen the unintentional founder of our times’ chick lit. Virginia Woolf said through one of her fictional characters that Austen was the author she liked most as she never tried to hide the fact that her narrations were written by a woman. What importance do you give to classic authors as influence and inspiration for your novels?

OA: Thanks to the 18^th and 19^th pioneer female authors, there is a current narrative of emotions told in a female way. I am not particularly crazy about Jane Austen, but that is just a matter of taste. Anyway, I think I made up my mind and write romance novels given how much I loved Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in my youth. It is still my favorite novel.

SGF: In my view, the ultimate aim romance novelists are seeking is making your readers live, through your works, great love stories. And it is more than likely that, in many cases, these stories will happen only in their imagination. In that sense, romance literature makes people feel less lonely. It has a therapeutic value. Do you agree with me?

OA: The value of romance novel lies, in my opinion, in the happy ending. The good times you enjoy while reading help get away from daily concerns. The satisfaction you feel when closing the book with a smile and a sigh is just great.

SGF: Concerning the previous question, romance authors usually depict relationships so idealized that they can lead to think, “This only happens in romance novels.” To what extent do these unreal aspects get romance fiction connected to fantasy fiction, or even considered as a subgenre within fantasy fiction?

OA: You would be surprised if you heard the real stories that readers tell us—they are really stranger than the fiction we write. Even I have asked for permission to include some wonderful moments that they personally told me in some of my novels.

SGF: The evolution of our society, a relaxation of censorship…Many elements have led to the current situation in which romance fiction and erotic fiction (even pornographic, sometimes) may walk hand in hand. In Bésame y vente conmigo, your descriptions of sex between Celia and Álvaro are explicit and detailed. However, when it comes to Max and Nico, you seem more restrained. I have the feeling that Olivia Ardey is a straightforward author who does not mince her words. What prevented you from being more descriptive in homosexual sex?

OA: First reason, Nico and Max are not the main couple. The love story between Álvaro and Celia is the central aspect of the plot and I just wanted to focus on this. In fact, there is another straight couple, Susana and Javier, and their sex scenes are as less explicit as the boys’. We can see in both cases the before and after…I saved the during for the protagonists.

The second reason is that I wanted to transmit the fidelity of feelings, the unique love that remains despite time and difficulties. And to achieve this, I considered I could reach the readers’ hearts more deeply by showing the emotions in the reencounter. I needed to bare Nico’s and Max’s souls. Sex was secondary.

SGF: What are you working on now? What are your most immediate projects?

OA: I am working on the last corrections of the novel that Ediciones Versátil[3] will publish in February. Set between London and Scotland, it is a contemporary comedy, full of both laughter and tears as life itself. And soon I will embark upon my next story, which takes place in New York and Boston in the 1920’s.

---

[1] Just to remind the reader, same-sex marriage was approved in Spain on June 30, 2005.

[2] This is the Spanish region were Olivia Ardey sets the fictional village of Tarabán in Bésame y vente conmigo. A charming way to remind us all that Teruel exists.

[3] A Spanish publisher devoted to romance fiction mainly.

My Best Gay Friend’s Wedding

On Olivia Ardey’s Bésame y vente conmigo (“Kiss Me and Come with Me”)

What would be of gays and lesbians worldwide without our times’ bestselling literary subgenre which is helping so much in the question of visibility—? Of course, I am talking about chick lit!

We are so familiarized with this ultra-entertaining fiction that frequently skip the point that it may be the most recurrent genre in LGBT themes because of the usual presence of gay characters. For instance, I remember the well-known Bridget Jones saga (by Helen Fielding), where a gay man—a 1980s one-hit music wonder—is one of the heroine’s best friends, and a young, extremely beautiful colleague of Mark Darcy’s is a lesbian ardently mad about our favorite soppy, hopeless, foul-mouthed Brit girl.

The eternal duality confused straight girl/understanding gay friend has been carved out through the years. In this novel, we find a curious situation: Nico, the name of this time’s gay friend, is both a woman’s (Celia) and a man’s (Álvaro) most coveted supportive confidant. The three of them have been friends since their childhood, and share the same godfather. After his death, they find out that this dark, reclusive man’s last will states that all his possessions—which include an appealing vineyard—would belong to the one of them who gets married first. Just think that this same situation, years ago, would instantly get the gay character out of competition—unless he were ready for a big cheat, indeed!—Nowadays, the gay character can hit the jackpot as fairly as the others. Normalization is the rule in here.   

Far from the marginal pattern, Ardey presents her character in a completely social adaptation. In fact, his description is just mouth-watering: Nico is an attractive alpha male type (at last in appearance, for I would say your gaydar may detect certain irony, quite revealing, in his speech—), successful workman (he is one of those popular in cooks on TV shows), into sports (he devoted his healthful, athletic body to play amateur soccer—yes, that rough, manly activity)…, nice, funny, helpful, charming man—So then… why is Nico still single?

As it happened in the cloak and dagger drama of the Spanish Golden Age, no positive character can eventually end up unmarried, so the author has saved for Nico a fairy godmother in the shape of Celia’s good natured grandpa: the only one who can see through Nico’s flawless façade just to find a concealed broken heart. Nico could never forget a love from the past, and his godfather—you can guess this old man stands out as the forces of the most archaic tradition—secretly ruined any chance of reconciliation.

And this time it will not be the straight girl who will lend a helping hand in Grandpa’s plan to make her gay friend happy, but Álvaro. He will be in charge of bringing Nico’s beloved, Max, together with him. If you want to figure out how Max is like, just imagine a dead ringer for Nico—but with a delightful French accent! The existence of these two perfect affectionate alpha men proves Heaven does not want angels to be alone—And, of course, the wedding bells toll for this cute, desirable gay minor characters. 

A step forward would have these two guys as the main protagonists of an erotic-romantic novel—but that would be another novel. Let’s be content with the lovely little village Olivia Ardey has created for us in the Eastern part of Spain, her own Innisfree,[1] where Celia and Álvaro, the straight leading characters, finally melt—after a series of misunderstandings—in each other’s arms, and a gay couple can make the vast fruitful vineyard their own private Paradise and live happily ever after.

---

[1] Innisfree: A fictional small town in Ireland, the idyllic setting for John Ford’s superb masterpiece The Quiet Man (1952). If you still have not seen the film, do it! John Wayne along with Maureen O’Hara show love is really a battlefield—and how!