Yaoi Books’ Blog

Yaoi is one of the best things that has hit the US from Japan. For those not familiar with it, Yaoi is a genre originating in Japan. It had its beginnings in manga, Japanese comics, and in anime. It is very difficult to explain what Yaoi really is, and perhaps only its fans can really appreciate it. Yaoi is about the love between idealized boys. It explores the beauty of these relationships and their development. It is important to point out; however, that Yaoi is very different from the m x m genre of writing. There is a deeper romantic element involved. Perhaps this is one factor that makes it especially attractive to women.
For me, Yaoi is an outlet for my creativity. I am an artist and author, but my main problem was finding suitable material for my work. As for art, I have indulged in painting scenes from obscure myths, but now I paint many “boys in love” scenes. I love to paint their soft faces and expressive eyes. My challenge now is to learn digital art, so that I can produce book covers. I am learning PainterX and PhotoShop. As for writing, I love writing, but conventional stories don’t attract me. Another vexing problem is that most stories are expected to have some romance, even horror stories. Before Yaoi, I tried to write heterosexual scenes, but they were awkward and maybe even a bit twisted. I am not a hetero, so how could I write something I found unattractive?
My Yaoi is really different from most gay material I have read. The characters become committed couples, and they are very tender and romantically involved. There are so many elements I love about Yaoi. There is sexual tension, but it is devoid of the man vs. woman problems that so annoyed me in romance novels. Somehow it seemed that men could be real asses, and women still loved them. In Yaoi, this can happen, but not in my Yaoi. My characters can have misunderstandings, but because they are both men, they don’t take shit from their mates.
Yaoi boys have names indicating their roles. There is the Seme, a Japanese word indicating the person who initiates an attack in the martial arts. He is the “top.” The Uke, the “bottom,” is from the word meaning “one who receives the attack.” In Yaoi, these roles aren’t reversed, generally. The Seme is usually bigger or older, but this isn’t always the case. In the manga “Jazz,” the Seme is the younger man; however, he is more assertive.
Yaoi novels are rare compared to conventional manga. I was always left longing for more after reading manga. There was so much more to a story, I thought, so I decided to write my own. Please see my novels at www.extasybooks.com or go to our site at www.yaoi-books.com
Is anyone considering writing Yaoi? Does anyone have suggestions for new novels? Let’s talk!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Gay, Japanese Culture, Manga, Anime, Yaoi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.