Today T.A. Chase’s post is on a topic about which I feel strongly. I don’t believe there is enough diversity in M/M romances - sometimes the heroes are so homogeneous it’s difficult to tell them apart. Almost 18 months ago I wrote about a whole range of characters absent from M/M (men of different religious backgrounds, ethnic minorities, physically challenged men, older heroes - this includes anyone over the age of 30) in a post titled Exploring Diversity in M/M; not much has changed since then. Now T.A. is asking the question: What you want in your M/M characters?
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Hey everyone, Wave asked me to return for another interesting blog discussion. At least, I hope you find it interesting. :) In rummaging through my brain for a topic to write on, I got to thinking about realistic characters. I don’t mean the things Stuart pointed out in his observations, and Wave posted about here.
What I’m talking about are heroes who are disabled in some way, whether he’s in a wheel chair like in Sweet Toppings by Carol Lynne, or lost his hearing because of war like in Capturing Perfection by Trina Lane. Heroes who have to struggle through life, not just because they’re gay, but because they have other challenges to deal with.
Three of my books out this year have heroes like that. Not Seeing is Believing has a blind vampire. Be the Air For You has a hero who is going deaf, and in Lift Your Voice, Bran has lost the lower half of his leg to a road-side bomb in Iraq.
Now, some would say m/m romance, or romance in general, is about the fantasy that everyone can have a happily ever after…or a happy for now ending. That the perfect man is out there just waiting for us-or our heroes-to find them. And it is true. With a little bit of hope, we all can find a person to love and live with, though more often than not, they aren’t perfect. 
What I was wondering is this: Do you, as readers, like to read stories about men who are slightly less than perfect? They might be older than usual, or not quite a hard body. One of the heroes could be in a wheelchair, blind, or deaf. Or do you like reading about perfect men? There’s no wrong answer to those questions…lol.
Also, what else would you like to see in the books you read? Topics, ethnicities, or places you would like to see more of in your books?
Thanks Wave, and all of you, for letting me chat with you today. I hope you have a great Tuesday.