BIG GAY BLOG WEEK ! Double POST! S.A. Meade & Danielle DeVor

*This post was written by M/M author S.A. Meade who I have interviewed here on the blog before.* 

I’ve been at a bit of a loose end when it came to coming up with a post for this series of blogs. I just can’t get into a serious frame of mind. So I got to thinking (as you do) about gay actors that I admire and settled on David Hyde Pierce.

He’s been with his partner for 25 years, which kinda puts the romantic antics of his co-star from Frasier, Kelsey Grammer into interesting perspective. Kelsey, God love him, has been married four times and most states in the U.S. wouldn’t recognise Hyde Pierce’s marriage. Something very wrong there. But, personal life aside, it’s Pierce’s portrayal of Niles that just blows me away. Niles was obsessive-compulsive, prissy, and so bloody uptight. What made the character great wasn’t just the writing, but Hyde-Pierce’s physical acting—the tight, controlled movements, the little touches, brushing imaginary specks of dust from his immaculately tailored suits, wiping down chairs in restaurants before he sits down.

This little scene just cracks me up. Not only is he a fusspot, but he’s a bit of a weakling too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0xk3PTvbs&feature=related

So, that’s my little post. It’s a bit frivolous but I think it’s good to recognise that the LGBT community has contributed and continues to contribute to the Arts. There are so many actors I could’ve focused on but David Hyde Pierce will always hold a special place in my heart because of the unforgettable Niles Crane.

* Danielle DeVor is the author of the debut YA novel Riding on the Tail of the Devil from Eirelander Press Date TBA*

I honestly believe that if I were a specific member of a church, when my YA fantasy, RIDING ON THE TAIL OF THE DEVIL, is published- I would get thrown out. For sure. Not, because one of the characters is gay, but because of the way I’ve basically blown apart religion in the book. But that’s a whole other story.

I try to place my characters in unusual and awkward situations as much as humanly possible. For this one, especially with YA, involving characters from many walks of life was important to me. Besides, how could I resist making Nosferatu into his own person, giving him soul, and also, as it just happened through writing the book, deciding that he was gay.

While having physical disfigurements (Bald head, long pointed teeth, and actually part bat), Nossy is very self conscious. So self-conscious that when he finally approaches his best friend, Mathias, with the fact that he has fallen in love with him- he does it in such a way that is so outlandish, that Mathias can’t help being shocked. Appearing naked amongst rose petals to a straight man isn’t exactly the way to go with this.

So, for Mathias, dealing with Nossy’s tail flap underneath his scrotum is waaaay too much to handle. But, being a good friend, Mathias simply tells Nossy to get dressed, and he’ll be back later after he calms down.

I think being gay, and having to deal with added repercussions when dealing with rejection is probably one of the hardest things to have to deal with. Not only is there the usual sting of the rejection, but there is still a lot of prejudice, and I imagine that it has happened more often than not that a friendship is destroyed.

Besides being vampires, Nossy and Mathias are rather normal, except for the small part that they both are stark raving mad. But, that has absolutely nothing to do with their sexual orientation. Being alive, caring, and strong is what’s important after all. I think it would do a lot of people good to remember that.