Show, don't tell: why they need to be there.

I dunno either. I remember that story and was pretty horrified. Particularly when there are so few representations of trans characters in fiction or media. (Which is why I'm trying to include them in my own fiction, although writing while dealing with chronic pain is argh-inducing.)

As far as the Valdemar Q&A... ISTR reading that back in the late 90s/early 00s. I knew authors at that time whose agents were telling them to take their gay characters out of books because they "wouldn't sell". One of these agents was the same agent that Lackey has -- and writers tend to believe the agents because they supposedly know the market better. This particular agent said similar about a certain author's lesbian character (lesbians won't sell, lesbians are boring, people won't be able to identify with them, they're a niche market).

This is not to try to excuse Lackey, because what she said was clearly screwed up, even if she was just repeating what she was told. But, speaking as a writer, being discouraged by an agent can mean a lot (and everything I have heard about this particular agent indicates that he is pushy about his opinions). When the Gay YA thing made the rounds last summer, there were a lot of authors spoke up about how they took gay characters out of their books because their agents or editors told them to. It's a serious issue.

I'm hoping that she will rethink the issue and write trans characters that are equally as awesome as her gay and bisexual characters in Valdemar. I can hope, right?

Hmm. I had not heard that about the agent before. In some ways that makes it weirder that Lackey *did* write good, strong GLB characters, but you're right that she might have unquestioningly swallowed his BS when it came to trans characters. It is also sadly quite likely that one reason my wife was able to include a trans protagonist (where it wasn't an after-school special story, just someone who happened to have that background) is that she's working without an agent and with a tiny publishing company.

I'm hoping so as well, but honestly, I think Lackey's now got the "older, established writer set in her ways" thing going on. Unfortunately.

It's not especially common knowledge. The author who talked about it initially did so on a public board, but that board is unfortunately long gone so I can't link to it.

I don't have an agent and since I'm doing e-publishing, I don't need one, but from what I have heard from published writer friends, there are a lot of agents that are pretty conservative. Not socially conservative, per se, but conservative in what they think will sell. They don't want an author to "waste" their time writing something that they can't sell (and this does happen, a lot). Particularly in the current publishing environment, where NY has not recovered from the economic downturn, and is further threatened by the explosion of e-publishing and self-publishing. I have heard a lot of agents advising authors to "play it safe" and stick with what will sell, rather than taking chances. And I can kinda understand the theory they're working behind, but it sucks.

In the series I'm working on right now, which is urban fantasy with romantic elements, the love interest in book 4 is a trans lady. (Now, how long it will actually take me to get to the point of writing it is anyone's guess. Damn pain disorder.) It worries me a little, because I want to try to go with an e-publisher (as I really don't want to do all the work of self-pubbing, and NY is not an option for me because I cannot guarantee sticking to a regular publishing schedule with my health the way it is) and I don't know how they will take to a trans character. I'm still going to write it, and if I have to self-pub it to get it out there, I will.

On the subject of trans characters, I would recommend Amanda Downum's Bone Palace. One of the secondary characters is a trans woman (and in a poly relationship to boot), and it's quite well done IMO. I'm not trans so it is possible there is something I missed, but it felt very true to what my trans partners have described. :)

Makes more sense that I might've missed it, then, but I appreciate the background! It also makes sense that agents might be extra cautious; the agent-ed authors who are friends of mine have certainly run into similar hesitance to publish things that might be hard to sell, though blessedly nothing on the "socially conservative limitations" front (just "is there room for another YA vampire novel" or whatever).

(I hear you on the writing issues; not as bad for me, but typing is fairly painful.) Good luck, of course! If you do get the book published, I'll be first in line to buy it. :) Incidentally, if you do want to work with a tiny primarily e-publisher, I'm happy to tell you that Candlemark & Gleam *adores* books about less common characters, is flexible about pub dates, has a history of starred Publisher's Weekly reviews for their authors, and pays 30% royalties... the down side is that they are very, very small. One person and some volunteers, really.

I think I saw you mention that elsewhere, and promptly added it to my ILL list! Thanks!

Honestly, I think that's a large part of why self-pub is taking off so hugely. Folks have the option now to write the things they have wanted to, publish it themselves, and reach a readership. I know a bunch of authors who are publishing "trunk" novels that are perfectly good, but their publisher didn't want them for whatever reason.

I'm certainly not decrying traditional publishing, because I believe it has its place, but for those of us who write things that NY hasn't wanted to take a chance on -- it's awesome to have that option. E-publishers are great, too, but your bigger e-pubs are doing romance and if you don't write that, you have less options.

Though, it puts me in mind of Deidre Knight's Butterfly Tattoo. The hero is bisexual and the story takes place after his husband died. It's romance, and he's with a woman, but his late husband is an integral part of the story. Deidre is an agent herself and went all over the place in NY. She has talked quite openly about how so many editors told her "This is an amazing book, I love it, it's a keeper... but we can't publish it because it will be too controversial."

This, by the way, was in 2009.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks! :)

Thank you for recommending Butterfly Tattoo! I haven't finished reading it yet...but especially coming out of this conversation, I can see myself in both main characters' shoes, remember feeling some of the things they're feeling--regarding the sexuality, anyway, not the assault or partner's death.