My new series (THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE, starting in April!) doesn't really have any romance, as it's about a girl learning magic from a dragon, but it IS about those in charge trying to keep power by making up monsters to scare the populace, so there might be some relevant metaphors there, too.
Either way, the series (especially the last book) has gotten some pretty bad reviews due to this, so if you’ve enjoyed ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME and want to leave a review, it’d be much appreciated!
So I guess I need to be even less subtle next time around. Lesson learned, conservative parents. Sorry you missed all the other references!
I guess it could be that the people who wrote in weren't actually reading the books, but had just heard about two boys kissing in the final book, so write in to complain, pretending they were long-time fans. Or maybe it’s a reading comprehension issue. Not entirely sure.
But I didn’t get even one comment about the characters being gay or ace before the kiss, or the fact that the very pointedly evil villains were using magical conversion therapy on the characters. And that just makes me wonder if I WAS too subtle after all? (It’s pretty unlikely, but who knows.)
But the part that DID surprise me was how they were only “betrayed” about the kiss, and not about all the times I mentioned the boy liking other boys, or how Lena didn't have feelings at all for boys or girls, since I was trying to give some ace/aromantic representation in these books as well.
And I wasn't remotely surprised by this, given how often conservatives attack LGBTQ+ people, especially when given representation in children's books.
Apparently I have a lot of homeschooling and other conservative parents who’ve enjoyed my books in the past, because I got a LOT of e-mails from parents (no kids) about how “betrayed” they felt by this kiss.
It all ends with the fairy godmothers defeated, and everyone therefore getting to live how they want. And since my fairy tales had a happy ending, I went with the Disney tradition of ending with a kiss, and had the boy kiss another boy.