I spoke about writing Lyle over on my Mistress Moreish blog. I want to share some of what I learnt here too though. The character of Lyle is a transgendered male. He was born into a female body and he wants to change so that his body matches his identity. For Lyle gender is anything but irrelevant.
Lyle starts his story at the point where he has been living as a man for a little over two years, and has just started taking hormones to help change his body to that of a male, which is who he is. Lyle is gay. Our story takes him through his first proper date as a man, with another man, Gil.
I researched this section of the story very carefully. I found a lot out about how Lyle might feel, what he would want and not want in a lover and how the practical aspects of making love would affect his experience. I also found out a lot about how TG persons feel about the way they are portrayed in the media and in fiction.
I'm very grateful to the TG persons and fellow authors who helped me write this entry to the Haven Falls website. It was very challenging and it taught me some things both as a writer and as a supporter of people of ALL genders and gender identitites.
What did I learn? Well I hadn't realised previously what side effects Transmen experience from taking hormones. I had guessed at how they might feel about physical contact, but was glad to confirm I had gotten it right. I found out about the preferred language for addressing the issues and the persons involved and about which areas of the topic of transitioning are most charged for those participating in the process. I found out what the various options for surgery are for Transmen, that not all TG people do transition, and that transitioning is costly in both financial and, more importantly, emotional and social terms. I hope people feel I do justice to the topic and that I am portraying Lyle faithfully and sympathetically. Feedback about my writing is always welcomed, especially if you cvan offer constructive criticism or advice on how to do it better next time.
