Gay-fiction writer Jessica Freely looks just like science fiction author Anne Harris, and for good reason — they’re one in the same, yet distinctly different.
Where as Harris dabbles with gay characters (1998’s Accidental Creatures won the Gaylactic Spectrum Award for best science fiction, fantasy, or horror novel), her alias — Jessica Freely — creates graphic scenes of gay love and sex. Freely's Instinct, the sequel to Virgin (both part of the Awakenings series), was released this past summer to favorable reviews. And Freely’s latest, Rust Belt, is off to a good start.
The bisexual author found her inspiration to write m/m fiction — stories involving gay sex and love that are often written by women — after stumbling online upon fiction about a sexual encounter between the Kevin Smith characters Jay and Silent Bob.
“Prior to that, I didn't know much about slash at all,” Harris says about the slash genre, which is fan fiction that portrays gay couplings involving ostensibly straight characters from popular culture. “I have, since that time, branched out into other pairings — Snape/Hagrid [characters from the Harry Potter novels and films] being a particular favorite. Sadly, these days I don't have time to read much slash at all.”
Where Harris is concerned with speculative ideas, like genetically altered beings and colorful characters, Freely writes predominantly about love between two men, and preferably with their clothes off. Some of Harris's fans have crossed over to Freely; others probably never will.
Follow us on Twitter.
Follow us on Facebook.
Page 1 of 2