#vincent virga

[fated-mates]

In one of our most beloved trailblazers conversations, we talked with Vincent Virga—author of the Gaywyck trilogy, the first m/m gothic romance, and one of the first m/m romances ending with a happily ever after.

He shares rich, wonderful stories about his vibrant life as a picture editor in publishing, the literary set in New York City in the 70s and 80s, writing during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the times in a writer’s life when the words don’t come easily, and the times when they can’t be stopped.

Listen for the first 30 seconds and trust us when we tell you that the whole thing is that good. There's lots of good info in show notes, too, plus a high quality transcription made by a human being.

[tako-fktsu]

Two kittens

[fahye]

your book reccomendations are always excellent, do you have any favorite queer romance authors? looking for the standard “trashy” romance vibes but with queer people if possible, thank you so much!

let's see! romance vibes but make it queer.

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake (f/f contemp small town romance)

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny (m/m medieval historical, fluff and identity shenanigans in a forest)

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner (f/f contemp 'oh shit I banged my roommate's hot mum')

basically anything by Alexis Hall but start with Boyfriend Material (m/m contemp romcom) or A Lady For A Duke (m/f regency with a trans heroine) for classic romance vibes

Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell (m/m contemp about a teacher and a student's dad) is extremely sweet

I can't imagine you've spent any time around my tumblr without hearing me yell READ EVERYTHING BY KJ CHARLES!! but today I will rec Any Old Diamonds (m/m historical, thief/aristocrat with HEIST SHENANIGANS)

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes (m/f contemp with trans heroine and lots of kink) is scorching hot and heaps of fun

I have heard great things about An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera (f/f historical, SEX PACT WITH A DUCHESS) but my ordered copy hasn't arrived yet

ditto The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur (contemporary f/f celebrity marriage of convenience/fake dating), which I JUST got my paws on today and am excited to read

fuck it, Gaywyck by Vincent Virga was the first m/m gothic romance (1980!) and it's Truly The Most Gothic so if you like oldschool romances where the vibes are problematic but extremely delicious, check it out.

...and then read this great article by chels about Problematic Queer Books and why we need them

[power-chords]

This post is so interesting. I swear I'm not being a bitch, I'm legitimately intrigued as to how this happens. This reads like the kind of post somebody would make if they were only familiar with "romance novel" as an abstract concept. Actual romance novels employ a similar grammar of pretty codified tropes, and arguably a lot less diverse in practice. And there is abundant fanfic that expressly functions as an epic narrative on intimacy, so much so that Elizabeth Woledge proposed the "intimatopia" as a distinct form within the genre. So like, what you are asking for here is either the Brontë sisters or Vincent Virga (gay Brontë sisters) or most likely just fanfiction of a particular literary quality. Which, yes, I understand is a tall order.

[drawulan]

Recently me and my friends have been reading an American queer gothic novel Gaywick by Vincent Virga, it’s insanely good! And also it’s second part Vadriel Veil!

The heroes of Gaywick:

Donough Gaylord (!) and Robert

[cosynopsis]

thank you mr vincent virga for "GAYWYCK"

Upd: but be careful, there are a lot of tw

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: september 2023

read:

Angélique, the Road of Hope and The Victory of Angélique by Anne Golon - can't believe I finished this, lol. It's a pity book 14 wasn't published, but book 13 provides a conclusion to many main plotlines, so it's still a decent ending. I will always wonder if another one of my brotps was supposed to reunite in the last book, though :D For all its faults, enjoyed this series tremendously; it's the people helping and supporting each other even in the bleakest circumstances for me

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater - Regency Faerie Tales part two, even cuter than part one. Seriously, these books are such a delight, I need to read part three ASAP

Spēlēju, dancoju / I Played, I Sang by Rainis - girl help, my Latvian vocabulary does not include that much archaic and/or poetic language, but I did understand enough to see how beautiful it is

Gaywick by Vincent Virga - I read that one liveblogging thread/channel, so I was familiar with the plot, but it was still so interesting to see it all happen. Incredible how a book can cover so many disturbing, truly Gothic themes and still be hopeful and sweet, loved it

Vadriel Vail by Vincent Virga - Gaywick Trilogy book 2, not nearly as good as the first one. Constant timeskips, important events only told in passing, one of the MCs is a boring Gary Stu and the other disgusting. Bearable thanks to the first one's wife and characters from book 1

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton - it's not terrible and had some interesting stuff, but still felt sort of... superficial? Most of the characters felt underdeveloped, the story often felt like an outline. I bought it mostly because it was cheap and I'm glad it was.

+ currently reading Children of Paradise (Gaywick Trilogy #3)

watched:

Apteeker Melchior / Melchior the Apothecary (2023) - a murder mystery set in medieval Tallinn. Something bugged me about the dialogue, but I mostly enjoyed the plot and the familiar setting

The Skeleton Key (2005) - Southern Gothic, a grim old house, and Hoodoo magic. Enjoyed the final plot twists and how they recontextualize a lot of stuff earlier in the movie. Was rooting for the heroine but also had to hand it to the antagonists in the end, good for them

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - so, so charming. Impossible not to hum and move along to the songs. Marilyn Monroe, of course, is a goddess, but Jane Russell tho... gentlemen might prefer blondes but I'm no gentleman

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) - also charming and funny, though I found it a bit less interesting than the previous one; still good though

Constantine (2005) - I frequently felt like I was missing some context. Either I'm stupid or it's just because I haven't read the comics, but shouldn't a movie adaptation be understandable even for those unfamiliar with the source? Otherwise it was ok and had Rachel Weisz in it

Rebecca (1940) - not nearly as haunting as the novel, but a good film nevertheless. Mostly I just wanted to protect the narrator :( she's so cute

also, a bit unrelated, probably, but I saw two theatre performances last month - one was a live screening of Good by the National Theatre (powerful, amazingly done, probably wouldn't have decided to see it by myself, so thanks to the friend who suggested it) and the other The Three Musketeers neo-classical ballet at the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (really nice, cool stage design, I posted a trailer here)

[dogstarblues]

okay accomplishments for today

1. ate 3 times, each time a low spoons meal

2. walked the dog

3. prepped a canvas

4. did dishes

5. listened to an audiobook and a podcast featuring Vincent Virga as a guest who wrote the first m/m romance novel in the US and one of the first where the leads got to have a happy ending

6. took care of banking stuff

7. dressed in a few outfits

8. showered

9. washed my hair

10. wore perfume and lip oil and felt good

11. did laundry

12. sat in the sun

13. did skincare, low-effort

14. watched videos on using clip studio

15. im about to start reading a book if my brain is up to it! and

16. i will play a game after im done reading the book for the night

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

Favourite Gay Books: Gaywyck

Gaywyck by Vincent Virga

The first gay gothic romance, treads firmly in beloved territory, both honoring it and reinventing it. Classic in style, Vincent Virga creates a world as authentic as anything penned by DuMaurier, retaining the creaking ancestral mansion and mysterious and brooding master of the manor, while replacing the traditional damsel in distress with the young and handsome Robert Whyte.

Author Bio:

Vincent Virga has been called "America's foremost picture editor." He has researched, edited, and designed picture sections for more than 150 books, including Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States and the full-length photo essay The Eighties: Images of America. He is also the author of A Comfortable Corner. He is working on a third novel, Theatricals.

Where to buy:

Amazon UK | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

[fated-mates]

This week, we're taking a break, and hope you get one too. In the meantime, please consider listening to our Trailblazer episode with Vincent Virga-author of Gaywyck, the first m/m gothic-about the way writing a gay romance impacted him & so many readers.

This week marks the 42nd Anniversary of the Shooting at the Ramrod Nightclub in NYC, which happened the night of Gaywyck's book launch. Today, we're thinking of the victims and survivors then, and those at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

[kiraalexander]

Mirror mirror on the wall what’s the most extra novel cover of them all?

[lgbtqiahistoricalromance]

Gaywyck, the first gothic gay novel, is available through Kindle Unlimited.

[kiraalexander]

From personal experience, if you have not read this book, OBTAIN THIS BOOK AND READ IT IMMEDIATELY.

Do you happen to know of any 1970's Gothic Novel Cover style covers that feature a male protagonist in a eerie landscape?

I actually do!

I’ve never read it but it looks amazing.

[withywindlesdaughter]

Gaywyck," the first gay gothic romance, treads firmly in beloved territory, both honoring it and reinventing it. Classic in style, Vincent Virga creates a world as authentic as anything penned by DuMaurier, retaining the creaking ancestral mansion and mysterious and brooding master of the manor, while replacing the traditional damsel in distress with the young and handsome Robert Whyte. 

This was the first “gay” book I ever read. It was the 1980s and I was in high school when “gay” was a very dangerous thing to be. It was circulated among us and even the very-not-gay members of my social group took a peek at it. I ended-up with it last (no one wanted to admit to owning it - I’m not even sure where it came from!) and kept it for many years. There was no internet and we were pretty much limited stealing pron from our older brothers (or *pinches bridge of nose* our dads!) so this was my introduction to M/M fiction.

[vincentanthonyv13]

Vincent Anthony Virga: President of PFS Wealth Management Group

Vincent Anthony Virga has energetic and entertaining informational workshops. Therefore with the benefits of wealth investment, he lectures extensively about non-conventional approaches to wealth accumulation and preservation to other financial advisory professionals and the general public. He is licensed for insurance and variable products in multiple states; New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

[titleleaf]

hi ❤️ a long while ago you mentioned Edward, Edward on here and i read it and i LOVED it. i don’t read much historical fiction but i love that time period and that fucked up relationship between edward and the earl. could you recommend anything similar, preferably including those kind of relationships? thank you 🥀

Omg, thank you so much for joining me in the wild dark world of Lolah Burford! (I almost called her Lylah Clare, which seems fitting on some level.) 

I’m trying to think of anything I’ve read with a relationship that’s comparable to the dark push-pull between Edward and the Earl — it’s so squarely gothic but it goes into psychological territory that 18th and 19th century gothic lit couldn’t quite broach directly, I wish I had a really good rec off the top of my head because it’s such a striking aspect of the novel. 

The 18th and early 19th century isn’t so much my wheelhouse for historical fiction (I’m much more in late Victorian/Neo-Victorian/early 20th century hell) but there’s a lot of academic writing about queerness, taboo relationships, and the Gothic genre in that era — if you’re interested in that era and the novel’s thematic influences that might be a good place to start. I also recently asked for gothic lit recs dealing with trauma/queerness and got some good ones here.

For fucked-up 70s historical gothic romances, these ones are more hetero than Edward Edward but sound bonkers enough to be on my next-up-to-read list regardless:

This Other Eden - Marilyn Harris

The Flesh And The Devil and The Silver Devil - Teresa Denys

For dark m/m period novels about complicated relationships:

As Meat Loves Salt - Maria McCann

Dark Water - Elizabeth Lowry

Gaywyck - Vincent Virga (cornerstone 70s queer gothic but it’s tonally more of a loving pastiche of the 20th century gothic than the 18th century like EE is)

Lolah Burford has several other bonkers-sounding books like MacLyon, Alyx, and Vice Avenged but I don’t think any of them deal with m/m relationships or anything as close and dark as in Edward, Edward— Vice Avenged sounds very much thematically in line with some of the 18th century libertine stuff in EE, so I might pick it up next.

Hilariously, Goodreads features Edward, Edward on a list of “M/M Books With Potentially Outside Of Comfort Zone Themes”  — I wish it was easier to sort lists on Goodreads more like on Letterboxd, by publication date and the like. I feel like I should be tagging in @chthonic-cassandra and @forthegothicheroine as two people much better informed wrt [libertines in fiction/the Gothic and the taboo/20th century Gothic romance/just about everything] than I am. It’s really interesting to me that Burford’s other work comes up in an academic context (at least judging from a trawl through Google Scholar) in critical overviews of the romance genre and nonconsent in the m/f 1970s romance novel — I would love to read an annotated version of EE or even just an essay on it dealing with its own unique complexities.