S04.11: Vincent Virga: Trailblazer

This week, we’re continuing our Trailblazer episodes 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.&nbsp;He talks about writing gay romance and about the way reading about love and happiness change readers lives. He also shares rich, wonderful stories about his vibrant life as a picture editor in publishing, about the literary set in New York City in the 70s and 80s, about writing during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, about the times in a writer’s life when the words don’t come easily, and about the times when they can’t be stopped.&nbsp;We are honored and so grateful that Vincent took the time to speak with us, and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.&nbsp;There’s still time to buy the Fated Mates Best of 2021 Book Pack from our friends at Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA, and get eight of the books on the list, a Fated Mates sticker and other swag! Order the book box as soon as you can to avoid supply chain snafus. Thank you, as always, for listening! If you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!&nbsp;Our next read-alongs will be the Tiffany Reisz Men at Work series, which is three holiday themed category romances. Read one or all of them: Her Halloween Treat, Her Naughty Holiday and One Hot December.Show NotesWelcome&nbsp;Vincent Virga, author of&nbsp;Gaywyck, the first gay gothic romance, and one of the earliest gay romances with a happily ever after.&nbsp;It was published by Avon in 1980. He has written several other novels, including&nbsp;Vadriel Vail&nbsp;and&nbsp;A Comfortable Corner. He was also the premier picture editor in the book industry. He has been with his partner,&nbsp;author James McCourt,&nbsp;author of&nbsp;Mawrdew Czgowchwz, for 56 years. Their collected papers are housed at the&nbsp;Beinecke Library at Yale University.&nbsp;Today is&nbsp;the 41st anniversary&nbsp;of&nbsp;The Ramrod Massacre&nbsp;in New York City, where&nbsp;Vernon Kroening&nbsp;and Jorg Wenz were killed. Six other men were shot and injured inside the bar or on the streets near the Ramrod.&nbsp;Author&nbsp;Malinda Lo&nbsp;and Librarian&nbsp;Angie Manfredi&nbsp;sound&nbsp;the warning bell&nbsp;about the fights that we are facing around access to books and libraries and calls for&nbsp;book banning&nbsp;happening all around the country.&nbsp;Here is what you can do to help support your local library. Check out&nbsp;Runforsomething.net&nbsp;for ideas about local races where you live.&nbsp;Want more Vincent in your life? Here is a great interview from 2019 on a blog called&nbsp;The Last Bohemians, and this&nbsp;2011 interview on Live Journal.&nbsp;Daisy Buchanan cries that she's never seen such beautiful shirts in&nbsp;The Great Gatsby, and&nbsp;We Get Lettersis a song from the Perry Como show.People Vincent mentioned:&nbsp;Susan Sontag,&nbsp;Maria Callas, opera singer&nbsp;Victoria de los Ángeles, editor&nbsp;Elaine Markson,&nbsp;Jane Fonda,&nbsp;Armistead Maupin, poets&nbsp;John Ashbery&nbsp;and&nbsp;James Merrill,&nbsp;Hillary and Bill Clinton,&nbsp;editor Alice Mayhew, Gwen Edelman at Avon Books,&nbsp;&nbsp;Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse, publisher&nbsp;Bob Wyatt,&nbsp;John Ehrlichman&nbsp;from Watergate, author&nbsp;Colm Tóibín, poet&nbsp;Mark Doty,&nbsp;Truman Capote, poet and translator&nbsp;Richard Howard,&nbsp;Shelley Winters,&nbsp;John Wayne,&nbsp;Lauren Bacall, and&nbsp;Kim Novak.&nbsp;The museum Vincent was a part of in County Mayo, Ireland, is&nbsp;<a...