(This post inspired by a recent AMA on the MM_RomanceBooks subreddit.)
Mr Warren’s Profession is my first novel.
Perhaps because I felt insecure and thought I had something to prove, I was determined to depict two allistic protagonists. Then I handed it off to an allistic friend for a beta read, who said, “Wow! It’s so cool how you’re doing autistic representation by having two autistic characters in a romance together!”
Which told me I was even worse at masking than I’d thought.
Autism is not difficult to see in the character of Aubrey Warren. He is an engineer. He is very blunt and frankly out of patience for most social niceties. His initial impression of his future love interest is as follows:
“Tall,” said Aubrey.
“What?”
“He’s quite tall,” Aubrey elaborated. In fact, he thought Mr Althorp bore strong resemblance to a lamp post. A tall, narrow pole topped with bright blond curls like a yellow gas flame.
With Lindsey, however, I thought I’d nailed the allistic perspective. He’s extraordinarily outgoing, loves meeting new people, enjoys socializing, and is determined to see the best in just about everyone.
But once readers got hold of him, reviewers noted over and over again how, despite being naive, he never seemed to lack maturity or intelligence. Some marvelled at the delicate balance.
Which struck me as odd, because writing Lindsey had come very naturally to me. It had never felt like a delicate balance or something I had to work to maintain. A man could be ebuillent, sheltered, innately good, and nonetheless a mature and intelligent adult. Surely everyone knew this. Didn’t they?
Autistic adults are often perceived and/or dismissed by allistics as childlike or innocent or naive. With Lindsey, I wrote him (however inadvertently) as someone somewhat like myself. Maybe not able to innately predict how allistic people think, but nonetheless mature and intelligent. As one reader put it,
“I’m autistic and always read Lindsey as autistic as well, and the way he prioritizes his values and compassion over social norms is one of the reasons I love him so much.”
(I’m particularly attached to that compassion in Lindsey and Aubrey alike. Autistic people are so often accused of lacking empathy by those who seem unable to extend any empathy towards autistics.)
So there went my first depiction of autism – however unintentional.
With Hold Fast I ventured into my first deliberate portrayal of autism.
Percy Devereaux is the neighbor of our protagonists. He is near and dear to my heart. I gave him not just my autism but also my fascination with the history of medicine. Unlike me, he pursued this interest all the way to medical school and is well on his way to becoming a surgeon.
Percy exists in an era before autism as a formal diagnosis. However, it’s still evident to him and to others that he thinks somewhat differently than most of his peers. His sister, Miss Devereaux, is not only aware of this difference but also his staunch ally in society – and he, hers. Between the two of them they’ve worked out a system to weaponize his infodumping to swiftly and emphatically redirect the flow of conversations and extract them from awkward social interactions. It shows up only once in the novel but is nonetheless one of my favorite scenes.
Like Aubrey and Lindsey, Percy is more interested in following his own compassionate moral code than in obeying social norms. Because of this he becomes an ally of the novel’s protagonists Morgan and Evelyn. Morgan is a longtime friend of Miss Devereaux, and through the adventures in the novel Evelyn proves himself her friend as well. Thus Percy requires no further persuasion to keep their secrets and provide life-saving medical aid – although his bedside manner might prove off-putting to some.
And with my upcoming novel, Fiorenzo, I’m making another attempt at deliberately portraying autism. This time in one of the protagonists, Enzo. Like Percy he is a medical student. Like Lindsey he has led a sheltered life due to his position in society. And like Percy, Lindsey, and Aubrey, he cleaves to his own compassionate moral code with little heed for society’s expectations or anything else. I’ve given Enzo more of my autistic traits than any other character. Or, more accurately, I’ve stopped making any effort in trying to portray an allistic protagist. It’s been a very cathartic and freeing experience thus far, and I hope you will enjoy reading about him as much as I’ve enjoyed writing him.
Fiorenzo is a queer fantasy-of-manners romance featuring secret identities, hurt/comfort, and a happily-ever-after. It’s available for pre-order now and will release this September 30th.
Fiore has a plan. Find a wealthy elderly gentleman, delight him until the end of his days, and retire on the resulting inheritance. It’s the best outcome a low-born courtesan in the city of Halcyon can hope for.
And it seems a perfect scheme… until a mysterious masked man upends it.
Banished from university after a disastrous duel, Enzo wanders the city searching for scraps of the affection he’s lost. His public mask conceals private agonies. A single night in the company of a courtesan, however, balms his wounded heart, and he finds himself returning again and again to Fiore, revealing more of himself than he’s ever dared before.
Furthermore, and more astonishing still, Fiore finds he returns Enzo’s affections.
But while Fiore wears no mask, he nonetheless has secrets of his own. And when the ghosts of their pasts return to haunt them, only the bond of trust between them will carry them through.
~
Amazon • Apple • Barnes & Noble • Indigo • Kobo • Smashwords
Sebastian Nothwell 