Writing ‘Mason’s Run’

by Mellanie Rourke

Writing “Mason’s Run” was the culmination of a life-long desire to publish a novel.  I just had no idea the novel I would publish would end up being a M/M romance!

I grew up in a religious home.  We attended church every week. My sister and I went to a private Christian school, and I would eventually attend a Christian college.   

My parents had a huge influence on me and my writing, but for very different reasons.  My Dad loved science fiction. Star Trek was his jam, and every Saturday at 7 p.m. the whole family would be found sitting around the television eating cheesy popcorn and trying to get the rabbit ears to work so we could watch that week’s episode. So it makes sense that I got my love of science fiction and fantasy from him.

My Mom, on the other hand, avoided church whenever she could. She smoked cigarettes, wore bright red lipstick, and dared to have male friends in addition (and separate from) my father. I love my Dad, don’t get me wrong, but my Mom and I understood each other in a way Dad and I never did. Mom was a rebel, a bad girl, a woman who ended up raising three pretty cool kids. I think she understood the rebel that lived in her “good little girl” better than I did!

Growing up, I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. I visited the library at least weekly, and it wasn’t unusual for me to go home with ten to fifteen books at a time. As I grew older, I read more and more dark fantasy, eventually falling into the paranormal romance sections. (Thank you, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Laurell K. Hamilton!)

Mom’s influence led me to question authority, to think outside the box, to refuse to accept that normal was anything but a setting on the dryer. She would silently support me, even if publicly she would tell me I was wrong. She’d slip me an extra twenty dollars when I’d head back to school so I could take my rebellious friends out to dinner or to buy extra books from Waldens (there was no Kindle Unlimited then!).

The paranormal romances I purchase introduced me to the forbidden idea that men could love each other, and that M/M sex could be damn hot!  My Mom passed before I began writing M/M romance, but I have this feeling she would have been my biggest cheerleader. 

My father and I have reached a détente over the years.  We have agreed to disagree on a lot of things in life, including religion.  Right after I graduated from college, I decided to take the summer off from God, and see how it felt.  I’ve never gone back. 

My mother passed away several years ago from pancreatic cancer. From the time she was diagnosed, it spread quickly to her bladder and brain, and the woman I had loved so fiercely was gone within a matter of weeks.

My Dad has since remarried, to a wonderful woman named Joy who, literally, brought joy and romance back into his life. Dad is proud of me for having published my book, but he had to make a point to me that he didn’t approve of its content.  Joy, on the other hand, doesn’t wear bright red lipstick and she doesn’t smoke, but she will drink the occasional drink and read my steamy stories. I guess that’s good enough for me.  

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