I had a thought today. (I know. Don't fall over in shock or anything.) I've been thinking a lot lately about romantic comedy in m/m (male/male). Basically, there is none. Well, that's not true. There are books that people call romantic comedy. But it's a pretty small percentage of the total sub-genre. And what I've read hasn't left me with the same satisfaction that m/f (male/female) romcom does.
Why is this? Is it not terribly popular, and therefore not published often? Or is there something specific about romantic comedy that doesn't work when you're dealing with two men vs a man and a woman? Is it not great because it's rare, or is it rare because it's not great?
That's the part I've been thinking about for a while. Here's the part that just dawned on me today. If I want to analyse the problem, I should host a book club on a blog. It takes me a while, but I get there eventually.
So here's what I'm thinking. Pick a couple of romcoms that are considered some of the best in both m/f and m/m and compare them. What works in each book? What doesn't? Is there something about a woman being part of the equation that allows the comedy magic to happen? M/M is largely written by and for women, so in theory it shouldn't be a gender difference in the creators/audience causing the problem.
A problem with this plan may be finding enough people willing to read both m/m and m/f stories to get a good conversation going. There seem to be a fair number of people on both sides who don't want girls/two dudes cluttering up their romance novels.
So. Is this something you'd be interested in?
