MassEquality.org

Author's Note

I created the character of Jules Cassidy long before my son Jason came out, long before he was old enough to identify as gay, back when he was still just a little boy.

But all those years ago, I suspected that Jason was gay (I had a few clues!), and as I looked around at the world, I could see that attitudes were changing in terms of acceptance and tolerance. But things weren't changing fast enough for me.

So I brought Jules Cassidy into the world of my Troubleshooters series, because not only do I believe that diversity is what makes America great, but because I wanted my readers to meet a gay man who was out and okay with himself -- and a damn fine FBI agent, to boot.

Jules's first appearance in the series was in the second installment, The Defiant Hero. After that, he played a part -- usually a major one -- in nine of my eleven Troubleshooters books. And as the series grew, Jules grew, too.

In the early books, Jules was in a serious relationship, but his partner, Adam, was only mentioned in passing. And then the terminally unfaithful Adam left Jules to go to Hollywood to try his luck at becoming a serious film actor.

For the next several books, Jules nursed his broken heart, but finally, in Hot Target, he was forced to confront Adam again. He also met Robin Chadwick in that book -- although at the time Robin was so deep in the closet he didn't even know he was there. In Hot Target, Jules, entangled with both Adam and Robin, graduated from his role as witty gay sidekick and finally got his own romantic subplot, including a steamy kiss or two.

And the world didn't end.

In fact, Hot Target not only hit the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, but was given the Borders Group award for Bestselling Hardcover Romance of the Year.

Late in 2006, I wrote this past summer's release, Force of Nature, which featured Jules and Robin. This book was supposed to be the next installment in their ongoing story arc, but Robin surprised me. He mutinied and demanded his happy ending right away.

I've dealt with unruly characters in the past, but this time (and it was the first time in forty-five books that this has happened to me!), no matter how much I threatened or cajoled, Robin would not compromise. I told him that I'd planned, in a few years, to write a romantic suspense where he and Jules were the two main characters. It would be one of the first mainstream romance novels where there was a hero and a hero instead of a hero and a heroine. It was, I told Robin (I often converse with my fictional characters...), going to be an Important Book.

But he just shook his head. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jules, and he wanted that rest of his life to start immediately.

In the end, I was the one who compromised. I let Force of Nature end the way Robin wanted it to end.

Which brings us to January, 2007.

As a mother of a gay son, and as a Massachusetts resident, I've spent years supporting groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, the Freedom to Marry Coalition, and MassEquality. I've donated both money and time. I've stood, one of thousands, shoulder to shoulder with my son, in candlelight vigils. I've fought against prejudice and ignorance, trying to open eyes and minds. And I've celebrated the milestones and victories, toasting the happiness of gay friends who, after decades of devotion and commitment, could finally be legally married.

By the end of 2006, we thought we'd had the battle won. We thought that hope, tolerance, freedom, diversity and love, sweet love had triumphed over ignorance, fear and hatred. But in January, 2007, we found out that, like Frankenstein's monster, the attempt to take away equal marriage rights had been brought raging back to life.

And that's when I got really angry.

This is my son's future we're talking about. There are people out there who want to take away my son's right to someday marry the person he loves, the right to have the kind of solid, legally recognized relationship that I've shared with my husband of 24 years. (One of these days I'll write a blog about my idea of a truly invincible army made up of perimenopausal PFLAG moms. Don't piss us off. We will kick your ass. Have a nice day...)

So in January, 2007, I decided to do something that my publisher had been urging me to do -- write a holiday novella. I did it in somewhat record time, in order to have it ready for release this year. And I decided to continue Jules and Robin's story and do what I'd originally intended -- make them the hero and hero of a mainstream romance novel. I also decided to turn the concept of the holiday romance novella onto its ear by writing a story centered around Jules and Robin's wedding, set in Boston.

And I decided that every single penny I earned from this book, from now until the end of time -- all advances, royalties, subrights, the whole enchilada -- would go to MassEquality, an organization whose sole purpose is to preserve equal marriage rights in Massachusetts. Because enough is enough.

I hope, with all my heart, that by the time you read these words, the battle will have been won, and the citizens of Massachusetts won't be facing a ballot vote in which the majority gets to decide whether or not to take away the marriage rights of a minority group. (Could that really be possible in America...?) I fervently hope by the time you read this that my son's right to marry will have been preserved.

But if not, then I have this to say to the people who are rapidly becoming a minority themselves, people who don't think that gay Americans should have the same rights as the rest of us...

What part of love don't you understand?

To everyone else, to all the friends of Jules -- past, present and future -- thank you for believing, and for helping to change the world.

Happy holidays,
Suz Brockmann

Bestselling Author Shares the Love with MassEquality