Lee Hayes, Author
We had the opportunity to have a discussion with Author Lee Hayes. For those not familiar with Lee Hayes, he is the author of the novels Passion Marks; A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II; The Messiah; and editor of the erotic anthology, Flesh to Flesh. In June 2011, his most recent novel, The Bad Seed, was released.
Lee is a southern native, born and raised in Texas. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and received his Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from The Bernard M. Baruch College, City University of New York in 2005.
Lee currently resides in Washington, DC and is currently working on his sixth novel.
During this interview, Lee Hayes discusses black versus gay civil rights, how the economy has affected book sales, and why straight women enjoy gay literature.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Black people are more prevalent in public intellectual mediums now than ever before. What percentage of your fan base is college educated
would you guess?
LeeHAYES: I’m actually not sure. Generally speaking, I think I have a very diverse fan base whose level of education varies from high school graduate to Ph.D’s. The stories I tell, which deal with a plethora of issues such as domestic violence in same-sex relationships to gay serial killers to infidelity and heart break, attracts a wide fan base. Anyone who loves good books can be a fan!
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Are you feeling the pressure to become part of the education of
black people through your writing or do you consider your writing to be more entertainment?
LeeHAYES: I think there is always something I’m trying to enlighten the populace about, but I wouldn’t term it education in an academic sense, except with my first novel, Passion Marks, that dealt graphically with same-sex domestic violence. In that story, I really tried to educate people on the harsh realities of abuse by illuminating the gamut of abuse, from psychological, physical and sexual. My other novels deal are more for entertainment, although one of the things I always try to do is to show gay people who are comfortable in their skin and who lead lives very much like anyone else. I don’t usually write about coming-out stories or DL stories; my characters know who they are and their sexuality is simply a part of their overall being.
So, I don’t feel pressure to educate anyone, but I do hope there is some guiding principle people can take away from my novels and/or I hope they do learn something they didn’t know prior to reading a Lee Hayes novel.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you think you would ever become more of a political activist for black people?
LeeHAYES: I have strong political opinions and often engage in rigorous political debate. I do agree that black people need level-headed leadership that focuses on empowerment rather than victimization. I’m not sure I’m the right person to lead the charge, though; however, I’ve learned to never say never.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you feel a responsibility to educate people about the black
condition through your writing or do you prefer to write about more racially universal issues.
LeeHAYES: Although all of my novels deal with black people in the black experience, my goal has never been to illuminate the condition of black people. To an extent, I guess it depends on which demographic group within the black experience we are referring. If I’m writing about black gay people—which I do—then in a sense I am educating people about the black experience, or at least a part of it. The black experience clearly is not a monolithic entity that can be summarized in a few short stories or novels. I usually tackle issues or subjects that have special meaning or interest to me and I hope that others find the subjects interesting, too.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: You choose to use mostly African American characters in your novels. Do you plan to include a more racially diverse character base in your
novels in the future?
LeeHAYES: Yes! In fact, I just finished (over the weekend) my 6th novel. The lead character in this story is a racially-complex/ambiguous young man who lives in a very racially diverse world. He has a white girlfriend, and a Creole best friend.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Being gay has become more mainstream because of the general population recognizing the civil rights of gay people. Do you feel that the civil rights of black people are benefiting from this movement?
LeeHAYES: Hmmm, I’m not sure how the civil rights of black people benefit from the civil rights of gay people, particularly when there is so much work to do to educate black people about the need to join the civil rights fight for gay people. Dr. King was right when he so eloquently said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and if black people think sitting on the sideline watching government oppose basic rights of gay people is the way to go then they need to reflect on the civil rights movement when there were countless of white people who risked life and limb to support civil rights for black people. We are all in this together and we are all entitled to basic rights. We learned a long time ago that separate is never equal; creating separate rules and institutions for different groups of people is not only inherently wrong, but also fundamentally flawed.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: How has the current economic environment affected your book sales? How has it affected the book sales of your peers?
LeeHAYES: Books sales across the board have suffered. Books stores are closing up shop. In DC, we no longer have a gay and lesbian bookstore with Lambda Rising closing a few years back. This hasn’t just affected gay bookstores or mom-and-pop bookstores, but also large retailers like the now defunct Borders Group. It’s rough waters for the publishing industry as a whole. Not only has the economic downturn affected books sales as people tighten their wallet over their discretionary spending, but e-books have also added a nail in the coffin of bookstores.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Has the demise of bookstores hindered sales? Has the popularity of Ebooks helped sales?
LeeHAYES: I think Ebooks are one of the reasons bookstores are dying. People don’t go into bookstores anymore. It used to be that you’d go into a store, browse books, end up buying more than you came in for, but now we log onto Amazon or iTunes and download a book from the comfort of our homes or offices. I think the verdict is still out on the benefits or disadvantages of E-books; what is perfectly clear is that writers, publishers and anyone in the publishing business will have to re-think their business models and strategies.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: I have recently discovered that number of my straight female friends enjoy gay literature, specifically gay erotic literature. Do you find that more straight women buy your book than gay women? If so, why do you think this is?
LeeHAYES: Most definitely. I’d probably say that close to half of my fan base are females. Women and gay men have bonded over the years because they have so much in common—they both date men and can commiserate over what that means! Straight women have long been a fan of gay clubs, often going with their gay friends and being a fan of gay literature is a natural extension of that long-standing relationship.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Are you familiar with the author Erastes (who is straight) but writes gay erotic literature? Have you read any of her books?
LeeHAYES: Hmmmm, never heard of her. I may check her out, though. It would be interesting to read a book by a straight woman written from a gay perspective.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you draw any of your inspiration from the more sensual writings of women authors in an effort to relate to your female audience? What DO you read?
LeeHAYES: Not at all. I think I’m sensual and sexual enough to be able to authentically write a great love scene. When I read, I usually don’t read erotica. I read horror novels (vampire) , gay novels and I’m open to most things that sound interesting and are well-written.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Thank you, Lee. I’ll definitely check out your most recent release, “The Bad Seed”.
Lee Hayes' latest novel, "The Bad Seed"
“The Bad Seed is a hard-to-put down read with enough back-stabbings , infidelities, murder plots and bloodletting to render Lady Macbeth saintly by comparison!”
– Stanley Bennett Clay, author of In Search of Pretty Young Black Men and Looker.
“A dangerously vivid story of love, lust, sex and lives. I was so shocked by boldness of the characters; had me looking behind closed doors and uttering to myself. Wow!”
- Tina Brooks McKinney, author of Snapped and Deep Deception
