'Icarus in Flight' and Dickens

Icarus in Flight -- along with Masks: Rise of Heroes and Banshee -- marked my debut as a gay YA author back in 2008 (yes, it was THAT long ago). It was also my first earnest attempt at writing a full-length coming-of-age gay novel in a genre that's always been close to my heart: historical fiction. I also tried to write something as close to being realistic as possible, which included a deserved HEA for Daniel and James.

The original version of this book ended more as a HFN, which was somewhat within the goal I had, but over time, I realized it was also too vague for readers. In its current form, after I got my rights back and re-released it as a self-published book, I added passages in the final chapter that made the ending more clear-cut and hopeful / happier. 

This was also one of my first attempts at writing a pastiche, and anyone who's read Dickens can see echoes of David Copperfield in the book, particularly the characters. 

Clare Holman as Rosa Dartle (left) and Cherie Lunghi as Mrs. Steerforth in the 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield

Daniel and James mirror David and James (Steerforth) in the novel, and I've always been a fan of the romantic friendship between the two. In my romanticized version of their relationship, Daniel and James take things several steps further. 

Kitty Ellsworth in the book was inspired by Rosa Dartle, but her antagonism toward her younger brother is also about love thwarted in addition to resentment toward James's favored position as the only son and heir to a vast fortune. He can do no wrong in everyone's eyes while she had to settle for scraps of affection from her own parents. 

Another item of note was that this book was originally finished well over the word count required by my then-publisher, and there were sex scenes all over since it was originally intended as an adult gay romance that I couldn't sell to independent romance publishers. So I ended up deleting at least 10K words (all of the sex scenes plus a lot of unnecessary passages) until the editor deemed it proper for a gay YA coming-of-age romance. 

For my writing playlist, I listened to a CD of Chopin's waltzes over and over again (I still have that CD even though we no longer have a player to use for it). The "Grand Valse Brillante" was particularly inspirational in establishing James and Daniel's blooming relationship. 

Icarus in Flight is one of my March Backlist Bonanza books, which means its e-book price if half off throughout the month. Go to Smashwords or Kobo for .epub copies. Other online stores are listed on the Books2Read page. 

The Personal History of David Copperfield by Armando Iannocci (2020)

Incidentally, I've only now discovered this five-year-old adaptation of David Copperfield, and I'm about to watch it. I might be a purist when it comes to certain classic books being adapted (Dracula being up there), but I'm also down with tongue-in-cheek versions of my favorite novels as long as they're done with clear affection for the source material. 

Also Tilda Swinton. Full stop.