My most recent example is also slash. I never used to be able to take slash seriously, but then I read one of Cinzia's short stories for the summer reading challenge back in 2013, and I enjoyed it. It was well-written, and even though it was technically a slash, it wasn't overly sexual. It was easy to overlook that aspect of it and appreciate a good Frick & Frack story. That is actually what inspired me to seriously try writing a slash, which led to Unsuspecting Sunday and then Sick as My Secrets. I read a few slash one-shots here and there while I was writing SAMS, mostly to get some inspiration for the sexy scenes LOL, but I can't say I read anything that stuck with me. But now I'm reading Steph's new story Ever Since New York, which is the first slash novel I've ever read, and I have to say that I'm actually genuinely enjoying it. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have clicked on it if it wasn't written by a friend/favorite author, but I also wouldn't have stuck with it if I wasn't enjoying it. The fact that it's an old-school Brian story helps! Between reading these stories and writing my own, I've become a lot more open to slash and would read more in the future if the writing was good and the storyline appealed to me, just as with any story.
