Dylan Madrid's Blog

Recently the magazine Out paid tribute to the 20 Power Couples You Should Know , an inspiring collection of photos and impressive information about many mighty gay and lesbian couples.

Maybe it was love. Or fate. Or strategy. Or a perfectly stirred combination of all three. The stars truly aligned when these people met, joined forces, and - in many cases - collectively created one hell of an empire.

The key word here is power. It's remarkable (in this day and age of the volatile mixture of sweet social progressiveness and a sour conservative backlash) these people not only found each other but made a life together - and a very successful one at that. Beating the odds, indeed.

What's important to note about this photo essay is what it might mean to the younger generation. Growing up, I noticed that many gay and lesbian relationships were often secretive, never discussed about in the work place, and that an emphasis was placed on avoiding potentially revealing pronouns. This was a reflection of the world then (not so long ago) in which gays and lesbians were not encouraged to date, live together, align their goals, and (hopefully) dominate. We weren't encouraged to take over the world.

Things have definitely changed.

When I first saw 20 Power Couples You Should Know, I immediately thought about the young person who might come across it via social media. The message is a positive one. It's encouraging and inspiring. It empowers just by viewing it. Whether or not their next date leads to the level these couples have achieved, young people now know something very crucial: they really can have it all.

Some information about about my upcoming novel Light Without Gravity .

When lonely graduate student Zoran meets the non-conforming poet Cabe, the connection is immediate and intense. Unable to resist his desire, Zoran jeopardizes a potential scientific breakthrough by abandoning years of research for a chance at love.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for this experience. No matter how many spy novels I read, James Bond movie marathons I had, or espionage-related research I conducted, I still felt inadequately prepared and terrified to dip my literary toe into a genre pool I’d never dared to swim in before.

There’s a sacredness to spy thrillers. Ian Fleming certainly owns the share of the market, rightfully so. No other writer has come close to touching his iconic creations, particularly his larger-than-life protagonist.

Looking back, this is a genre that’s always fascinated me. I remember being a sophomore in high school and finding myself mesmerized by the film A View to a Kill, which I discovered because of my love of the theme song by Duran Duran. As a viewer, I ached for the on-the-edge glamour and unpredictable sense of adventure.



Fast forward to today and my first spy thriller, Love in the Shadows, has been published by Bold Strokes Books. To say writing this novel was a labor of love is an understatement. Nothing else I’ve written has required the amount of research as this book did. Having no experience in this arena, I was determined to make sure I had my facts correct. Thankfully, one of my wonderful editors, Stacia Seaman, offered a considerable amount of help and provided crucial changes to ensure as much authenticity as possible.

The writing process was like no other. A few chapters in and I was already overwhelmed. I kept thinking, “What have I done? What am I doing? I know nothing about writing a spy novel."

Lost, I went back to my youth, back to Duran Duran and A View to a Kill. Back to Roger Moore. It was then I discovered a wonderful quote by Salman Rushdie: “The glamour of being forbidden must not be underestimated.”

I returned to my manuscript and was encouraged when I realized the elements of both glamour and the forbidden were already there. I just needed to turn both up a few notches.

And I did.

Love in the Shadows is unique for many reasons. The novel is the first book in what will become my first trilogy (the second novel in the series, The Beautiful Lie, is currently being written with the third book, The Edge of Desire, close behind it). It is my first novel set exclusively in Europe. It also features some fantastic female characters that have already become personal favorites of mine.

Of the spy genre, actress Helen Mirren has said, “The role of women has always been undervalued in the spy world, always undermined in terms of recognition. Unfairly so. It's a world that needs women.” I couldn’t agree more. I populated Love in the Shadows with strong female characters (three of which are spies) for this very reason.

Glamour. The forbidden. Espionage. All of these ingredients were necessary to create a novel that forced me out of my comfort zone as a writer. The finished result is a novel I define as fun. Certainly a love triangle about a broken-hearted American journalist, an Italian spy, and a secret service agent makes for what I think is an enjoyable read. No, Love in the Shadows won’t change the world, but that’s not my intention. Instead, I hope it brings a little glamour and adventure to the lives of readers who crave it.

I'm very pleased to announce the final edits on my upcoming novel Backstrokes are done. It was a very fun novel to write. At the core, Backstrokes is a sweet love story about a classical pianist and a lifeguard who rediscover each other. Yet, the book also carries a bittersweet undertone. I hope readers will be pleased. The novel will be released by Bold Strokes Books on June 17th.

Dylan Madrid, male romance
writer. He is the author of three
romance and suspense novelsIt’s no secret: what I do is very unconventional. I write love stories for a living. Whether they are about a single gay man looking for love in London or a female investigative journalist who is trying very hard to deny her attraction for a rough-around-the-edges male detective in Chicago – I tell tales about people falling madly in love. Sure, the love might start out as lust, but that only makes the story more enjoyable to read – and write.

I’m a minority in my genre. A quick glance down any author list of major romance publishers will reveal that I’m outnumbered by about 100 to 1. While some male romance authors make the decision to write and publish their work under a female pseudonym, I am one of the rare few who believes in the theory that what a reader really wants is a great story, regardless of the gender of the author. When a reader picks up one of my books, I want them to be intrigued by the content, not by who did the work.

My creative process is no different than my female counterparts. Like them, I spend hours upon hours sitting behind a computer crafting and revising, outlining and plotting. Like me, my characters are also unconventional. My novels are wide-ranging from gay romance to romance suspense to new adult fiction. I aim to write books that will appeal to readers who don’t often always find versions of themselves in traditional romance novels. I create characters that are just as complex, unique, and surprising as my writing career has been. I take risks on page and even greater ones by sharing my work with the curious public and often befuddled critics. But, as I teach my writing students to do, I believe in writing fearlessly. It’s really not my objective or life goal to forever change the romance genre, but I do feel my presence in the arena is needed and, for the most part, welcomed.

I’m often amused by the reactions I get from people I meet for the first time when they ask the question, “What do you do for a living?” and I answer, with pride, “I write romance novels.” The expression is usually an odd mixture of surprise and pity. One woman actually said to me, “I’m so sorry. Did your other books get rejected?” as if I had turned to writing romance novels when my real writing career failed before it began. Typically, people are very intrigued by what I do and find it refreshing. Sometimes I’ll get a very blatant “Why?”

My answer to that question is always the same: I write romance novels because love makes people happy.

One of the elements of my writing that often generates the most feedback from readers is the different ethnicities of my characters, specifically the love interest of my protagonist. To call my work multicultural is accurate. As a reader of literature by diverse authors featuring characters from all walks of life, I made a commitment to myself early on to not “white wash” my novels. To create an imaginary literary universe that is populated solely by one race or ethnic group is not only unrealistic – it can alienate many readers.

So often people are seeking representation of their own lives (and loves) in the novels they read. I know I certainly do when I’m looking for something new to read. Therefore, when I sit down to create the hot, sexy object of desire that my main character is lusting after – rarely is that character Caucasian. Many readers ask why. Others have shared with me the very reason they read my work is because of the diversity of my sexy male characters.

The why is simple to answer: people interest me. I am far more fascinated with different cultures, races, traditions, communities, and ethnicities than my own. I’m a curious soul who loves to explore new, unknown territory, where I hope to find intriguing people to write about. My own life is rich and colorful, filled with an ever-growing multitude of close friends (and even new relatives who have married into my Canadian-American family) who enhance my days with more potential writing material than I could ever dream of.

But, since I write romance novels: let’s talk about the men.

In Mind Fields , college student Adam Parsh is torn between the lust he feels for his wealthy, married employer (an Greek tycoon named Dario Vassalo) and the growing love he can’t deny for his classmate (a Mexican-American artist named Victor Maldonado). Of course I can’t give away who Adam chooses – or why – but I can tell you that both the characters of Victor and Dario (and the Vassalo family) serve as cultural informants (a term coined by one of my former college professors at Columbia College in Chicago). Just by being a part of Adam’s world, they enrich his life by exposing him to cultural and ethnic differences. They broaden his mind – and in true romance novel form - his heart.

In my next novel Love in the Shadows , Quintin Pearson, a lonely American living in London, has a hot affair with an Italian spy named Luca Russo. To prepare for writing the novel, I enrolled in a Wednesday night Italian class held in the parish office at a local Catholic church. The students were all women, mostly Italian. Their stories – and they phrases I learned – definitely helped while writing the novel. I kept going back to an important question: would Luca Russo be half as sexy on page if he wasn’t Italian? I knew the answer early on in the creative process: No. He wouldn’t. He had to be Italian. And, by being so, it made him all that much more desirable. 


In my upcoming novel Backstrokes , a classical pianist named Crawford Paul falls in love with a Latino lifeguard named Armando Leon. Before I even sat down to write the first sentence of the novel, I knew that in order for Crawford to fall head over heels – he needed to meet someone who was very opposite and because of this, his curiosity would get the best of him. In the end, the stark differences between the two characters of Crawford and Armando (physically, culturally, and even life experiences) are what create the unbreakable bond between them.

So, in the end, I have found a new truth that is alive and working in every novel I write: Not only white guys are sexy. Many readers – and authors such as myself – have realized that the world is a fascinating, diverse place to live in. The novels we write and read should reflect that.

Cyndi Lauper's  iconic song Money Changes Everything
inspired the new novel Mind Fields by Dylan Madrid.One of my very faithful readers sent me a note last week that said: “From the very first line of the novel, I was hooked.” That’s quite a compliment and one I accepted graciously.

However, the first line of my new novel Mind Fields isn’t really of my creation. It’s the title of a song recorded by superstar Cyndi Lauper , featured on her iconic first album She’s So Unusual. The song was the spark that ignited the plot, characters, and storylines in my imagination. During the entire writing process, I kept going back to the song and the title of it: Money changes everything.

Wealth and the lack of it are opposing forces in the novels, constant themes that weave in and out of the characters lives. My main character, Adam Parsh, is a struggling college student who has been raised by a single mother, Becca. She was widowed at a very young age, has never remarried and has worked hard to provide for her son. When Adam is hired by a Greek tycoon named Dario Vassalo, he’s introduced to a world of excess and power. The immense wealth intrigues him at first because it’s an existence he’s never known. At the same time, he comes to realize that even though the Vassalo’s have money, their family is considerably dysfunctional. In the end, Adam learns many valuable lessons, one of the most important being that money really does change everything.

Music has always inspired my work. Often, I will hear a song – especially something with very memorable lyrics – and it will create an emotion or an image in my mind. The ones that refuse to go away are the ones that make it onto paper – and often into print.

Mind Fields was also greatly influenced by the song Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) by Nancy Sinatra. That song and Cyndi Lauper’s are both referenced in the novel.


Singer E.G Daily whose classic hit Love in the Shadows
inspired the romance suspense novel by Dylan Madrid.My upcoming novel Love in the Shadows was inspired by a dream I had, but there’s a song with the same title recorded by the wonderful E.G. Daily that I listened to while writing the book. Having admired Daily's entire catalog of work for many years, I titled the book after the song as a tribute to her. I will also let you in on a secret: when and if Love in the Shadows is adapted into a film, I will do all in my power to see to it the role of Regina Bremington is offered to Daily, as I truly created it for her.

My next novel Backstrokes was really inspired by the beautiful music of Elizaveta and my fear of water.

I am always very inspired by anything Lana Del Rey sings. She’s my musical muse. I could probably write an entire novel based off of each of her songs.

When writing Mind Fields I knew that everything would begin and end with that one phrase, that title, that song. In truth, it captures the entire essence of the novel. Constantly, as a creative person, I am always amazed by the moments in life when art inspires art.

It happens with every novel. A few chapters in and I find myself falling in love with one of my characters. Typically, it’s a supporting character; someone who is so fascinating and intriguing, he or she threatens to take over the book.

This was the case with Myrtle Brubaker, a somewhat minor character in my new novel Mind Fields. Myrtle is a tough-talking, sunflower seed-spitting cab driver in her sixties. “I love bourbon, a good horse race, and Nancy Sinatra,” she says to the main character Adam when they meet for the first time. To say she’s rough around the edges is an understatement. However, with each scene she appeared in it became more apparent to me that despite her tough exterior, she had a big heart.

I fell for Myrtle Brubaker. To me she was a seemingly simple woman with complex thoughts and ideas. Often, she was the voice of reason in the novel, giving usually unsolicited advice to Adam. She encouraged him to make the right choices and to trust his instincts. She was his Jiminy Cricket, his conscience.

I just finished writing my next novel, a romantic spy thriller titled Love in the Shadows. While writing the book, I introduced a character into the story named Louisa Russo. At first glance, she appeared to be a plump, doting grandmother, serving as matchmaker of sorts by bringing the main character, Quintin, to meet the love of his life. But a deeper layer exists with Louisa as she’s actually an experienced spy, the grand matriarch of a family of undercover agents. While she only appears in a handful of scenes in the novel, I’m already planning to bring her back for the following two books in the trilogy.

I’m now in the process of writing a new novel, Backstrokes, a romance about a classical pianist and a lifeguard falling in love. Already, I am smitten with Penelope Ashford, the pot-smoking flute-playing prodigy whose sardonic personality serves as a great juxtaposition to the main characters constant optimism. The fact that Penelope is socially awkward, lacks a filter, and is a hippie at heart only makes her that much more endearing to me.

With every character I create, I feel an affinity for them grow deeper throughout the creative process. However, some such as Myrtle Brubaker, Louisa Russo, and Penelope Ashford, end up stealing my heart.

It happens with every novel. A few chapters in and I find myself falling in love with one of my characters. Typically, it’s a supporting character; someone who is so fascinating and intriguing, he or she threatens to take over the book.

This was the case with Myrtle Brubaker, a somewhat minor character in my new novel Mind Fields. Myrtle is a tough-talking, sunflower seed-spitting cab driver in her sixties. “I love bourbon, a good horse race, and Nancy Sinatra,” she says to the main character Adam when they meet for the first time. To say she’s rough around the edges is an understatement. However, with each scene she appeared in it became more apparent to me that despite her tough exterior, she had a big heart.

I fell for Myrtle Brubaker. To me she was a seemingly simple woman with complex thoughts and ideas. Often, she was the voice of reason in the novel, giving usually unsolicited advice to Adam. She encouraged him to make the right choices and to trust his instincts. She was his Jiminy Cricket, his conscience.

I just finished writing my next novel, a romantic spy thriller titled Love in the Shadows. While writing the book, I introduced a character into the story named Louisa Russo. At first glance, she appeared to be a plump, doting grandmother, serving as matchmaker of sorts by bringing the main character, Quintin, to meet the love of his life. But a deeper layer exists with Louisa as she’s actually an experienced spy, the grand matriarch of a family of undercover agents. While she only appears in a handful of scenes in the novel, I’m already planning to bring her back for the following two books in the trilogy.

I’m now in the process of writing a new novel, Backstrokes, a romance about a classical pianist and a lifeguard falling in love. Already, I am smitten with Penelope Ashford, the pot-smoking flute-playing prodigy whose sardonic personality serves as a great juxtaposition to the main characters constant optimism. The fact that Penelope is socially awkward, lacks a filter, and is a hippie at heart only makes her that much more endearing to me.

With every character I create, I feel an affinity for them grow deeper throughout the creative process. However, some such as Myrtle Brubaker, Louisa Russo, and Penelope Ashford, end up stealing my heart.

I'm very excited to announce I've just submitted the copy edits and approved the final cover of Love in the Shadows . I can't wait for the book to be released in January. This was one hell of a FUN tale to tell. Huge thanks to Stacia Seaman for going above-and-beyond on this one.