An Introduction by Katsura (from the collector's edition of The Big Deal Series.)
The beauty of being a writer is if you feel the world in which you live
is not rising to meet your expectations, you simply write one which will.
That's exactly what Yuramei and I did with Big
Deal. Real life, and I put that
in italics because the world an author creates is often far more real to the
reader, can be a huge let down. The guy you love sleeps around, swears, drinks
and smokes too much and dresses like a pimp—this is unlikely to amuse you. But
we often hear from readers who've fallen in love with such a man—our very own
irreverent rogue, Judas MacGregor.
This compassion for our selfish and good looking chancer never ceases to
delight me. I'm honoured that people have made a space for him, and all of his
failings, not only in their heads, but in their hearts.
When Yuramei designed the character of Mikhail Majewski, I was stunned
when she presented me with his profile. He's a real challenge to bring to life
in a way which does him justice, but I couldn't wait to begin. Here we have a
man whose appearance is outwardly feminine and who exhibits such strength of
character as well as a keen eye for business. But why wouldn't he? In a line
from his own scene, women aren't weak, so
why did some people assume a feminine appearance made a man weak?
A lot of Mikhail's dialogue—and few people are aware of this—is written
by Yuramei. Her style is a delicious contrast in scenes where he is faced with
characters I’ve written. The first meeting between Mikhail and Fergus Campbell
is something we are both proud of. The thug meeting the sophisticate is one of
my favourite moments in the whole series. The characters are poles apart in
personality yet there's still an instant attraction.
A more humorous result of Yuramei’s writing Mikhail and my writing
another character—in this instance, Judas MacGregor—can be found at the end of
volume two. Mikhail, after being through quite an ordeal, gives a touching and
heartfelt speech...and Judas gives him a typically flippant response. I totally
loved the comedy of it and it could never have happened without our
collaboration. It's organic way of writing and I adore it.
Some of our prose appears in an experimental way. Similarly, combining yaoi with British black comedy is not
something I've ever seen done before. For us, the blend works. Again I find the
merging of the two genre a joy, as well as a challenge, to write. Our readers
tell us the sex scenes are hot and that they laughed out loud at the humour. I
can't begin to tell you what a wonderful feeling that gives me. We set out to create
something unique, and we have it confirmed that we succeeded, by the comments
of those who enjoy our work. I worried people wouldn't know what to make of us,
but it seems they just dive right in with our boys and enjoy themselves.
Our setting is also quite untypical for yaoi. We chose not to place our characters in either modern day or
ancient Japan...but in a fictitious blot on the landscape in the west coast of
Scotland. The small town of Glory surrounds the village of Everdirge—like a
fancy napkin over some spoiled food—and provides a great clash between the have
and have-nots. Judas clearly began his life as the latter but sees himself as
having risen to be the former. But social inequality, specifically in relation
to class, can be difficult to surmount. You might think you're successfully
upwardly mobile, but you'll always be Judas
from the block to those privileged enough to be born into good fortune.
Such places breed envy and envy leads to crime, and this is where the
work becomes a tad self-indulgent. If you want to write a British black comedy,
as I wanted to with all of my heart, there’s no better backdrop than organised
crime. This world offers a plethora of situations just waiting to be put down
on paper where the ridiculous notion of a whole gang of hoodlums thrust
together and having to rely on each other is a gift for the creator of comedic
chaos.
I hope I've made you keen to see what happens when worlds collide, as it
were. Yuramei's brothel filled with delightfully attractive and meaningful
characters, and my village load of, in their own words, great wanking dickheads.
With much love, and a huge amount of gratitude,
Katsura and Yuramei.
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