Gay marriage portrayed for first time ever in groundbreaking mass market novel

MUTE, the new novel to be widely released next month, will be the first mainstream novel in American history, and perhaps anywhere, to feature a same-sex wedding ceremony in its narrative.

The novel is a thriller about a gifted and charming veterinarian named Kat Francis whose already complicated life is turned upside down after she receives a mysterious package containing gruesome photos of mutilated cattle. In seeking its source, Kat finds herself in a deadly race against a covert multinational organization plotting global genocide.

Though the book’s publisher will not disclose which character in the book gets married to a member of the same sex—it’s a surprise—he concedes it is a major one.

And it’s the first of its kind to delve so deeply into the highly controversial subject, publishing industry insiders say.

“To my knowledge, it’s the first mainstream book to portray a (same-sex) wedding,” says Alex Rowlson of Toronto’s Glad Day Books, itself having the distinction of being Canada’s first gay and lesbian bookstore—and the second-longest surviving one in the world. Other store owners in San Francisco and Montreal concur with Rowlson.

Author Brad Steel says he hopes gay and lesbian readers pick up the book, and he may even add alternative bookstores like Glad Day to his tour itinerary. “If they’ll have me, I’ll be there,” he says, although he is straight and very happily married. “If one of my main characters were black and ended up in a situation equally relevant to people of colour, I wouldn’t hesitate for one second to show up in a bookstore catering to the black population. It would be hypocritical not to, since my book is largely about how our tears all roll in the same direction.”

MUTE is set for release throughout the U.S. June 15, and is already shipping worldwide via Amazon's Canadian website:
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0973642106/officialbrads-20/702-2710365-8787218

Author site: http://www.BradSteel.com