There's always a romantic interest character in my books who's based on my eternal crush. He's a drag queen from Japan, lol. I adore the man and have for over twenty years, since I was in high school and he was 19. He's a singer and acts so beautifully and elegantly on stage. I have no idea how he's so elegant there, because he's a complete goof and not the sharpest crayon in the box in real life. I can't describe how adorable he is. He's very femme when out of makeup and costumes, and just acts cute. There's no other way to describe it. The man gets lost in parking garages when he does not own a car. He'll walk for ages in the wrong direction and wonder why his destination is not getting any closer on Google maps. So adorable. He truly cares about his fans and asks about how we're doing all the time. We're a small group, really. I met him once, and he said the most encouraging things. We held hands as he spoke to me. I'd thanked him for being a lgbtq activist and using his platform for good things. We spoke for a while about it, and he said he uses it to fight for people like me who are not heard. I will love him forever. Strangely, I don't necessarily even want a romantic relationship with him. I write him as a romantic interest in my books, because I'd rather think about him than anyone else as I write. I think he's a great example of the LGBTQ community in Japan, so why not base characters off of him? I love him on a deep level, so my characters' relationships are always incredibly deep and complex. I could talk about him for hours, and I indeed talk about him for days and weeks and years in my books. If you read my books, you'll fall for him, too. He's Tetsu in "Lyra's Magnum Opus", he's Kazuya in "French Cup", he's Tatara in "Every Day is Beautiful with You". All by me, SumireHime. These characters are always the ones my readers fall the most in love with. I couldn't be happier for that being the case. Everyone should love him.
