In the May issue of Playgirl (on stands in April), there's an article about the growing popularity of yaoi in the West. (And the article encourages Americans to pronounce it "YOW-ee" even though it is a Japanese word with 3 distinct vowels: yah-oh-ee.)

The article single-handedly takes the entire movement of women-authored, non-illustrated, male-male-erotica that has grown enormously on the Internet over the last several years and not only removes it from its roots of yaoi, but also basically obliterates it from the genre, treating it as if it barely exists and also as if my book from 2006 (Zowie! It's Yaoi!) was just some sort of idea I came up with, to incorporate "traditional erotica elements" into yaoi.

Perhaps it should be flattering, on the one hand, since it implies that I alone came up with this overwhelmingly popular off-shoot of the genre. But it couldn't be further from the truth. By the time I edited that anthology, women had been writing non-illustrated yaoi all over the Internet for several years.

But, according to the article, yaoi is solely the illustrated variety. (Even while yaoi is merely an umbrella term that covers so many, many different off-shoots.)

But it sure is good to have clarity. At last. Well, on we go, gang.