I was on the Cocktail Hour as a guest on their podcast.
GIVING AWAY A COPY OF THE FLING!!!
GO LISTEN!!!! WIN!
CLICK HERE--> COCKTAIL HOUR
Showing posts with label Oksana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oksana. Show all posts
Monday, May 14, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Day 658
It's officially my book birthday again! Weee! The Fling hits shelves nation/internet wide today. Here are the other titles Bold Strokes Books is putting out today, all available in print and ebook. I've highlighted the titles I've read so far and both were excellent. :)
Burgundy Betrayal by Sheri Lewis-Wohl - Paranormal Lesbian Romance
LoveLife by Rachel Spangler - Contemporary Lesbian Romance
Ill Will by Jean Redmann - Mystery (lesbian)
Buccaneer Island by J.P. Beausejour - Gay Pirate Erotica
Twelve O'Clock Tales by Felice Picano - Collection of Short Stories
Murder in Rue St Chartres by Greg Herren - Mystery (gay)
--
This video has nothing to do with anything, but I love this song. Usher's new "jam" Climax.
--
rebekah weatherspoon - this makes complete sense
|
rapunzel boobs - posted one picture from Tangled and her boobs were not out.
|
oksana - i wonder if people were searching for pornstars or figure skaters of the same name
|
annie adderall - were they looking for a girl who deals Rx's named Annie
|
butters love - again one picture of Butters and here we are.
|
cute innocent brunette white guys - i love that someone is looking for this in general, but they didn't find it here
|
el mac - i worship the man and he's hyperlinked on my Extra's page so this makes sense.
|
looking for my childhood bedtime story book from 50's or 60's big red book - o_O
|
my little pony friendship is magic rainbow - we all know what this is about.
|
rebekah weatherspoon author - another no brainer.
A few months ago I had several searches for boob related topics. these seem a little boring.
|
--
And for no reason at all, here is my take on HBO's new show, Girls. I posted this on my tumblr yesterday, but I'm sharing it here to keep from driving people unnecessarily toward tons of nude photos. 
so here are my thoughts on #GIRLS AT THIS VERY MOMENT, as I am sure they will evolve.
i’ll get this out of the way first (since there's been a lot of chatter about in the twittersphere). i NEVER expected there to be any sort of diversity on this show. ever. look at the poster. so i’m not upset that there was one WOC who scored one line and will never be seen again since Hannah no longer works with her. And i’m not upset that in NYC there was one black walking down the street. i am not upset by this because it is EXACTLY what i expected. my bar was set real low on the diversity scale.
as with the New Girl, and Don’t Trust The B in APT 23 and even 30 Rock, we are seeing a continuation of a new female figure on our televisions. The quirky brunette is the new dumb blond. her large breasts and wide eyes have been replaced by glasses and one liners. that in mind, GIRLS is not some new feminist take on the 20 something. these girls are not kicking ass and taking names. they are barely taking care of themselves. they are not even respecting themselves. seriously. all 4 of them are taking it pretty hard to the face.
characters: i know nothing of Lena Dunham, but as with many in Apatow’s camp i am sure parts of this are autobiographical. PARTS as Dunham is 25 with a show on HBO, soooo…
Hannah is interesting. she’s of average intelligence. she’s of average wit. And its stops there. she doesn’t do anything entirely smart. the whole episode people walk all over her as she says witty things and when her parents cut her off she throws a temper tantrum. as someone who has received financial assistance from my parents at this point in my life, okay i get it. but my dad helped me keep my car from getting repo’d. he wasn’t supporting my ENTIRE life as Hannah’s parents are. she’s been working an internship for a good clip.
Hannah’s friends: i don’t know any of their names. they all blended together.
Lena Dunham stars, writes, directs and produces this show. my fear is that so much of her is in this project that we will be forced deeper and deeper into her limited scope. i don’t feel there will all that much satisfaction at the end of the road, but we’ll see.
i’ll get this out of the way first (since there's been a lot of chatter about in the twittersphere). i NEVER expected there to be any sort of diversity on this show. ever. look at the poster. so i’m not upset that there was one WOC who scored one line and will never be seen again since Hannah no longer works with her. And i’m not upset that in NYC there was one black walking down the street. i am not upset by this because it is EXACTLY what i expected. my bar was set real low on the diversity scale.
as with the New Girl, and Don’t Trust The B in APT 23 and even 30 Rock, we are seeing a continuation of a new female figure on our televisions. The quirky brunette is the new dumb blond. her large breasts and wide eyes have been replaced by glasses and one liners. that in mind, GIRLS is not some new feminist take on the 20 something. these girls are not kicking ass and taking names. they are barely taking care of themselves. they are not even respecting themselves. seriously. all 4 of them are taking it pretty hard to the face.
characters: i know nothing of Lena Dunham, but as with many in Apatow’s camp i am sure parts of this are autobiographical. PARTS as Dunham is 25 with a show on HBO, soooo…
Hannah is interesting. she’s of average intelligence. she’s of average wit. And its stops there. she doesn’t do anything entirely smart. the whole episode people walk all over her as she says witty things and when her parents cut her off she throws a temper tantrum. as someone who has received financial assistance from my parents at this point in my life, okay i get it. but my dad helped me keep my car from getting repo’d. he wasn’t supporting my ENTIRE life as Hannah’s parents are. she’s been working an internship for a good clip.
Hannah’s friends: i don’t know any of their names. they all blended together.
- roommate/most attractive girl is in a relationship with the most attractive guy on the show, who she is not attracted to but refuses to break up with him because of reasons? mostly she doesnt want him to go all Lloyd Dobler on her, but that seems to be the only reason.
- british friend is british. so far that’s all i got. she’s pregnant, but the way these girls are and the way they are living, i dont see them binding together to raise a baby. there might be a trip to the clinic in her future
- over-zealous friend has terrible lines written for her. we all know that hyper, wants to be liked girl, but some of this chick’s dialogue didn’t make sense. like no one would actually say some of the things she says to another person.
- the fuck buddy-Adam. he treats Hannah like crap and she lets him. parts of this i get and parts i don’t, mostly because it FEELS like a plot device. we’ll see how she handles him.
- hannah’s parents. there’s not much to say here. they cut her off and expect her to fend for herself. this is totally cool, but you would think that parents who spoil their kid this much who have some sort of convo with this kid about how they can get on their own two feet. this doesn’t happen. her mother just keeps yelling GET A JOB!
Lena Dunham stars, writes, directs and produces this show. my fear is that so much of her is in this project that we will be forced deeper and deeper into her limited scope. i don’t feel there will all that much satisfaction at the end of the road, but we’ll see.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Race and Fiction
Day 632: Today, I'm talking about race. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but that's just what I do around here.
Here is my disclaimer: I am about to address the INCLUSION of People of Color. NOT, I REPEAT, NOT the exclusion of white people. INCLUSION!
So you might be wondering why I'm talking about race. This isn't about Trayvon Martin, though I'll get back to him. I've been
wanting to talk about this for a while now, but yesterday I was pushed
to it. I was in a chat on twitter and there was talk about writing
characters of color/non-white characters. I did not start this
discussion. And the general response was "I, as an author, do not write
characters of color because I am afraid of presenting a racial
stereotypes that people will find offensive." This is not the first time I have heard this response.
Okay. Valid argument. No one wants to offend people, most of the time. And yes there are portrayal of people of color out there, but I am terrified to think that Tyler Perry speaks for me and it makes me sick to my stomach to think that Kathryn Stockett speaks for my grandmothers. So what are we left with if not the stereotypes? Omission. Here's the problem with complete omission, when you leave characters of color out (the same can be said of gay and lesbian characters, characters of varying gender identities, etc.), they no longer exist in your world. When they don't exist in your world, they don't exist in the reader's world. This is dangerous, especially for people who are only exposed to diversity through books, film and television. Just as dangerous as the stereotypes and in cases, more harmful.
Now when the reader sees themselves on the page, there is an instant connection to that character. Other people see me. Other people acknowledge that I exist, that I have thoughts and feelings and value. I loved She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb because he wrote about an overweight girl in an honest, real way. BTW Wally Lamb has never been an overweight girl. He took the time to write how difficult it is to be overweight and how one may find themselves overweight in the first place. He nailed it.
The current standard is the brunette, doe eyed, young white female between the ages of 15 and 26 who seems to be the focus of EVERY book, movie and television show. I have nothing against this, but I am against every other girl being left out. I am against the only portrayal of African American youth in the last five years being the drug dealing kids of The Wire, the kind of portrayal that leads to deaths like Trayvon's. I'm against Amber Riley having to play the teenage version of the fat, sassy black woman.
I was raised in a very warm, two parent home in Southern New Hampshire. Both of my parents are well educated, community minded people. My father, in particular raised me, not to be color blind, but to be kind and respectful of all people. As a kid I watched as he spoke with strangers and neighbors, and you know what, my father treated everyone the same. Teenagers, children, the elderly, his peers, even people who annoyed the hell out of him (I know his "I'm pissed off" face though others don't) with the same respect. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of people love my father. The things I've heard said about him would bring most people to movie of the week tears. As a father to four black children in a white town he NEVER made race an issue. He taught us to behave as any parent should. He taught us the importance of studying hard and in a timely fashion, even though this message didn't really sink in for me until I hit college. He took us to James Taylor concerts.
Here's the thing, my father could have made race an issue. He grew up during the 50's and 60's. He lived through segregation. His parents and his grandmother who had a hand in raising him, lived through worse. But not once did I ever see any sort of angry black man chip on my father's shoulder. He's the same way to this day and I think, even better because age has just made him wiser and even more understanding of the world around him and yes, people continue to love him.
This was my spring board. When I hit elementary school, I went out into the world with this mentality: treat people the same. And I did. I bounced between different social groups right up to college and in that time, I dealt with racism from another kid exactly once. He dropped the N bomb and I let him know about himself, but that's another story. I had a friend ask me some silly things about my hair, but it was innocent ignorance and I love her dearly.
I did, however, face racism from adults. I've had adults and, yes they were white, pull my hair as they asked me what it felt like. And yes this is racist. Treating little black girl the way you would treat dog is racist. I have had a girl tell me her mother didn't think she should use our toilet because she would get AIDS. I'll let you marinate on that for a moment. There were countless other instances that don't need to be rehashed, but it was the adults in my life who exhibited the most ignorant, racist behavior. As I've gotten older, I've seen that racism is taught. It trickles down. I have seen it with my own eyes. How do we change this? We work from the bottom up. Now I'm not stupid enough to think that racism will ever disappear completely. It's a global issue. People thrive of superiority and separation. But things can be made better and we start with the images we show our children.
When I was a kid I was most often compared to Missy Elliot. She was big and black. I was big and black. Beyond that, I have no clue if I have anything in common with Missy Elliot. I don't know her, but at the time she was the only woman of color my friends could identify with and that's a shame, but the entertainment community wasn't thinking about me. They didn't think I needed to see my image reflected in the media. I'm sure Missy Elliot wasn't thinking about me either. These days the defaults are Oprah and Beyonce, again two woman that I'm not sure I share all that much in common with. I would kill to be compared to Octavia Butler. Oh man. But let me get back to my main point.
I gave up expecting to see myself anywhere after The Cosby Show went off the air and that sucks. It sucks that I'm a little shocked to see an Asian/White couple in a VW commercial. It sucks that I know that commercial is not being played in parts of the country.
The main praise I have received for Better Off Red is that I have included a diverse cast of characters. As it stands, I have women who are Japanese, African-American, Puerto Rican, Bajan, Native American, Russian, British, and Scots-Mexican. I touch on their history, but I'm writing about vampires. I need to focus on them being vampires and what issues that presents. Moving forward, that I see, all of my romances will feature interracial couples. I had another author ask, with some shock (and a little disgust maybe, she seemed to be against this idea, like I was trying too hard) why I would do this. I think she was wondering why I wouldn't just write black couple or white couples. Why? Because people ask me all the time to recommend romances with people of color or for romances with mixed couples. All the time. Because I don't live in an all white world. I live in Koreatown. If anything I should be writing about Korean couples. I'm not in an all black relationship. Because my best friends here in LA are Latina and Korean. When we walk into a room, INSTANT DIVERSITY! Why? Because I am afraid to leave it up to other authors to do it for me.When people take to screen and page the default is white. Tell me I'm wrong and I will laugh in your face.
When you say, and by you I mean the fifty or so writers I have heard say this since I've entered the game, when you say you are afraid to write stereotypes, you are saying that stereotypes would be your approach. I have stopped reading authors who latch on to the stereotypes. Native Americans being the most recent and horrifying portrayal. Here's the thing about stereotypes in fiction, no matter how true you feel they are in real life, they actually don't translate well to the page or the screen at all. If your main characters is a dumb blonde with no personality, your reader will not be interested. That's a stereotype right? But why the hell would you write it? Exactly. Here's a tip: don't write them. If you want to write about an Asian character, give them an interesting journey. If you base the journey around a math competition, well... If you are writing about Día de los Muertos, a holiday GROSSLY misunderstood and appropriated by hispsters everywhere, do the research, get the details right, but the person involved should experience human feelings that they
share in common with you, the writer whether you are Latin or not.
I am not white, of course, but I have white characters all over my stories and I write them as people. I don't go on at length about how they can't dance, how they have flat butts and bad taste in music (I don't believe any of these things so I swear to god if someone quotes this as my opinion I will be very upset). I write about some wacky situation they found themselves in. I write about them falling in love or hating their boss or having some really good sex. I don't break down how white they are and what defines their whiteness according to blacks. See what I'm getting at here?
My dad and my boyfriend had an interesting conversation last night about growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950's and 60's and growing up in the 1990's in North Carolina. My dad reminded my boyfriend of something that stuck with me: though he was dealing with segregation and racism, when he got together with his friends they talked about the same things teenage boys talk about now: girls, sports, school and so on. The same applies in this situation. People of color do not act like less of people when they get together. I think of big Italian family get togethers I've attended and they have the same thing in common with big black family get togethers. There's food, there's laughter, there's cracks at some wacky uncle's expense. People are people. The traditions my be different, but the emotions, the heart is the same.
So when people say they afraid to write stereotypes it tells me that they believe in the those stereotypes. And what freaks me out is that authors I know, people I have met have made this claim. So do they see me as stereotype? In some cases, yes. In some cases, maybe not. I also think about our president and our first lady who are people of color. Do people see them as stereotypes? Well from the way people treat them, clearly they do.
Here's what I am: A human being. I'm a woman.
Here are some things about me: I love cartoons. I love to draw. I can dance. I love the beach. I am a great swimmer. I suck at it, but Russian is my second language. I love folk music and pop and rap and jazz and some country and metal. I'm pretty freaking polite, especially to strangers. I'm a little obsessed with PBS. And I have three black siblings who can claim the same things. My sister's Russian is excellent. I am not abnormal. Plenty of black kids come from great homes and have perfectly regular interests.
Here's what I am not: A joke. A piece of entertainment. I don't now and never want to be a nanny. I'm not that great of a cook. I'm not quick to anger. It would take you a while to realize you've even pissed me off. I'm a quiet storm, baby. I'm not promiscuous to other people's detriment. I don't dance or sing on cue. I don't do stand up, nor do I have plans to be on a sketch comedy show. I have no idea how to break and/or enter. I have no interest in any sort of violence, at all. My diet doesn't consist of watermelon and fried chicken. No one in my family would be a suitable spokesperson for Popeyes. With my blackness, I cannot help you win a golf tournament, get a publishing deal, out wit plotting angels, reunite you with your estranged family member, cure you of your awkwardness in dating situations (though this is something I like to play at when I'm bored) and any other magical thing Hollywood would have you believe.
Here's what I'm tired of seeing: Authors who turn to the stereotype. Authors who claim they are not in control of their characters. Authors who set characters in diverse urban areas and omit every bit of diversity. Token minority characters. We were not put on this Earth to play supporting roles. Please believe me.
I think you see what I'm getting at. If you want to write people of color, write people of color. We are people. We have assholes among us just like you, but we're actually pretty chill. Radclyffe and Colette Moody are two authors I can name immediately who include characters of color and do it well. If you don't want to, and believe me it's a choice, then don't. But call a spade a spade. It's a choice.
If you're wondering, here's what I have on deck "race wise".
The Fling, out April 16
Biracial Russian and West African/ White
Latina/White (secondary couple)
The vampire sorority series in no particular order, all lesbian or bisexual couples.
Black/White
White/Biracial White and Hawaiian-Polynesian
Biracial Black and White/Japanese
Native American/ Biracial White and Thai
Egyptian/Korean
lesbian romance shorts
YA - Black/Black
Adult (60+) Black/Black with historical context
LGBT YA Novels
Chinese/ and Fae that would appear to be African-American
Biracial Black and White/ ? (I have vague picture of the love interest, but nothing concrete yet)
Hetero Werewolf Romance Novels
Black/Mexican
Native American/ ? (I have vague picture of the love interest, but nothing concrete yet)
End note. I am a victim of the American educational system in that I do not know nearly enough about First Nations and Native American people. I am working on this.
If you want to know more about racism, media white washing, cultural appropriation and erasure, Google is a mighty fine tool. Don't be afraid. Here's further reading if you're too lazy to Google.
Readers Against White Washing
Racialicious
Racecbending
Here I recommend some interracial romances. http://rebekahloves.tumblr.com/post/11894203053/do-you-have-any-recs-for-good-interracial-romance
Here Director Steve McQueen is left to answer the question as to why there are not more people of color in films. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/video-award-season-roundtable-series-directors-part-2
You can also send Skittles to the Sanford Police Department.
Sanford Police Department
815 W. 13th Street
Sanford , Florida 32771
Here is my disclaimer: I am about to address the INCLUSION of People of Color. NOT, I REPEAT, NOT the exclusion of white people. INCLUSION!
Okay. Valid argument. No one wants to offend people, most of the time. And yes there are portrayal of people of color out there, but I am terrified to think that Tyler Perry speaks for me and it makes me sick to my stomach to think that Kathryn Stockett speaks for my grandmothers. So what are we left with if not the stereotypes? Omission. Here's the problem with complete omission, when you leave characters of color out (the same can be said of gay and lesbian characters, characters of varying gender identities, etc.), they no longer exist in your world. When they don't exist in your world, they don't exist in the reader's world. This is dangerous, especially for people who are only exposed to diversity through books, film and television. Just as dangerous as the stereotypes and in cases, more harmful.
Now when the reader sees themselves on the page, there is an instant connection to that character. Other people see me. Other people acknowledge that I exist, that I have thoughts and feelings and value. I loved She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb because he wrote about an overweight girl in an honest, real way. BTW Wally Lamb has never been an overweight girl. He took the time to write how difficult it is to be overweight and how one may find themselves overweight in the first place. He nailed it.
The current standard is the brunette, doe eyed, young white female between the ages of 15 and 26 who seems to be the focus of EVERY book, movie and television show. I have nothing against this, but I am against every other girl being left out. I am against the only portrayal of African American youth in the last five years being the drug dealing kids of The Wire, the kind of portrayal that leads to deaths like Trayvon's. I'm against Amber Riley having to play the teenage version of the fat, sassy black woman.
I was raised in a very warm, two parent home in Southern New Hampshire. Both of my parents are well educated, community minded people. My father, in particular raised me, not to be color blind, but to be kind and respectful of all people. As a kid I watched as he spoke with strangers and neighbors, and you know what, my father treated everyone the same. Teenagers, children, the elderly, his peers, even people who annoyed the hell out of him (I know his "I'm pissed off" face though others don't) with the same respect. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of people love my father. The things I've heard said about him would bring most people to movie of the week tears. As a father to four black children in a white town he NEVER made race an issue. He taught us to behave as any parent should. He taught us the importance of studying hard and in a timely fashion, even though this message didn't really sink in for me until I hit college. He took us to James Taylor concerts.
Here's the thing, my father could have made race an issue. He grew up during the 50's and 60's. He lived through segregation. His parents and his grandmother who had a hand in raising him, lived through worse. But not once did I ever see any sort of angry black man chip on my father's shoulder. He's the same way to this day and I think, even better because age has just made him wiser and even more understanding of the world around him and yes, people continue to love him.
This was my spring board. When I hit elementary school, I went out into the world with this mentality: treat people the same. And I did. I bounced between different social groups right up to college and in that time, I dealt with racism from another kid exactly once. He dropped the N bomb and I let him know about himself, but that's another story. I had a friend ask me some silly things about my hair, but it was innocent ignorance and I love her dearly.
I did, however, face racism from adults. I've had adults and, yes they were white, pull my hair as they asked me what it felt like. And yes this is racist. Treating little black girl the way you would treat dog is racist. I have had a girl tell me her mother didn't think she should use our toilet because she would get AIDS. I'll let you marinate on that for a moment. There were countless other instances that don't need to be rehashed, but it was the adults in my life who exhibited the most ignorant, racist behavior. As I've gotten older, I've seen that racism is taught. It trickles down. I have seen it with my own eyes. How do we change this? We work from the bottom up. Now I'm not stupid enough to think that racism will ever disappear completely. It's a global issue. People thrive of superiority and separation. But things can be made better and we start with the images we show our children.
When I was a kid I was most often compared to Missy Elliot. She was big and black. I was big and black. Beyond that, I have no clue if I have anything in common with Missy Elliot. I don't know her, but at the time she was the only woman of color my friends could identify with and that's a shame, but the entertainment community wasn't thinking about me. They didn't think I needed to see my image reflected in the media. I'm sure Missy Elliot wasn't thinking about me either. These days the defaults are Oprah and Beyonce, again two woman that I'm not sure I share all that much in common with. I would kill to be compared to Octavia Butler. Oh man. But let me get back to my main point.
I gave up expecting to see myself anywhere after The Cosby Show went off the air and that sucks. It sucks that I'm a little shocked to see an Asian/White couple in a VW commercial. It sucks that I know that commercial is not being played in parts of the country.
The main praise I have received for Better Off Red is that I have included a diverse cast of characters. As it stands, I have women who are Japanese, African-American, Puerto Rican, Bajan, Native American, Russian, British, and Scots-Mexican. I touch on their history, but I'm writing about vampires. I need to focus on them being vampires and what issues that presents. Moving forward, that I see, all of my romances will feature interracial couples. I had another author ask, with some shock (and a little disgust maybe, she seemed to be against this idea, like I was trying too hard) why I would do this. I think she was wondering why I wouldn't just write black couple or white couples. Why? Because people ask me all the time to recommend romances with people of color or for romances with mixed couples. All the time. Because I don't live in an all white world. I live in Koreatown. If anything I should be writing about Korean couples. I'm not in an all black relationship. Because my best friends here in LA are Latina and Korean. When we walk into a room, INSTANT DIVERSITY! Why? Because I am afraid to leave it up to other authors to do it for me.When people take to screen and page the default is white. Tell me I'm wrong and I will laugh in your face.
 |
| see, bestie and i being diverse. |
I am not white, of course, but I have white characters all over my stories and I write them as people. I don't go on at length about how they can't dance, how they have flat butts and bad taste in music (I don't believe any of these things so I swear to god if someone quotes this as my opinion I will be very upset). I write about some wacky situation they found themselves in. I write about them falling in love or hating their boss or having some really good sex. I don't break down how white they are and what defines their whiteness according to blacks. See what I'm getting at here?
My dad and my boyfriend had an interesting conversation last night about growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950's and 60's and growing up in the 1990's in North Carolina. My dad reminded my boyfriend of something that stuck with me: though he was dealing with segregation and racism, when he got together with his friends they talked about the same things teenage boys talk about now: girls, sports, school and so on. The same applies in this situation. People of color do not act like less of people when they get together. I think of big Italian family get togethers I've attended and they have the same thing in common with big black family get togethers. There's food, there's laughter, there's cracks at some wacky uncle's expense. People are people. The traditions my be different, but the emotions, the heart is the same.
Here's what I am: A human being. I'm a woman.
Here are some things about me: I love cartoons. I love to draw. I can dance. I love the beach. I am a great swimmer. I suck at it, but Russian is my second language. I love folk music and pop and rap and jazz and some country and metal. I'm pretty freaking polite, especially to strangers. I'm a little obsessed with PBS. And I have three black siblings who can claim the same things. My sister's Russian is excellent. I am not abnormal. Plenty of black kids come from great homes and have perfectly regular interests.
Here's what I am not: A joke. A piece of entertainment. I don't now and never want to be a nanny. I'm not that great of a cook. I'm not quick to anger. It would take you a while to realize you've even pissed me off. I'm a quiet storm, baby. I'm not promiscuous to other people's detriment. I don't dance or sing on cue. I don't do stand up, nor do I have plans to be on a sketch comedy show. I have no idea how to break and/or enter. I have no interest in any sort of violence, at all. My diet doesn't consist of watermelon and fried chicken. No one in my family would be a suitable spokesperson for Popeyes. With my blackness, I cannot help you win a golf tournament, get a publishing deal, out wit plotting angels, reunite you with your estranged family member, cure you of your awkwardness in dating situations (though this is something I like to play at when I'm bored) and any other magical thing Hollywood would have you believe.
Here's what I'm tired of seeing: Authors who turn to the stereotype. Authors who claim they are not in control of their characters. Authors who set characters in diverse urban areas and omit every bit of diversity. Token minority characters. We were not put on this Earth to play supporting roles. Please believe me.
I think you see what I'm getting at. If you want to write people of color, write people of color. We are people. We have assholes among us just like you, but we're actually pretty chill. Radclyffe and Colette Moody are two authors I can name immediately who include characters of color and do it well. If you don't want to, and believe me it's a choice, then don't. But call a spade a spade. It's a choice.
If you're wondering, here's what I have on deck "race wise".
The Fling, out April 16
Biracial Russian and West African/ White
Latina/White (secondary couple)
The vampire sorority series in no particular order, all lesbian or bisexual couples.
Black/White
White/Biracial White and Hawaiian-Polynesian
Biracial Black and White/Japanese
Native American/ Biracial White and Thai
Egyptian/Korean
lesbian romance shorts
YA - Black/Black
Adult (60+) Black/Black with historical context
LGBT YA Novels
Chinese/ and Fae that would appear to be African-American
Biracial Black and White/ ? (I have vague picture of the love interest, but nothing concrete yet)
Hetero Werewolf Romance Novels
Black/Mexican
Native American/ ? (I have vague picture of the love interest, but nothing concrete yet)
End note. I am a victim of the American educational system in that I do not know nearly enough about First Nations and Native American people. I am working on this.
If you want to know more about racism, media white washing, cultural appropriation and erasure, Google is a mighty fine tool. Don't be afraid. Here's further reading if you're too lazy to Google.
Readers Against White Washing
Racialicious
Racecbending
Here I recommend some interracial romances. http://rebekahloves.tumblr.com/post/11894203053/do-you-have-any-recs-for-good-interracial-romance
Here Director Steve McQueen is left to answer the question as to why there are not more people of color in films. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/video-award-season-roundtable-series-directors-part-2
You can also send Skittles to the Sanford Police Department.
Sanford Police Department
815 W. 13th Street
Sanford , Florida 32771
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Day 589
 |
| featuring my short story, Study Break |
See here's the thing, I've had a really traumatic relationship with The Fling, which will be out April 16th. click this preorder it. Now that it's done and my editor helped me give it the tweeks it needed, I am very happy with the finished product. I LOVE the characters. Love them. I want to marry at least four of them and spend forever in their loving embrace, but getting to this point was trying and that's putting it lightly.
I started writing this book at a really bad point in my life. I was leaving a job, suffering from a really intense back pain, a good friend of mine died in a car accident and I won't lie, I was suicidal. I didn't try anything, but I made plans. And guess what, that shit showed up in my writing. Oksana, who is a character I'm very happy with, got all of my sads. Luckily my mental state improved. I left the horrid job and the horrid boss. I got to spend time with my family. I sulked to my mom. I reconnected with an amazing friend. WE GOT KITTENS! I brought more positive into my life and my moods started to stabilize. Thank god for my boyfriend who held my hand for that time.
But let's back up. So this is all going on and then I hit that horrid sophomore slump. Better Off Red walked out of my brain with its bags packed and was just waiting for a cab to the airport. I had to drag The Fling out kicking and screaming even though I was trying to send it on a nice vacation. I had the whole story outlined to death, but my stupid, crazy, depressed brain and my busted back were making it so very difficult to get the thing down on paper and then I would get bummed that it was taking me so long and then I had to do final edits on Better Off Red and then I was bummed again. It was a mess.
 |
| Oksana looks like Amber Rose in my imagination. |
So my point is, I have another book coming out in April. I'm really happy with it. You should by it. I can't wait for you to meet Annie and Oksana. :) If you'd like to have a look at them go here. Warning: some of the Annie pics show boobies. If you've read Better Off Red you should DEFINITELY pick up Women of the Dark Streets. I'm calling Study Break VSS 1.5. It gives you a look into Benny and Cleo and leads perfectly into Blacker than Blue. It's also busting with great shorts from some great authors. I've sneaked a peek.
P.S. I know talking about depression and suicide makes some people really uncomfortable, but some times talking about it saves lives.
Also this rocked my world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)