The profile picture doesn’t lie. I’m white. Yet I grew up
around Los Angeles.
Not the LA most people see on TV. You know, with all of the tanned wealthy white
people who hang out whining about their fake drama. Occasionally, a token black
character arrives, says something black like “jive turkey” or “whazzup” then
does a fancy black person handshake before disappearing back into the black
part of LA.
In my part of LA, I was in the minority. There were like ten
white kids in my high school. Three were nerds (including me), one was a guy
who played his guitar in the hallways (sigh), and the rest were stoners. I grew
up in a place where you didn’t say "the Asian kid" if you wanted to narrow things
down. You had to say Korean, Chinese, Filipino, etc. We had Latinos from Mexico, El
Salvador, and Uruguay (Yes, there were jokes, but
it was high school). The black kids were American and foreign born (African and
Caribbean). So I grew up in a place where the
average face wasn’t white and most people sported an accent. If they didn’t
have a hint of an accent, their parents did. Mine did too.
Even so, when I wrote my first urban fantasy, I populated
the book with only whites. In The Moon Rises, there is a single person of color
and she appears only in flashbacks. True, Celeste will show up later in the
series. Oh, and no doubt she’ll simply love being the only POC in the whole
city.
Why did I write it that way? I have no idea. I blame the
books I was reading at the time. Yeah, not my fault at all. Someone
else made me do it. See, many of my beloved UF series are filled
wall-to-wall with whites. Occasionally, a POC will exist in the background or
their race will be so downplayed readers won’t even remember he’s black. I’m
thinking of a particular character that shall remain nameless.
There are exceptions - Mercy Thompson, Jane Yellowrock, and
Anita Blake are WOC who lead popular series. Sorry if the visual of
Anita gave anyone the heebie-jeebies.
So I was writing one white character after another without
noticing how large Whiteytown had become. Then I came upon a review about a
book I had reasonably enjoyed. This review was by the blog Fangs for the Fantasy. I don’t normally give the specific reviewer a shout out
because I don’t want them bothered. Yet Fangs has a great blog and they write
amazing reviews.
Anyway, the review was negative for several reasons, but the
complaints I zeroed in on were the ones about the lack of diversity. In this
particular book, the MC lived in a real world urban area with a diverse
population. Yet in the book, everyone was white. Friends, coworkers, love
interests, every single person. Possibly, a black guy ran by and did a cool
black person wave. Otherwise, it was Caucasian Central.
Suddenly, I saw how white The Moon Rises was. Once again, a
negative review alerted me to a failing in my writing. It’s not like I want my
readers to only be white. If I want a multicultural audience, why not give them
a multicultural cast of characters? It seems obvious now, but like with the
name game and cussing, I didn’t see the problem until a negative review sparked
something inside my writer’s brain.
I started wondering why THAT character couldn’t be black or
THAT character Asian or THAT character Hispanic?
I often find myself wondering what Fangs would think of a
book I’m reading or writing. Would they find the characters too white? Too
hetero (a blog for another day)? Once I imagined how they might view the worlds
I created, I heard this little voice in my head asking if I could create more
diversity in my books.
I find inspiration everywhere too. I recently wrote about a
Persian family after watching Shahs of Sunset. If you haven’t seen this Bravo show, it’s like one of those
Housewives fiascos, but with Persians. If you love drama, lushes, a taste of a
different culture, more drama, and a weird obsession with dogs, give the show a
try. It’s awesomely awful. Or awfully awesome. Depends on the episode.
Not every writer wants a multicultural cast in their books.
They have their reasons and I don’t judge them. For me though, I now actively
create worlds that remind me of my old high school. Yet I might have gone on
creating one Anglo
City after another if not
for a negative review opening my eyes.
Normally, I end with a reminder to writers how reviews
aren’t for them. They exist for the readers, but writers can find interesting
perspectives in them. However, the people behind Fangs for the Fantasy truly
hope to change perceptions with their reviews. So I applaud them for both the
awakening I received from reading their reviews, plus how they open the minds
of other readers.
Coming soon…
Why I read negative reviews – Pt. 4: Her quim quivered, but
her pussy just wasn’t feeling it.
Fuck, I love those motherfucking negative reviews. Shit, they’re great because you can fucking learn so much. I especially fucking like reading negative reviews of books I think are the shit. One of my super fucking favorite fucking series is Kate Daniels. Ah, Kate and Curran, let me fucking imagine them fucking.
So I was fucking reading a fucking negative review of Magic Bites where the reader fucking criticized all of the fucking cussing in the fucking book. What fucking cussing was she fucking talking about?
I’ll be fucking honest. I’ve got a bit of a fucking potty mouth. No, I’m not shitting you here, bitches. Now I fucking know when it’s appropriate to fucking cuss and when I should shut my fucking piehole. I don’t walk around cussing at old fucking ladies. I can damn well edit myself if I fucking want to.
This reviewer had other fucking issues with the first Kate book, but it was how she reacted to the fucking cussing that got me fucking thinking. I can’t even remember there being fucking cussing. I’m immune to that fucking shit. Yet I did start wondering about the fucking cussing in my fucking books. Was it all fucking necessary? Would it turn off my fucking readers? Could I fucking minimize or ax all of the fucking cussing without destroying my fucking story? Shit, I thought I fucking could.
Now I understand a fucking writer has a badass vision that they fucking want to see through. Sometimes a character is bound to fucking cuss. I’m writing a guy right now who uses cussing like fucking punctuation. Shit = comma. Fuck = period. Fucking shit = exclamation mark. The asshole can’t be fucking written fucking different because he’s an asshole and assholes like him fucking cuss the way I do in traffic.
Yet I did find other fucking characters who spouted shit when less fucked up things could be said. Hoyt in Desert Flower got the trimming in the fucking cussing department. He said shit too much. He still says shit, but less fucking so. I rewrote Vivi, his gal pal, so she didn’t fucking say fuck. Frigging seems less jarring to certain minds and means the same from a fucking character like her. It’s something a writer needs to fucking consider. Possibly fucking turning off readers vs. the writer’s fucking vision for the characters.
I’ve fucking written Christian fantasy. It’s not fucking impossible to eliminate cussing altogether. It’s simply a fucking choice a fucking writer makes to fucking change their vision. Many fucking writers never would put up with that shit, but this negative review gave me a fucking lot to fucking think about.
Sometimes it’s all about seeing things from a different fucking perspective. I fucking love Kate Daniels. I never fucking noticed the cussing. I think fucking reading another perspective hit me harder because of this. If I had fucking read the same fucking review, but about a piece of shit book, I wouldn’t have fucking cared.
As a fucking author, I must choose between my asscrackingly amazing artistic vision and the fucking needs of my customers. A writer can’t fucking please everyone, but if you’re someone wanting to fucking build a fan base and especially if you’re writing a fucking series, it’d be wise to consider if your fucking choices will fucking turn off your fucking audiences.
I doubt the fucking negative reviewer would have read more of the fucking Kate Daniels series even without all of the fucking cussing. She had other fucking problems that likely would have fucking bothered her for each book. Even if I didn’t have the same fucking visceral reaction as the fucking reviewer, I salute her for mentioning something which made me fucking think.
Now imagine if I wrote the above message without cuss words. Would it have changed the point all that much? Maybe, maybe not. Each writer must find a way to be true to their vision without alienating their potential readers.
Let’s finish with a fucking reminder. Negative reviews aren’t fucking written for fucking writers. Yet they are fucking written by fucking READERS, making their fucking opinions fucking goldmine.
Coming Soon: All aboard! Destinations – Whiteytown, Anglo City, and Caucasian Central
Even so, when I wrote my first urban fantasy, I populated
the book with only whites. In The Moon Rises, there is a single person of color
and she appears only in flashbacks. True, Celeste will show up later in the
series. Oh, and no doubt she’ll simply love being the only POC in the whole
city.
