Leonor Soliz's Blog, page 2

Billionaire romance books: The line between fiction and reality

Full disclosure: I don’t like billionaires. And yet, I have a series of cozy billionaire romance books in the works, and I’m about to publish the first one: Yours, For Now (Gabe and Lina’s story, coming out August 29, 2023). Every author in the romance sphere, just like any creative in the storytelling realm, might reach a point where they question the boundaries between reality and fantasy. For a long time, I believed fiction had to create a better version of reality. Now, I’ve reached a new understanding of the function of fantasy for people, and I’m able to look at this topic with much more nuance.

It’s with this new understanding that I wanted to approach this post. I’ve struggled, folks! Even though I’m usually uncomfortable with billionaire romance books, I’m going for it. What convinced me to write this trope?

Why do we like billionaire romance books?

In real life, there are no ethical billionaires. I really believe that no one can accumulate that kind of wealth unless they have capitalized on inherited privilege and/or used unethical practices. But, since I’m writing about storytelling here, I want to press pause on that specific issue. Let’s just say I don’t like billionaires IRL. However…

Mega rich characters, especially Main Male Characters, are everywhere in romance books. Have you wondered why? I think it’s because it helps fulfill two main fantasies. One, money can symbolize security. It allows us to imagine a life where we don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. We could eat well and cover all our needs and some extras. Two, money can also provide access to power, luxury, and freedom. In a way, it’s about envisioning ourselves as people who don’t have to work, can sleep in 1,000 thread sheets every night, and fly across the world at the drop of a hat.

Often, people say they read romance books for escapism or to explore fantasies. This can include losing yourself to a world of uncomplicated wealth. But what is the point of fantasies in romance?

Romance and our fantasies

Aside from entertainment and escapism, there are other reasons why someone might read romance books. I believe two of those have to do with fantasies.

Personally, I like the version of fantasies where we use romance books as a sketch of what could be. In my books, I can create a world where everyone is working on themselves and have a desire to grow as people. When I write these stories, I can imagine what love can look like between people who behave like this. This way, storytelling can create a version of reality we can aim for, and in which we can find relief. A comforting, hopeful daydream.

Alternatively, stories can be a safe container in which to explore fantasies we never want to experience in real life. We have a lot more agency on the things that happen in our head, and can consent to things a lot more safely than we ever could in real life. The power dynamics change significantly in our imagination. Therefore, books with the proper content warnings read by psychologically mature people can be a safe vehicle of self-exploration.

In my opinion, there is a way to merge the two. And I think that’s partly why I came up with my Cozy Latine Billionaires series.

Cozy and rich

A few years ago, I read a post (which I couldn’t find today) about what it takes to become mega rich. This was written by a social worker whose parents had boats and several houses across the world. In his write up, he talked about a certain need to collect riches and have more than whomever they were comparing themselves to. In this person’s opinion, this was a never-ending desire to keep up with others in an even better financial situation. Besides that description, the author also said that most people wouldn’t reach those benchmarks, because most people don’t have that kind of need.

I don’t have a lot of interest at this point in writing characters who are driven by a need for more. That’s why I had to make my billionaire characters be huge philanthropists. They all actively look for ways to give their money away! What can I say? Mega rich people who act this way is part of my fantasy, too.

All in all, I think I found a way to tell these stories where I can still promise you my brand of cozy. In these books, the characters are actively wanting to grow and be good. Most characters are Latine. Lots of them are fat. The stakes are low. And all of this happens in a realm of wealth.

Billionaires that defy expectations

In my Cozy Latine Billionaires series, three MMCs find a family with the Sotomayors. The Sotomayor grown-up children get their happily ever after. And we get to see this happen in a version of the world where riches are shared.

Have you wondered what you’d do if you won the lottery? Because I have! The kind of things I imagine involve working in things that give me satisfaction and purpose, with plenty of time to rest, and indulging in some luxuries.

The advantage of being an author is that I can add stuff like that to this new series. That is, I can make these fantasies into a narrative… and take them as far as I like. For example, in the second epilogue of Yours, For Now, Gabe fulfills one of my fantasies for Lina. I like the idea of a world where racialized and otherwise marginalized people have access to this kind of stuff, too. 

In a way, I’m imagining a universe where this is possible. Seeing it this way helps me be excited about writing these stories. I’d love to welcome you into this world. Would you like to come with me?

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What makes a story queer?

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈 As you probably know by now, I love talking and thinking about representation, and why it’s important to write books with diverse characters. For Pride Month, I wanted us to explore the difference between representing the diversity of the world versus representing an LGBTQIAA+ identity. To put it simply: what makes a story queer? What defines a queer book?

Diversity vs Queer representation

Being involved in a subset of the book community that cares about diversity, I’ve often been part of conversations about what good representation looks like. Paying attention to how we include varied experiences in stories is important. Like I said in my latest post about mental health themes in books, representation only works when you do it right. Otherwise, it has the potential to be harmful.

On one hand, we can talk about representation in general terms. If we include diverse characters in our storylines, our cast has the power to reflect the real world. Historically, even though the world includes folk of different races, ethnicities, orientations, and other identities, we see stories centering a homogeneous experience.  Often, entire casts represent heterosexual, white, abled bodied, neurotypical experiences. Of course, this doesn’t mirror reality. In the real world, we have people with multiple identity intersections.

On the other hand, we can talk about representation of individual experiences. Having stories with a diverse cast of characters doesn’t mean the story represents particular identities. Including a queer character in a story doesn’t necessarily make it a queer story. For example, in Seeking Stars, one of Ana’s best friends is in a sapphic relationship. While that helps reflect real life diversity, it does not make it a queer novel. It wouldn’t be right for me to market it as such.

In other words, including diverse characters is not the same as creating representation for people’s intersections. In terms of LGBTQIAA+ media, we could say that at least one of the main characters has to identify a queer for it to count as representation. But is that enough?

Telling our own stories

Sometimes, in diverse spaces, we hear people asking why we want to tell our own stories. Typically, the question is something like, “Why can’t I write a main character who is [insert identity not their own]?” Other times, that statement is followed by, “I thought you said you wanted to see diverse characters!”

The thing is, we do want to see diverse characters. We also want to be the ones telling our own stories. This is important for two main reasons. One, when we create worlds and characters meant to represent us, we can add nuance that is hard to catch by research alone. We’re more likely to get it right, because we’ve lived it! And two, allowing us to craft stories to mirror our experiences means we get a chance to occupy space in the creative world. The latter is particularly important when we consider that about 70% of the publishing industry in Canada and 80% in the United States is cis, white, and heterosexual. Why shouldn’t the rest of us be given the chance to tell our stories?

This means that we need to know what our stories are. To be fair in this space, we need to understand our own experience, and identify the limits of what is ours to share. Personally, in terms of the queer stories I can tell, it’s important for me to acknowledge that not all LGBTQIAA+ stories belong to me. What I can tell with certainty is the story of a bi/pansexual cis woman who isn’t out to her family, only to a few people in her life, who is still exploring what the identity means, and how that intersects with being in a long-term monogamous relationship with a cis straight man.

I can’t tell every queer story, because I don’t know them. Still, I am best situated to tell mine.

The case for happy queer stories

The thing with representation is that sometimes it feels like all people want from our marginalized identities is the trauma story. There seems to be this tendency to think of tragedy as the better art. That, somehow, if you’re heartbroken at the end, it was better. This seems to be particularly so with queer stories. It used to be the rule in mainstream media that few queer stories seemed to be about joy. Worse still than heartbreak and unhappiness, many featured the “bury your gays” trope. Thankfully, more queer people are writing their stories now, and this is beginning to change.

As a romance writer, I’m constantly rebelling against a sad ending. I write romance because the genre demands that everything ends well. Clearly, the middle of the story can be harrowing but, the end? Make it happy! It’s not just about the happily ever after for me, though. I like to go beyond that, by creating low-conflict relationships among people who truly care about each other. This feels powerful because so much can go wrong in real life, be it because of the wounded world we live in or because we’re wounded people. It can be revolutionary, in a way, to focus on the good we can do if we give ourselves and each other a chance.

It’s because of this logic that, when I tell a queer story, I want it to be happy. Just like I write fatness in a neutral to positive way, I write my orientation in a similar way. Specially when my identity as a bi/pan woman is questioned by society, it feels defiant to create a world where characters who share that identity can be joyful. And I like that a lot.

I create a vision for my happiness through my stories, and one of my goals is that it will serve people with some of my shared identities as well. They say we can’t create what we can’t envision. So I’ll share the stories of what can be true for all of us one day.

What’s next

If you’d like to read a book featuring a fat, Latina, bi main female character, keep an eye out on this page! My next book releases in a few months and it might be to your liking…

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The importance of mental health representation in books

Like I mentioned in a recent post about Latine representation, seeing ourselves reflected in media can be a powerful experience. I’ve also talked about the importance of fat representation in fiction. As May ends, a month where we highlight mental health awareness, I wanted to talk about how stories can help reflect healthy views on psychological wellbeing by including mental health representation.

On the mental health of characters

When writing a character, an author has to make decisions about who this person is. Often, if the writer plans the story, they have to balance what makes them unique with what fits the plot. This may relate to giving depth to a character, or moving the plot forward. Traits like “quirky”, “cocky”, “sassy” help give them shape. What if some of these adjectives related to their mental health?

When I started writing Seeking Stars, I didn’t plan much. I had an idea and started writing; that’s how I discovered that Liam, the hero in that book, was a progressive, emotionally mature man. The more I wrote him, with his thoughtful perspective of himself and the world, and his difficulties with fame, the more I thought, “wow, this guy has done some work on himself”. Granted, I’m biased. I’m a therapist, and I believe that, in our current culture, it takes a lot of intentionality to learn mental health skills. So, what did I do? I decided he’d been in therapy for some time, and that it helped explain his superb skills. Writing him in therapy gave me so much joy! Even more, I appreciated that it could help normalize people choosing to access counselling, especially coming from a romance hero.

It was different in the case of Done and Done. In this book, I needed to decide why the hero, Alex, was such a grump. As I came up with the plot and decided this book would include a one-night stand, I had to figure out why he left right after and later returned. It was through this creation process that I decided that the hero’s arc would include him coming out of depression. This forced me to contemplate how I would describe this psychological state, and how I would make sure that I did so properly.

Making informed choices

The thing with representation is, it only works if you do it right. It’s important to consider how we write our characters, because doing it wrong has the potential to harm people. For instance, what would happen if I wrote depression wrong? I could end up invalidating someone’s experiences, or further stigmatizing mental health challenges. As a therapist and a person, I wouldn’t want to do that.

To minimize risk, I had to be mindful about how depression played a part in the story. Thanks to my training, I had the knowledge that depression sometimes can look like anger, and it’s not always a lifelong experience. I understand what it feels like and what it takes to get out of it, both as a professional and as someone who has experienced depression. Furthermore, I decided that for this hero, depression wouldn’t be chronic, but a temporary filter through which he saw life due to things he’d experienced. Without knowledge and a mindful approach to the issue, I could have made unintentional choices. In turn, this could have resulted in poor representation or, worse, harm.

This is why researching, learning, and weighing down the pros and cons of our decisions is so important. And it’s specially the case when we describe historically excluded and oppressed identities and experiences. To collect information about it, we can use our lived experiences as well as research. If you want to incorporate mental health representation into your book responsibly, you need to be mindful of the typical stereotypes and reflect on how your story might be falling into traps.

Respect and understanding

In terms of mental health in particular, an important question we need to ask is if we’re writing these stories with respect. Psychological wellbeing is an extremely complex issue, which can’t be resolved by simply deciding it.

A very important choice I made while writing Done and Done was that falling in love with the heroine wouldn’t solve the hero’s depression. Love isn’t a solution; it’s the support we need to change what we can change. It’s also an aid when there are things outside of our control. Still, it’s not the cure. Mental health representation requires deference, and that includes understanding what will and will not help it. That’s why, in this story, the hero goes to therapy and takes medication as part of his journey. Coming out of depression helps him be available to falling in love, not the other way around.

As you can see, deciding to include depression in my book wasn’t a simple, one-time action. It took a lot of consideration and purpose. In a way, the process itself has to be respectful. If we make a commitment to engage with our writing this way, we can use our power as authors to create a world where others might feel seen in a positive way. Little by little, we get to be part of the change. Hopefully, taking these steps will help us write an accurate and compassionate story.

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How I accidentally wrote an enemies-to-lovers book

I describe my book Done and Done as an enemies to lovers office romance. Here’s something you don’t know: I didn’t originally mean for Ely and Alex to be enemies to lovers! As a writer, I am a plantser: someone who plans some aspects of the book, but also discovers plot points as she writes. When I set out to write Done and Done, I knew I wanted it to be a grump/sunshine romance. That was a plot point revelation I had while working on Seeking Stars, my debut novel.

I wrote Liam, my male romantic lead in Seeking Stars, as having a brother with whom he had tense undercurrents. Later in the book, Ely (who is best friends with Ana, my female lead in that novel) asked Liam about his brother… as if she was imagining ending up with him. To which Liam says, “He’s a decent guy, he’s just a grump.” That was the moment I saw it all before my eyes. I knew that Ely would end up with Alex, and it would be a grump/sunshine story.

Something interesting happened when I went back to editing Done and Done, though, and I realized just how much Ely despised Alex at one point.

Enemies-to-lovers in contemporary romance

How to encapsulate the idea that Ely got so angry with Alex that she loathed him? And that he responded in kind? I considered “hate-to-love” and “opposites attract”. With the latter, it seemed to me that it was implied in the grump/sunshine trope. But hate-to-love… that one tripped me up. So I researched it, and I discovered it’s often used within the enemies-to-lovers trope.

This caused a little bit of an existential crisis. What does it mean to say enemies-to-lovers in contemporary romance? When I talked about it with Mr. Leonor Soliz and some of my friends, it seemed like the idea made complete sense in the fantasy romance genre: two people who hate each other, are actively working against each other, and may even have plans to hurt each other. Over time, they fall in love. Meanwhile, in the contemporary romance side of things, it didn’t seem as clear. After reading multiple definitions, some common threads appeared:

They butt heads, rub each other the wrong way, and are antagonists at the start.Sparks fly, leading to bickering. The banter should sizzle!Slowly, they overcome their differences and their initial reactions to each other, and they fall in love.

This was a definition I could get behind! In contemporary romance, enemies stands for high conflict between the main characters.

In my opinion, this concept fit the storyline in Done and Done. Interestingly, a couple of readers reached out to me to question why I called the book an enemies-to-lovers story. That’s valid! I’m not complaining. But whenever I have had a chance to have a conversation about it, there is one unexpected notion I like to bring into the conversation: the parallels that exist between Done and Done and one of my favorite stories, Pride and Prejudice. I bring this up because it helps us define the trope in contemporary romance, and why Done and Done follows that arc.

Darcy and Elizabeth, meet Alex and Ely

I’m not going to lie: the similarities between my book and Jane Austen’s classic caught me by surprise. It was during my research on the enemies-to-lovers trope that I first realized my book mirrored pieces of Pride and Prejudice. In some of the articles I read, including this lengthy but fascinating one, they called Darcy and Elizabeth’s story one of the first and most popular enemies-to-lovers books in history. At the time, I considered whether there were more parallels, but I felt shy. How dare I compare my book to Austen’s? So I pushed the thought aside.

Until a good friend and beta for my book sent me this photo, based on cocomonerd‘s post on Tumblr:

No because pride and prejudice isn’t “I changed myself for you so you would love me back.” It’s “your blatant rejection and disdain for me made me realize things about myself no one had ever been bold enough to tell me so I sat down and evaluated all my behavior patterns and why they came about and came to the realization myself that I had to work on myself.

Also I don’t expect you to love me now that I’m a work in progress, so I’m just going to do nice things for you because I don’t like seeing you hurt.” No wonder P&P fans refuse to settle.

What can I say? I fully agree with this sentiment on Pride and Prejudice. Accepting that meant looking at my story again, and admit that, yes, Done and Done also follows this plot point. Early in the story, Ely confronts Alex about his attitude, and he takes it to heart. He goes to therapy, and works on himself. Not because he wants to convince her to love him, but because he recognizes he needs to do this for himself. As he changes and she sees his progress, she falters—does she really want him? And she needs to work through her own prejudice to get her Happily Ever After.

My accidental Pride and Prejudice retelling

Writing this story involved multiple discoveries. First, I decided that I would write Alex and Ely falling in love, and that it would be a grump/sunshine story. Then, I realized the story also fit the enemies-to-lovers arc. Finally, I admitted that, even though I was unaware of it at a time, I’d written a story that worked as a modern Pride and Prejudice retelling. What kind of writer does all of this on accident? Me, apparently!

Now I own it, and love this book deeply. Alex goes through incredible growth, and Ely has to overcome her stubbornness and first impressions of Alex. Seeing them fall in love was a delight. I hope you enjoy the book, too, if you give it a chance.

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Writing diverse Latin American characters

A couple of years ago, when I was still writing my debut novel Seeking Stars, I spent some time in a subreddit that discussed feminism in romance novels. A post at the time focused on character diversity in books, and Latine culture was mentioned. I remember reading the comments with a lot of interest, because it was immediately clear to me that the folk there had an idea of Latine culture different from mine. They had experience with Latine people to different degrees but, overall, it seemed to me that they viewed Latine culture as that of Latines living in the US, and mostly consisting of Mexican or Caribbean culture. I understand why they thought that way. That’s what they were exposed to. But being Latine is much more diverse than that, and it should be reflected in writing diverse Latin American characters.

Being mirrored on the screen and on books helps us feel seen. We get to understand ourselves better when others reflect us back. That’s the power of representation. When someone asked me if I had ever seen myself represented as a Latina in a book, I said no. And to date, I haven’t. Except for the books I’ve written.

Food as a point of entry

Recently, a video of Pedro Pascal enjoying Chilean food did the rounds, and it made me so happy! The way he knew what everything was by sight, brought him memories, and he even said the names right. Just like when I saw this fanart by @ShukeiArt on Twitter, where Grogu is eating marraqueta and the Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro) teaches him about palta (avocado):

Such small things, but they filled me with joy. As an immigrant, I don’t get to eat Chilean food very often. Seeing food that reminds me of home is one point of entry for feeling represented. Food in general is important in Latin American culture, and not only because we get together to eat. One of my favourite things back home was doing sobremesa: chatting and relaxing after a meal for hours.

And that’s also one of the ways in which I brought representation into my books when writing Latin American characters. Ana in Seeking Stars is a first-generation Ecuadorian-American. She eats seco de pollo her mom makes for lunch, and cooks encocado de camarón in Love in Times of Contempt. Ana’s best friend, Ely, is Colombian. She talks about buñuelos, aguardiente, and ropa vieja. But there are other details as well besides food.

Latin American characters in books

There’s more than food to being Latine, of course. Latin America is a large geopolitical area, from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego including the Caribbean. It is a complex concept with no definitive edges, and not one definition. What would it be like if we tried to define what we know of Europeans based on what we know of England, France, and Germany?

In my experience, when people think of Latin America, they expect all of it to be hot like the Mexico coast and full of resorts, and for everyone to like spicy food and listen to salsa and reguetón. But, like with any other ethnicity, there is granularity the closer we get. I have similarities with Mexicans, just like we have things setting us apart. I can be different from other Chileans, and I can have some more similarities with a Peruvian or Argentinian than with someone from the Dominican Republic.

Those are the kind of details I missed when reading books with Latine characters. As someone born and raised in Latin America, I have a specific perspective when writing Latin American characters into books. I have a different lived experience, which includes the immigrant point of view. It was from this lens that I wrote this scene in Seeking Stars:

“The thing is,” Ana said, in the middle of a story, “I’m not fluent in Spanish. I understand it, but I can’t speak it. So the first time Ely’s parents offered me some tintico, I was extremely confused. Did I get it right? But I was too young for wine… and I couldn’t even ask! They wanted me to practice Spanish. Turns out that while tinto is a word for red wine in a lot of Latin American countries, it means black coffee in Colombia.”

“So there you are, right after lunch with your parents and Ely’s family…”

“And her parents are offering me red wine. Or so I thought.”

And though no one knows but me (and now you), that paragraph speaks volumes about my life and what I know as a Latina and an immigrant. In just a few sentences, I visited old memories and mixed it with my life today. I have people in my family who are Colombian, and with whom I spent a significant portion of my life. I myself lived the tintico: wine or coffee? joke. Because making fun of someone has been a way of interacting in my Latine family, which is a commonality in almost all Latine people I know. It also talks about the immigrant experience, where folk from different backgrounds come together to create a found family.

Similar, but not the same

I’ve had the privilege to spend a significant amount of time with Latine folk from several countries, and I try to honor all of us in my stories. It’s food, and it’s what connects us, like machismo, complex family dynamics, a shared colonial history, and romance languages. And it’s also about the little differences among us.

To anyone interacting with Latin American characters in my stories, or with other Latine stories, I’d like you to come to this space with curiosity. I’d like you to understand that Latinidad isn’t a monolith. That it’s an ethnicity with a lot of variability, and where all races are represented. Where race, colorism, and xenophobia all get mixed up, among us and specially when seen from outside. How, even though being Latine isn’t a race, we’re racialized in the Global North, and treated as not-really-white even if we’re light skinned. How the Caribbean culture is different than those of us at the end of the continent. That once you go south enough, you approach the South Pole, and it’s actually quite cold.

Just like everyone else, and specially those of us with historically excluded intersections, us Latine folk are still figuring it out ourselves. Are you open to walk with us as we learn about what it means to be Latine? See us in all our diversity and shared history? In our ever-evolving culture?

I hope so, because I’d love to share this journey with you.

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Love in Times of Contempt: Paperback edition available now!

The paperback edition of LOVE IN TIMES OF CONTEMPT is out now!

You fell in love with Ana and Liam in Seeking Stars… now you can see where they are a year later in my new novella.

About LITOC:

This is a follow up novella to Seeking Stars. It happens a year after the end of the book, but before both epilogues for SS. Please check the Author’s note for more info.

LITOC is the comfiest romance to ever comfy. There’s conflict, of course, but it’s not huge. For content warnings, check here. It’s mostly domesticity and a happy couple figuring things out together. I hope that’s your jam 🍯

Seeking Stars will be on sale next week!

Keep an eye out for more details.
Aaaahh, just one week! LITOC will be available in all formats NEXT TUESDAY FEB. 28. I can’t wait to share it with you 💜

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Diversity in books: Seeking Stars has a new cover!

I recently received feedback about the cover of my debut romance novel, Seeking Stars. Some of it had to do with the business side of it, which created questions about the message my cover was sending to potential readers. But the comment that really stayed with me had to do with an important piece of the design itself: I talk a lot about diversity in books, but it’s not clear enough in this cover that my book has plus size representation. This led me down a rabbit hole… and I’m very excited to announce that Seeking Stars is getting a new cover!

The old cover of Seeking Stars

Let’s break down the old cover for my book. We have the Los Angeles’ skyline in the background and the beach as the setting; this is because Liam is a Hollywood star, and they spend a lot of time at the beach alone. There are paparazzi loitering in the sand, trying to get a photo of them, because paps are gonna pap, and they are part of this celebrity romance. Half of the image is water, because important things happen in the water (👀). In the forefront, the main characters. Now, play close attention to Ana. You can see she has light brown skin, and you may take note of her thick thighs… but can you see her belly rolls? They’re not that clear, are they?

That’s the piece of feedback that really got to me. Representation is one of the main reasons I’m motivated to write. I want there to be stories that would have changed my life at twenty years old. To see pieces of me in books with guaranteed happy endings would have really helped, you know? So I write them, and hope they mean something to other people, too.

The above being the case, I had to decide how I was going to include representation everywhere in my work, not only in the story. That meant thinking about the covers I was going to create for my characters. Did you know that photos of multicultural couples are scarce? And almost non-existent for fat people. If you try to mix the two, it’s almost impossible. So I went for illustrated, and created this version.

Why diversity in books is a big deal

I’ll let you in a little secret: I wasn’t 100% in love with the previous cover for my debut novel. I personally enjoyed a lot of it, like the floaties and Ana’s thick thighs. But if you couldn’t see her size, it didn’t serve me.

Like I said before, representation is critical to me. When we look at structures of power in society, and we compare it to the publishing industry, we can see the distribution of people making decisions is similar. At least among traditional publishing, the majority of actors continue to be white, cis, straight, and abled-bodied. In the case of Latine people, estimations suggest we represent 7% of the industry. We are way more than that in the world; evidently, we’re under-represented. In terms of total books published, the numbers don’t look better. Some of the last surveys report only 11% of all publications were written by folk identifying as People of Color. Historically, it looks like up to 95% of all books published since the 50s were written by white folk.

These numbers are staggering, and they’re only reflecting studies looking into the race/ethnicity conflation typical in North America. In the references I cited here, you can see stats for other identities, such as gender and sexual orientation. If you look for data on body size diversity in them, you will not find it. I’m not surprised; except for those of us actively working in fat liberationist spaces, most people don’t think of fatness as an identity to be included in diversity and inclusion efforts. This should change; it’s important that we include body size in DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) conceptualizations and that we think of fatness as a social justice issue.

But it should not stay in theoretical places only. We need action. From policies to something as small as what bodies we represent on a book cover, we need to be purposeful. That’s the only way in which we will help create and sustain change.

Seeking Stars gets a new cover

With all of that in mind, I had to evaluate if I should change the cover for my book. I had to weigh what mattered most: avoiding the risk of confusion after a cover change, or updating the balance of diversity in books by changing the design. The latter won. Logistical problems aside, representation matters. If I want to make posts like this more than just rhetoric, I need to be willing to prioritize inclusion.

So I did. I created a new cover for my book, one where you can see Ana’s size much more clearly.

In general, I’m much happier with this cover. The colors are more vibrant, and you can still see Los Angeles in the background. I love the way Liam looks at Ana, like he’s stealing a peak while she’s busy working. In the wraparound cover, the one for the paperback edition, there’s water and a hint to the cabin in which they spend all that time together. And her belly rolls occupy a much larger illustration area! They make me so happy.

I will be updating everything with this new design in the upcoming days. You still have a couple of days left to buy the original cover, if you prefer! After this weekend, though, this will be the official cover for the book 💜

If you’re a creator, I invite you to study your work to assess how you’re actively working toward inclusion. If you don’t create but consume art, whether visual or literary, you could evaluate how you’re purposely seeking the diversification of the media you choose. That way, we can all come together and create the change we need.

The post Diversity in books: Seeking Stars has a new cover! appeared first on Leonor Soliz.

Why fat representation in romance books matters

As we face the start of a new year, I thought it would be relevant to talk about fatness. We’re bombarded with media telling us that this is the year we finally become thin. This “new year, new resolution” BS that boils down to harmful diet culture and anti-fat sentiments. I do not stand for that. I thought it was a good moment to talk about why fat representation in romance books matters, and the way it shows up in my books.

Owning the use of fat as a descriptor took years. Even though I’m at a point where I use the word liberally, I know there is so much work left to do to change the perception of fat bodies in the world. When I think of my younger self, I imagine how healing it would have been to see fat bodies falling in love. Being desired and celebrated. When I started writing my books, I knew I had to write the books that I needed to find as a young adult. So I did.

I also write mid-size characters. This is a complicated term, as it’s often co-opted by people with a distorted self-view or internalized fatphobia, especially in the body positive movement, to talk about themselves. When I use it, I want to be clear that I mean people who can generally find clothes in standard stores, but sometimes have trouble. Clothing size is nonsense, since it varies within and between brands, with no consistency at all. Still, to use a measure that may help us situate body size, to me mid-size is someone who typically looks for XL, US16 size clothing and up. They often find those clothes in straight size stores, but not always. Sometimes, they find stuff in plus-size stores. They’re in the middle—they’re mid-size.

Fat representation in my stories

Ana Lira, one of the main characters of my debut romance novel Seeking Stars (2022), is mid-size. Her best friend, Ely, is fat; her hips are powerful. Like her. My current favorite description of Ely walking that I’ve written is this:

Ana tore her attention away from Alex to admire Ely’s entrance, and she had to press her lips together not to smile. Ely walked with confidence, her cover up open and waving behind her. The soft curves of her belly and hips echoed her steps with small earthquakes on her flesh, and her eyes shone with mischief. Curious, Ana studied Alex’s reaction. All he did was lift an eyebrow and sweep a look up and down Ely.

Which is in Love in Times of Contempt, the follow up novella to Seeking Stars that is coming out this year. Ely gets her own story, too, of course. Her book is called Done and Done, and will also be released in 2023, if all goes well. In this little quote, you also get to meet her person, Alex. But I digress. Did you catch all about the earthquakes on her body?

There’s still a lot of work to do in terms of fat representation in romance books. In my next series, I have fat main female characters as well… and mid-size, and fat male main characters, too. I hope you stick around to read about how they fall in love and find their happily ever afters.

***

For more info on the always-evolving fat spectrum, I recommend this article: Fategories.

The post Why fat representation in romance books matters appeared first on Leonor Soliz.

Mid-size and Fat Rep in my books

As we face the start of a new year, I thought it fit to talk about fat. We’re bombarded with media telling us that this is the year we finally become th!n. New year, new resolution kinda BS. Harmful d!et culture and antifat sentiments. I do not stand for that, so what a better moment than to talk about fat rep in my books?

Owning the use of fat as a descriptor took years. Even though I’m at a point where I use the word liberally, I know there is so much work left to do to change the perception of fat bodies in the world. When I think of my younger self, I imagine how healing it would have been to see fat bodies falling in love. Being desired and celebrated. When I started writing my books, I knew I had to write the books that I needed to find as a young adult. So I did.

I also write mid-size characters. This is a complicated term, as it’s often co-opted by people with a distorted self-view or internalized fatphobia, especially in the body positive movement, to talk about themselves. When I use it, I want to be clear that I mean people who can find clothes in standard stores, but sometimes have trouble. Clothing size is nonsense, since it varies within and between brands, with no consistency at all. Still, to use a measure that may help us situate body size, to me mid-size is someone who typically looks for XL, US16 size clothing and up. They often find those clothes in straight size stores, but not always. And sometimes, they find stuff in plus-size stores. They’re in the middle— they’re mid-size.

So what about my characters? Ana in Seeking Stars is mid-size. Her best friend, Ely, is fat; her hips are powerful. Like her. My current favorite description of Ely walking is this:

Ana tore her attention away from Alex to admire Ely’s entrance, and she had to press her lips together not to smile. Ely walked with confidence, her cover up open and waving behind her. The soft curves of her belly and hips echoed her steps with small earthquakes on her flesh, and her eyes shone with mischief. Curious, Ana studied Alex’s reaction. All he did was lift an eyebrow and sweep a look up and down Ely.

Which is in Love in Times of Contempt, the follow up novella to Seeking Stars. Ely gets her own story, too, of course. Her book is called Done and Done. In this little quote, you also get to meet her person, Alex. But I digress. Did you catch all about the earthquakes on her body?

In my next series, I have fat main female characters as well… and mid-size and fat male main characters, too. I hope you stick around to read how they fall in love and find their happily ever afters.

***

For more info on the always-evolving fat spectrum, I recommend this article: Fategories.

The post Mid-size and Fat Rep in my books appeared first on Leonor Soliz.

The journey from first draft to final manuscript

Writing is so much more than putting words on a page. I say that not only as an indie author, where I’m my own publishing house and I have have to handle multiple roles beyond creating a story. When I say this, I’m thinking about how much editing goes into making a story better. The journey from the first draft to the final manuscript is long!

Every writer has a different strategy to go from idea to book. In my case, I write down the story first, as full as I can make it—a pretty fleshed-up skeleton, if you will. Then I edit it several times, and then again once my editor and beta-readers give me feedback. And one final edit for good measure. Once, I read that writing happens in the editing, and it’s certainly the case for me.

My debut novel, Seeking Stars (2022), came out a month and a half ago. It’s so interesting to see how much has changed in each iteration. Are you curious to see some of the changes? Then check this out!

Seeking Stars – First page, first draft

Liam knew he needed a break. Despite the burning pain in his muscles and the sweat dripping off his jaw and down his neck, he didn’t mean pausing his training session. He needed time off work.
Growing up, when he imagined himself as a working adult, he saw himself doing some sort of science in some sort of lab. He had a creative side, but he knew the odds of that materializing into a real job were remote at best. Deciding to follow a reasonable path, he got his undergrad, then his Masters, and had started his PhD. Acting had been just for fun; a hobby to keep his mind clear as he waded through academic demands.
It had been his roommate, Logan, the one to convince him to give acting a try. Logan used to joke, “with a pretty face like yours, who needs a PhD to pay the bills?” They had been involved in a theater troupe, putting shows on during summer breaks. While Logan had gone on to finish his degrees, circumstance led Liam through several unlikely doors and he found himself in front of the cameras.
The beep, beep, beep of his tracker told him his last tabata was ending. With one last push, he forced himself to work through the pain burning on every muscle of his body, lunging with a heavy weight plate held above his head. The last three lunges threatened to make his legs give way, but he held his form. He carefully dropped the weight onto the floor; the resulting clunk drowned the sound of his labored breathing for a second.
He stood at the small outdoor gym in his home, hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath. He welcomed the exhaustion, it helped clear the heaviness in his chest. Almost.
Liam replayed his meeting with Coulton that morning. He had done his very best to placate Liam and convince him that he should keep doing as many movies as possible. Ever the negotiator, Coulton had gone as far as to propose a break from action movies and a return to romcoms, as if this could keep Liam from his impending burnout.
“Stopping now will be the beginning of the end of your career,” Coulton had said. “You really have to keep going or everything we’ve done will be in vain.”
Liam had seen it happen more than once, talented people out of work overnight because they got cocky and turned down the wrong gig. He didn’t want to be one of those actors that suddenly found themselves with no work. Despite that, Liam needed to know there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and that the intensity of the last few years would end soon. No matter how many times he tried to get an answer out of Coulton, the older man expertly evaded giving Liam any kind of concrete timeline, such that he still didn’t know if he had to prepare for a year or three more of this mind-breaking pace. Anger threatened to suffocate him again, frustration…

Seeking Stars – First page, final manuscript

Liam’s persona made his living— a really good living, at that. Eight out of ten people recognized his face. Promotional posters featured him across tall buildings, all over the world. Movie trailers centered him as the hero, and his characters never failed to meet his brand of action and emotion, CGI optional. The lead actress always wanted him, and so did millions of fans across the world. Yet none of it would help him now.
His therapist arched her thin eyebrow at him, her eyes focused and bright on his face. It meant trouble; she’d heard something of note and would call him out on it. He closed his eyes to block her out for just one more second. A futile effort, and the only option he had.
“What did I say?” He went back on his words, but didn’t find anything particularly incriminating. He’d said it all before.
I’m the vehicle of people’s income and I end up as currency.
Dr. Linda’s gesture didn’t waver. “It’s not what you said, but how you said it.”
He reviewed his statement again, focusing on his tone.
“Oh.” He scratched his eyebrow before he let his hand fall in his lap, listless.
“You’re still bitter, Liam.”
He sighed. “I guess I am. Can you blame me?”
“Of course not. You’ve worked hard to get here, to understand yourself… but your life still doesn’t reflect those changes. And I think— tell me if I’m wrong— I think that you’re exhausted by it all, in your soul.”
His stomach dropped at Dr. Linda’s words, despite the comfort of her understanding. Emptiness filled his chest now; a concave, vacant space.
“Bitterness, though…” she adjusted her glasses, her focus completely on him. “There’s a certain hopelessness to it, isn’t there? Powerlessness.”
Liam opened his mouth to reply, to defend against something. He didn’t even know what, really, but she lifted her hand to stop him.
“Don’t just jump to talk back. Check in with how you feel, remember?”

Wow. They’re so different! Different scenes, a whole new character that hadn’t been there before… A lot more action, and it’s dialogue based.

If you knew how much I had to cut from the whole first draft…

 

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