Penny Reid's Blog, page 62
November 7, 2016
Neanderthal Marries Human Read-Along!
Do you like read-alongs?! What about cake?! How about Janie and Quinn?! Then come on over to the ‘Neanderthal Marries Human’ Read-Along! It officially starts tomorrow 
WHAT: Read-along, discussions, graphics sharing, giveaways, favorite quotes, questions for the author. At the end of each day there will be a giveaway; everyone who participated will be entered into the giveaway (y)
November 7: Welcome!
November 8: Chapters 1-4
November 9: Chapter 5-9
November 10: Chapters 10-13
November 11: Ch...
November 3, 2016
My Goodreads Tribe: A request from Penny Reid
*ALERT* Heartfelt message time, Penny Reid style (feel free to share EVERYWHERE with like-minded weirdos):
Did you love ‘Beard Science’?
If so, how much did you love it? Was it your favorite book of the year? Totally cool if it wasn’t.
… but if Cletus and his sausage stole your heart, if you experienced an epic book hangover, if you want more of Cletus and Jenn and their brand of weird, maybe consider writing ‘Beard Science’ in to the Goodreads ‘best romance of 2016’ category.
Link: https:/...
October 20, 2016
So something cool happened…
Something cool happened today to Penny Reid, which is me… but not really me. Penny Reid is you.
Allow me to explain (but feel free to skip if this doesn’t interest you).
Penny Reid was told by over 100 agents and publishers that romance readers don’t read Penny’s kind of books. The words are too big. The concepts are too complicated. There are too many characters to keep track of, all with complex personalities and too many flaws.
So Penny self-published.
And the publishers kept telling her t...
October 14, 2016
Watch of video of me being a nerd!
I’m over on the Amazon.com homepage today!! (… being a nerd)
In case you didn’t know, October is Indie Author month over on Amazon.com and today they’ve posted a video of me talking about my author journey on their page ‘Powered by Indie‘ If you have a few moments to spare, go check out the video! Then come back here and let me know what you think 
October 10, 2016
BEARD SCIENCE IS LIVE!
October 4, 2016
Amazon’s Powered by Indie: My IndieAuthor Story
Greetings fair internet peoples!
SHORT STORY: I am an independent author and Amazon.com is celebrating Independent Authors this month (October) over on their Powered by Indie page!! WOOT!! You can help celebrate by spreading the word and making lists of your favorite books that have been independently published. Go forth and celebrate.
LONG STORY: I’m exceptionally honored that my book, Truth or Beard is being highlighted by Amazon during their Powered by Indie month. It has been chosen as...
September 27, 2016
Win a signed paperback copy of ‘Beard Science’ on Goodreads!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Beard Science
by Penny Reid
Giveaway ends October 18, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
September 20, 2016
September 10, 2016
At a Cross-Roads: Writing People of Color
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REIDERS!
Specifically I’m talking to Reiders of Color . . . lol! That sounded weird. Let me try again:
Specifically, I am talking to people of color.
Dear all people of color who read my books,
I have a problem.
Let me be clear. First and foremost, I’m not afraid of backlash. I’m afraid of doing harm.
Since I wrote Sienna’s story, I have been at a cross-roads. I’ve been messaged by several Mexican-Americans (and other people of color) expressing concern that I have written about a Mexican-American woman when I am not, in fact, a Mexican-American woman. Additionally, I discussed her plight of being passed over for a major film role because she was a Latina. As such, they have used the term: “Cultural Appropriation”
I understand what this is and I have concern about cultural appropriation. Specifically, I have concern that I am culturally appropriating. I am telling the stories of another culture as a white person, for my own benefit and for the benefit of my stories.
See this most recent article on the subject:
https://medium.com/@yassmin_a/i-walke...
I am at a cross-roads.
I have a story planned for a woman of color (African American) based on emails received from readers, about how– in African American culture– value is placed on being an entertainer or an athlete, but to excel in science and engineering is met with apathy or even sometimes outright dismay (by people within the African American culture). This was a common theme is so many messages, and these women had never spoken to each other.
According to the emails, it’s seen as selling out. Plus there is a lot of prejudice that exists in STEM fields, that African Americans can’t be good at math and science. I received this comment SO MANY TIMES from readers, that I decided to write this story. Because it struck a chord with me. I wanted to write a story FOR young African American women (and all women), letting them know that they are allowed to excel in STEM fields and it doesn’t make them weird or different or less valuable. That they should be true to themselves, and if that means becoming an Astrophysicist, then awesome.
HOWEVER, I am now doubting whether I should. This is a compelling story (I think) but I don’t know whether I should be the one to write it. I haven’t lived it and wouldn’t it be some form of cultural appropriation?
At this point, I’m wondering if (in order to avoid cultural appropriation) I should just stick to white characters and their stories.
That makes me sad.
But my opinion doesn’t matter. And, honestly, other white people– your opinion doesn’t matter either. We don’t have the right to these stories.
So, my question to you my readers who are people of color, should I:
1. Email these women and ask for their permission. Then write the story. Additionally, in my email requesting permission, I would also encourage them to tell their story (write it) and offer to give them a platform for promotion if they do.
OR
2. Not write the story (because even with their permission, it’s still cultural appropriation) and email these women back, encourage to tell their story (write it) and offer to give them a platform for promotion if they do.
If #2, then should I stop writing main characters of color? How do I know when it’s okay/not cultural appropriation?
Thank you for your consideration.
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EDITED TO ADD: After reading an author’s distress re: the above two paragraphs, I want to clarify something because (upon re-reading) I can definitely see how the above two paragraphs are horrible (or may be read as horrible)– it was not my intention to state that African American Culture does not value STEM. But that’s definitely how it reads above. What I should have said: These emails I received mentioned how– in these women’s experiences– that the culture they grew up in placed more value and importance on entertainment and athleticism than the culture placed on STEM careers. These women have been told that they “sold out”
In the paragraph above I also mention “a lot of prejudice” I should have expanded on that statement to say “a lot of prejudice and racism against African Americans” Racism exists. I know this.
I also understand that these readers who responded are not representative of every member of African American culture. Rather, their collective stories in the emails they sent fascinated me and struck a chord. My previous job was in a STEM field and women in general (at least when I was going through the programs) encounter a lot of barriers to success/discrimination because they are women. Will this be every woman’s perspective? No. Got it.
Also, this article is not a “cookie grab”. I promise. You can believe me or not. I can’t do anything about your decision to think the worst of me. I like to discuss things.
In the meantime, for the foreseeable future, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not appropriate for me to write outside of my cultural experience. The potential for doing harm is too high (well-meaning harm is the worst). I will contact the readers who have shared their stories (African-American women in STEM careers) and encourage them to write their own stories / offer to provide a platform to spread the word.
Diversity in all genres is important, obviously. Diversity of characters is critical, but remains secondary to the importance for diversity of creative professionals telling their own stories. Whether white people should write POC characters is unclear. The hypothesis is that I can write a faithfully legitimate, realistic African American woman and her experience. However, the risks posed by the null hypothesis are too great. I have to default to risk/benefit analysis. In this case, the maximum degree of good is eclipsed by the smallest potential for harm.
Plus, the simple fact remains, it’s not my story to tell. It’s not my cultural experience. Culture is not like a job. I do not appropriate from an architect when I write an architect character because architects aren’t marginalized by society by people like me.
For the record, none of my readers were upset with me about Sienna as a character. The comments I received stated that I did a good job with the character, but that I never should have told the story in the first place. Her story and experience were not my story to tell.
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