Madhuri Pavamani's Blog, page 25

I #SupportWNDB – The Series: Being A Better Writer Means Being Diverse

How Diversity Makes You A Better Writer

Christa Wojo

 

Living in Panama for nearly a decade, I���ve learned what it feels like to be isolated from the rest of society. Now I���m more or less at home and speak Spanish well, but when I first moved here and didn���t know the language. People stared at me, a tall blue-eyed blond girl, like I was a Sasquatch. I was a minority in a world of Salsa and juega vivo. I was gringa.

I hid in the house and watched CSI reruns because that was the only show on in English. I remember one time I was listening to the radio while waiting for my husband in the car, and in the midst of reggaeton and obnoxious screaming DJ, a song by The Strokes came on. I think I almost cried. I felt like I was with old friends. It was as if Julian Casablancas said, you are not alone American girl!

So what does this have to do with writing fiction?

 

���We all suffer alone in the real world. True empathy’s impossible. But if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with a character’s pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with their own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside. It might just be that simple.���

����� David Foster Wallace

 

What Diversity Really Means

When attached to a book, the words ���diversity��� and ���multicultural��� usually make one think of race; but the scope is much greater. These terms also encompass gay and lesbian fiction, as well as books featuring characters with disabilities such as blindness or autism.

Writing diverse books is writing for real people. Heroines don���t always have to be beautiful and thin, and heroes don���t always have to have bulging biceps and washboard abs. Diverse books strive to develop complex iconoclastic characters that the world���s many individuals can identify with.

Brave authors and advocates, like the #WeNeedDiversBooks movement, are calling to attention the importance of diversity in literature. With the advent of independent publishers and authors, books that may have been held up in the traditional routes because they didn���t have mass appeal are finally being released into the world, creating niche genres for the enjoyment of all readers. Exciting, isn���t it? Go indie!

The covers and concepts of books are changing too, and more writers are realizing that in order to portray a compelling setting, diversity is key. Fleshing out unique characters is part of writing any good book, and even if a writer is not publishing in what would be considered a multicultural, gay, or other diverse sub-genre, he or she should still avoid token characters, stereotypes, and worn out tropes.

 

Tokenism is Not Diversity

What is a token character? ���Tokenism��is the��practice��of making a perfunctory gesture toward the��inclusion��of members of��minority groups. This token effort is usually intended to create an appearance of inclusiveness and deflect accusations of��discrimination.��� Wikipedia

Token characters usually fill no other purpose in the story except to be there for diversity���s sake. It���s a lazy way of writing in minority characters; just sprinkling them here and there for a little variety.

 

Stereotypes vs. Tokenism

���A stereotype��is a thought that can be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect��reality.��� Wikipedia

Stereotypes are seen often in movies and TV shows. For example, the stereotype that women are poor drivers, that lesbians are butch, or that overweight people are lazy.

It���s important for writers to break these habits and stop perpetuating lazy characterizations that keep society from breaking shallow assumptions about others. Furthermore, these are tired and lazy devices that make a book fall flat.

 

Writing Diverse Books

It���s tricky to write without resorting to tokenism or stereotyping because it���s so ingrained in our culture most of us don���t know we���re doing it.

I may be a white writer, but the people in my life are diverse to the extreme. My husband is Panamanian, Greek and Chinese. I never think of it, but most people would consider ours an interracial relationship. When we stand next to each other we are like day and night. Most of my in-laws don���t speak English. Half live in Singapore and half live in Panama. Some of my best friends are L,G,B, or T. My little sister is blind and I have mixed cousins.

Still even I forget to deeply diversify my writing. I���m in the middle of revising my first series of novels, and yes, I have black, white, Asian, Latino, gay, and mentally ill characters. I���ve also got a cornucopia of freaks, but when I analyze their relationships closely, I see I���ve forgotten to intermix them in a way that truly reflects life���my life.

No one likes cookie cutter characters. They are boring and washed out. Furthermore, relationships between people and families are more complex than at first sight. Why don���t any of my characters have mixed cousins? How come the only blind person is on the sidewalk asking for change? Why don���t I give my MC���s crazy long Polish names like mine? These are the questions writers must ask themselves.

So writers, be aware of the clich��s and take time to imagine a full palette of characters for your book and to research their backgrounds, their culture, and their experiences. Put yourself in their shoes. Draw from you own life. It���s probably more diverse than you realize. You owe it to your characters, to your writing, and to the modern generation of readers.

Diverse books ensure that no one will feel isolated from society. As an individual, when you find a book with characters that tell your story, it is like that old familiar song you hear on the radio that says���

You���re not alone.

Somebody understands you.

You have an important role in this world.

There are only a few days left of the campaign, so please consider assisting our efforts to diversify everyone���s bookshelf by donating to We Need Diverse Books fundraising campaign by clicking ���> HERE����� it���s vital, folks.

#SupportWNDB

 

Christa Wojo (short for Wojciechowski) was born in New Jersey and raised in Florida where she fell in love with a handsome Panamanian and escaped the US in 2006. Since, she has lived a lush life in her wild new country, traveling with her husband and working as a freelance internet marketer.

Christa devotes her free time to wine, yoga, outdoor sports, and classic literature. She���s also mother to an epileptic Rottweiler, a mutt with a phobia of boots, and a Red-lored Amazon parrot who hates her.

When Christa���s not on the road, you���ll find her in dog hair covered yoga pants, writing from her home at the foot of Volcan Baru in Boquete, Panama. There, she either sips coffee or Cabernet and tries to figure out the meaning of life through the mysterious process of writing.

Christa Wojo is the author of The Wrong David and is working on a series of novels that explore abuse, addiction, art, and existentialism. She also runs My Sweet Delirium, a blog about creativity and assorted weirdness, and is developing a menu of internet marketing services for authors.

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Random Thoughts

1. I’m old. I don’t feel old, but the fact remains that I’m getting up there. And it just totally hit home today as my younger brother turned 40. Shit. Time flies.

2. Where did 2014 disappear to?

3. The Kid wants a dog for Christmas. I’ve always heard pets as Christmas gifts are a really bad idea. Add to that moving into a new home, selling the old home, parents visiting for a week while we move, hosting Christmas in our new house for both of our families, starting to work with our new nanny, and enrolling in a new school and yeah, the new dog might need to wait a hot second.

4. The other day I was reading a book on Wattpad that I was really enjoying and then my eye happened to stray to the right hand side of the screen, where I saw the author had cast her book, something Wattpad allows authors to add to their book page (and you know I’ve done this since I love casting The Sanctum). I should have never read her cast because there I am, enjoying this brilliant world she’s created when my eye passes the name Ian Somerholder and all pleasure screeches to a halt. Ian Somerholder? He of the annoying stare and even worse acting skills? Ugh. Goodbye book and thank you, author with bad taste in men. Ian Somerholder? Really?

5. A close friend texted me the other day and asked, in all seriousness, whether anyone has optioned The Sanctum…she’s so funny. I can barely sell 10 copies of my books a week and she’s wondering whether anyone in LA is shopping them to the production houses.

6. That said, she’s got some sweet ass connections…

7. [SPOILER ALERT – do not read this post if you didn’t watch last week’s episode] [And if you read this anyway, do not be pissed when you learn some things you didn’t want to know.] Sons of Anarchy takes the #FinalRide tonight. A few years ago when work was super slow, I remember reading something about Jax and thinking to myself, that guy’s kind of hot. Then I checked out an episode on Netflix and was like, whoa! he is super hot and this show is the shit. I proceeded to tell Emily to check out the biker show with the hot blonde and we were sold. Even though Jax pulled me into the show, for me it’s always been about Tara and Gemma. I love Tara so watching her downward spiral, her desperate plans to save her family, and her death was brutal. In stark contrast, watching Gemma��die last week was rather satisfying. I just wonder where it will leave Jax. Emily has her theory and after that scene in the garden, I’m thinking she’s right. I’m going to miss Jax and his super white Air Force Ones, way too baggy jeans, and that awesome blade on his hip but if I’ve learned anything about Sons, it’s that everything and damn near everyone dies. Kurt Sutter takes no prisoners. Fingers crossed he and the SOA crew go out with a fucking bang tonight.

Book III: The Last Snippet

Yup. You read that correctly. This is the last snippet I’m posting – next time you read anything from Book III, it’s going to be the actual book itself. God, it’s so close, I can taste it.

This is short – just a taste really. Nothing more, but it’s all I’m giving up so until release day, it’ll have to do.

Anticipation is such. a. bitch.

���Why don���t you come over here and give me a goodbye kiss?��� she smiled seductively as she wrapped her holster twice around her hips and pulled it tight.

���No,��� Wyatt refused as he watched her gear up to leave.

The tone of his voice caught Dev’s attention and she looked up to meet his stern stare.

���I���ll kiss you because there���s nothing better than the feel of your mouth against mine, because I never tire of the sweetness that is you, because I love hearing your breath hitch when we touch. What I will not do, now or ever, is kiss you goodbye.���

���Okay,��� she said as she walked towards him, hooked her fingers in his belt loops and pulled him close, suddenly sobered by his mood,���no goodbyes. Ever.���

Book III should hit stands in January 2015. Which gives you plenty of time to catch up on the trilogy before its epic finale.

You can snag eBook or paperback copies of both THE GIRL and THE BOY on Amazon by clicking –>��HERE

Holla, bitches.

I #SupportWNDB – The Series: Ferguson, Diverse Books, and Empathy

Ferguson, Diverse Books, and Empathy

Batool

Thank you, Madhuri, for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion on such an important topic.

I have been asked to talk about why We Need Diverse Books is such an important movement to me. To do this, I will refer to the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.

On November 24th, 2014 the decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson was made. Despite the fact that he killed an unarmed eighteen year old, a boy only one year older than me, he was released and given the opportunity to continue living his life as he had before. However, Michael Brown, the murdered teen, will never walk on this earth again. His family and friends will have to live with the pain of his loss forever embedded in their hearts and minds. And they have not given been justice.

What horrifies me almost as much as this failure on the part of the American judiciary system, however, are people���s reactions to it. While there are many wonderfully outspoken people who work to spread awareness of the injustice that has occurred, there are also people who do the opposite. There are people who attempt to dehumanize Michael Brown and the Black community in general. I have seen racist slurs being used, I have seen African American people referred to as ���it���, and I have seen people commending Darren Wilson for what he has done.

Along with these people, there are also people who are simply indifferent. They see this as something that does not affect them personally, and so they cannot be bothered to care. Quite honestly, these people are the people that anger me the most.

This is why I believe that we need diverse books.

Children and teenagers in our world need to grow up seeing people of different skin colors and backgrounds in their literature. They need to read about characters whose life experiences are different than their own. Many people have never experienced racism and probably never will, and thus they find it difficult to empathize with someone who has. Literature about discrimination can be that bridge between such people and empathy. It can connect them to a better understanding of the struggles that other people faced.

I cannot count how many books I���ve read about white protagonists. I love these books, and I have nothing against them, but I can���t help but wonder how lovely it would be to read a book about someone from the Middle East, like me. Or someone living in a Native American reservation. Or a homeless person. Or someone from the ���dangerous and scary��� parts of the United States that the media portrays as breeding grounds for killers and drug dealers.

I am privileged and lucky enough to live in a nice house in a nice city in a nice state, but not everyone has these luxuries. What about those people? What are their lives like?

I remember when I was in the fourth grade I read a book about a little African American girl named Addy who lived in the 1860s. In the book, Addy goes out to buy something from a store near her house. She enters the store, finds what she needs, and approaches the counter to pay the clerk. The clerk then takes one look at her, scowls, and refuses to take the money from her small outstretched hand. He yells at her to put it on the counter and leave, and she does.

The reason I���m recalling this book is because it is one that has stayed with me throughout my entire childhood and teenage years. It is through stories like this one that children and young people can be taught valuable lessons about experiences that they may never have themselves. This story shows me why indifference towards racism and injustice is so horrible. At the time, this story opened my eyes to the discrimination that other little girls my age had to face, and it upset me. This book took the struggles of the African American community and put it into one little story. It, of course, was not reflective of all the horrors that African Americans endured, and continue to endure, but it was enough to make an impact on me that stayed with me throughout the rest of my life.

If books like this one become more common, I firmly believe that a sense of empathy and understanding can be spread through the youth of the world.

It is only by actually living through an experience that we can gain sympathy for someone else. And while reading about difficult experiences is not the same as living through them, diverse literature can still increase tolerance and have an impact on the way we view other people around us.

There are only a few days left, so please consider assisting our efforts to diversify everyone���s bookshelf by donating to We Need Diverse Books fundraising campaign by clicking ���>��HERE.��It���s vital, folks!

#SupportWNDB

 

Batool is a teenage bibliophile who loves art (in pretty much all of its forms). She loves to read and talk about books with other people, and dreams of writing her own book someday. She also enjoys learning about other cultures and having conversations about social rights. She aspires to learn as many languages as she possibly can during her lifetime- currently, she only speak Arabic, English, and some Spanish.

If you want, you can catch Batool here:

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I #SupportWNDB – The Series: LET’S!

*This post does not directly hit upon the series’ theme of the importance of diversity in literature, but after recent societal punches to the gut, heaves, and shoves, I was so moved by the simplicity and soothing cadence of Jena’s poem that I asked her if I could post it as part of the series. Lucky for me, and all of you, she was kind enough to say yes.

Let’s

Jena Schwartz

I can’t bring myself to comment or post right now about what goes on. About injustice and rage and whose lives matter and racism and national regression (was there progress?) and despair and privilege and ignorance and talking to my kids and eye contact and really seeing each other and listening and power dynamics and no more no more not one more.

I am sharing these little rhymes at the risk of sounding trite or trivial. They came out of the writing group I’m feeling so honored to be witnessing; its participants are reminding me that community is a powerful and necessary healing force.��

Every one of us has stories, all of equal realness and value. And some lives are not worth less than others.

I am so sick about the story this country continues to write about itself. Let’s rewrite it. Let’s let’s let’s let’s.

Let’s blow this joint

let’s ditch this town

where nothing changes

no one comes round

let’s scratch the ticket

win ten bucks

fill up the car

and call it luck

let’s sit in silence

then make some noise

let’s get all sexy

lacy coy

Let’s call in sick

but go be well

spend the day

playing show and tell

let’s burn the rules

and draw new maps

at three o’clock

let’s take a nap

let’s trust the path

on which we’re walking

let’s say hell yeah

and now you’re talking

let’s soon forget

to disagree

I look at you

you look at me

let’s blast the tunes

and set out west

gain ten pounds

forget the rest

let’s start our days

with lists of five

and holler to

the empty sky

let’s muse about

how time gets old

like dying stars

whose light is bold

let’s riff and raff

and polygraph

let’s not forget

it’s good to laugh

let’s fill our room

with twinkle bulbs

paint signs on hearts

that say we’re sold

let’s love this life

for all its giving

and say this song

is for the living

Poet Jena Schwartz thrives on mega doses of vulnerability, chutzpah, and connection. She leads online writing groups designed to encourage practice by nurturing creative freedom, curiosity, and community. Her first self-published collection, “Don’t Miss This,” traces her journey through marriage, motherhood, and coming out. Jena lives and writes in Amherst, MA, with her rockstar wife, Mani Schwartz.

If you want to catch up to Jena, you can find her here:

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There are only 5 days left, so please consider assisting our efforts to diversify everyone���s bookshelf by donating to We Need Diverse Books fundraising campaign by clicking ���>HERE.��It’s vital, folks!

#SupportWNDB

I #SupportWNDB – The Series: I’M THE OTHER CHARACTER

I’m Not A Sparkly Vampire – I’m The Other Character

Stephanie Swint

As a kid we tend to think our experience is everyone’s experience. ��I know some adults who still believe that. ��Usually, at some point in life something shocks you into realizing everyone has a slightly different if not crater sized difference in perspective than you.

When I was a child I associated myself with the character in the story who took action. ��This is usually the protagonist but not always. ��This, I now realize, was something carefully cultivated by my parents and not commonplace. ��I didn’t see the differences in race, gender, etc. as a center of focus. ��I was covertly taught these factors were less important than what someone did because my parents didn’t pay attention to them. ��I wanted to be a knight instead of a princess. ��My poor mother tried to figure out what to do with a girl who wanted to take fencing and archery lessons. ��I got archery lessons and quit when I was supposed to shoot Bambi. ��My nine year-old-self couldn’t do it. ��We never found fencing lessons. ��Finding someone who is willing to teach children to wield swords are hard to find…for good reason. ��My parents are pretty amazing, but there are a lot of amazing parents out there that open the world up to their children outside of societal norms. ��While growing up I found a few like-minded souls but Science Fiction and especially Fantasy books weren’t popular. ��I knew my love of fantasy was strange to my friends and my choice to read during lunch and recess stranger. ��It, however, didn’t exclude me. ��I had the option.

Some people will say everyone has the option to see a world a different way. ��That is true but I was taught to be able to craft the way I see it. ��I was a waifish brunette white girl. ��I am now a curvier*cough* plumpish *cough* brunette woman. ��If I was a child reading YA fantasy now I would be in high heaven. ��Someone who looked like me is in nearly every book as the protagonist. ��I’m not a sparkly vampire… ��Damn! A look- a-like of me, however, is popular in YA. �� Blondes are to conformist, ��and non-white characters ��to edgy.����Brunette girls are safe, and they have flooded the YA market. ��I remember how nice it felt to read these characters that started popping up all over the place. ��I didn’t think about it at first, but I felt a kinship to them. ��Some were a little more helpless than I would have liked them to be, but they were main characters and they were at the center of the action. ��I still didn’t pay that much attention to it.

After Hunger Games was made a movie and I, like many, were shocked to see that Rue was interpreted as Black it made me think a lot harder. ��My first reaction was, “Collins never said she was black. ��Why wouldn’t she say it?” ��My second reaction was, “Collins mentioned that her skin was a dark brown. ��Why wouldn’t I consider her being black as a possibility?” ��Part of the reason is we tend to see characters similar to ourselves in our mind unless we are told otherwise, and I am white. ��The second reason is unless a character is specifically stated to be of a different race, gender, sexual orientation, etc we assume that the character will fit the societal default norm and movie/gaming franchises default to the majority.

It may not seem that detrimental but if I enjoyed getting to read characters that are like me, and let’s be honest I am a default norm, how would it feel to read about a character who was like me if I wasn’t.

I worked in gang intervention with AmeriCorps. ��Much of the time was spent in after-school programs and shadowing students. ��Most of them didn’t enjoy reading and a few hated it. ��The teenagers I worked with were mainly white and black because of the demographics of the city I was working in. ��The biggest correlation the kids had was they came from low income families and had little parental involvement in their lives ��When I tutored them I had a hard time getting them to read anything and spent the majority of time running after them. One kid, however, made an excellent point on a days he only chose to argue with me rather than run from me. ��He said, “Why the fuck do I want to read about a bunch of rich, white kids? ��This shit has nothing to do with me.” Well, that was hard to argue with. ��I started looking for books that he could relate to. ��Because of his personal circumstances his teacher and I had him read ‘Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America’ by Nathan McCall instead of the curriculum book he was supposed to be reading at the time. Teachers had more freedom at the time. ��He actually read it. ��I don’t know how to convey what a victory ��this was. ‘Makes Me Wanna Holler’ is an amazing book but it wasn’t easy to find and I had a whole community helping me find it. ��It is a story of redemption. It isn’t a road I want, nor a road the author wants, every young black man to relate to. ��There needs to be options. ��We need nerdy Native American Magicians and popular Asian football players. ��I recognize it’s not common but if the option is never seeded in a child’s mind they aren’t likely to try that path. ��It’s not impossible, and we don���t have to make it harder than it needs to be.

My experience only made me nerdy. ��I wasn’t wearing pretty princess gowns or baking cakes but gender equality had come a long ways before I was a child, and I had involved parents who guided me to see alternate options available to me. ��If we want children to break stereotypes and break societal norms we should give them some examples of what they can do. ��If we want children to read we should give them characters that relate to their experience. ��Those books, TV shows, games etc. are raising children. ��For some children the books, TV shows, and games are more involved in their lives than their parental figures. ��Unfortunately, if all a person sees in these mediums are people who are unlike them it can ostracize them.

In the workplace there is substantial focus on indirect discrimination. ��This looks at factors that create unintended negative effects that contribute to creating a more homogeneous population of people in a workforce. ��A lot of focus is aimed at fixing these issues including federal programs that require an Affirmative Action Plan yearly if a business takes more than $50,000 in government contracts. ��If adverse impact is present then you must create a written plan to fix it. ��There are large fines if action isn’t taken. ��The expectation is that the employer hire the most qualified individual but where do those qualified individuals come from? Qualified diverse candidates aren’t always available. This program may be necessary but it is reactive not proactive. ��We need to take proactive steps to create qualified candidates. ��Why wait until a government plan is created with a process and punitive measures? ��That structure will restrict the creative process and would be more detrimental than helpful. ��I can’t imagine one writer who would be willing to be restricted so. ��There are other options. ��Writers etc. can take responsibility in their own hands. ��I ask you to think about your audience and who you want them to be. ��Once the creation process is over there is little you can do to change it but you are a God when you are writing it. ��Take that power and do something amazing.

Please consider assisting our efforts to diversify everyone���s bookshelf by donating to We Need Diverse Books fundraising campaign by clicking ���>��HERE����� it���s vital, folks.

#SupportWNDB

 

Stephanie Swint is both a Book Reviewer and Human Resources Director.�� You can read her reviews on her blog��bookishswint.wordpress.com��and on Goodreads. Her main interest is fiction and has a passion for fantasy and science fiction. As long as a book is involved she is happy.

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CAN YOU BREATHE?

IT MUST BE NICE

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I #SupportWNDB – The Series: WELCOME TO THE REZ

Welcome to the Rez

Jess Dukes

 

In 2007, one of my favorite books won the National Book Award in young adult fiction. In accepting the award, its author said, ���The first book I loved was Ezra Jack Keats��� A Snowy Day. I vividly remember the first time I pulled that book off the shelf in my reservation library���I was always intrigued by that little boy. That black boy, a brown boy, a beige boy. It was the first time I ever looked at a book where someone resembled me.���

Sherman Alexie goes on to say, ���A couple decades after that, when I was 20 years old, my first creative writing teacher handed me an anthology of Native American poetry called Songs from This Earth on Turtle���s Back. I had never read a word written by another Indian.��� (http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_ypl_alexie.html#.VHNvKfnF_Zc)

Can I repeat that? Alexie loved books for almost 20 years before he read anything written by someone like him. Can any of you say the same? It was such a powerful experience that a single line of poetry from this single book inspired him to be a writer.

Since 2008, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,��winner of this National Book Award (and many other national honors), has been banned in school districts across the country, mostly for one scene in the book that mentions teenage masturbation. Nevermind that it���s one of the few YA novels with a contemporary American Indian narrator, that it shows us an unromanticized and largely ignored picture of life on the rez, or that Alexie elevates teenaged Indian fears and triumphs to Everyman status which is not something that readily happens with any minority much less one that has been the target of so much genocide here in our own back yard.

Alexie and I both have strong feelings about how Indians are depicted in the media, and about who is creating those depictions.

I also have two young children, full of energy and questions. My oldest is now reading longer books, and I see her mind stretching with every book she opens. When she avoids going to bed until she gets to the end of a chapter, I let bedtime slip. She���s a reader, and if her excited retelling of her latest story is any indication, these books matter to her.

They matter to me too, because our family is mixed. I���m mixed, my husband is mixed, and my children are growing up in a city where our crew doesn���t trigger a second glance. We���re black, white, red and we live in a beautiful bubble of acceptance. I know this won���t always be the case, though. When it comes to preparing my kids for the ugliness of the world, talking about their books (or any other media) is at the top of my bag of tricks.

It���s my job to make sure they see sensitive boys and ass-kicking girls in their library books. It���s my duty to make sure they see people from all groups being friends, having intelligent conversations, and standing up for each other. It���s important that they acknowledge the authors of these books. And it���s an honor to be the one who corrects the historical myths that pervade children���s books like I do every Thanksgiving.

In my house, we have age-appropriate but real-talk conversations about assassinations, marriage laws, and poverty. My oldest doesn���t understand why someone would want to kill Dr. King, or why some people hate President Obama. She���s positively floored that the U.S. has never had a woman president, and that men typically make more money than women for doing the same job. As a parent, being able to give her a book full of smart girls matters. Giving my son picture books with a cast straight out of a United Nations council meeting matters. Knowing how to even recognize a lack of diversity in a comic book matters.

Three years into the ongoing ban of his book, Alexie wrote a jaw-dropping reaction piece for the Wall Street Journal, titled ���Why the Best Kids��� Books Are Written in Blood�����in which he breaks down why diversity in literature is so important: ���When some cultural critics fret about the ���ever-more-appalling��� YA books, they aren���t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way into school. Or Mexican-American teens enduring the culturally schizophrenic life of being American citizens and the children of illegal immigrants. Or Native American teens growing up on Third World reservations. Or poor white kids trying to survive the meth-hazed trailer parks. They aren���t trying to protect the poor from poverty. Or victims from rapists. No, they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged.��� (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/09/why-the-best-kids-books-are-written-in-blood)

Believe this: a scene or two about teenage sexuality will never keep a book like Part-Time Indian out of my kids��� hands. I���m trying to raise some thoughtful and helpful humans over here. I hope everyone else is, too. But they can���t thrive in (or improve) a world that they���re not allowed to see.

Please consider assisting our efforts to diversify everyone���s bookshelf by donating to We Need Diverse Books fundraising campaign by clicking ���>��HERE����� it���s vital, folks.

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Jess Dukes is a writer, editor, and content strategist in New York City. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

A Very Proustian Study

The Proust Questionnaire is about delving deeper into one’s personality. It was presented to Marcel Proust in his teens by his friend, Antoinette. Supposedly such questionnaires were all the rage among English families at the time; Proust’s answers were written in Antionette’s confession album titled “An Album to Record Thoughts, Feelings, Etc.” (from Wikipedia entry, Proust Questionnaire)

I love the Proust Questionnaire. In fact, it’s my favorite part of reading Vanity Fair, reaching the back of the magazine to see who’s answering that month.

I’ve found it’s also a brilliant tool for getting inside my characters’ heads and really learning about them, finding out what makes them tick. I’ve used it for Dev, Wyatt, Ryker, and Darby and fully believe it’s worked wonders in unlocking little quirks about them and better understanding how they relate to one another.

Check out what happens when my character Jools Clayworth gets a little Proustian with it.

 

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Once upon a time, it would have been anything to annoy my older brother, Wyatt. Now I know better – perfect happiness is a load of shit.
What is your greatest fear? Losing Ryker
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My use of rage to mask my pain
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Stupidity
Which living person do you most admire? Ryker
What is your greatest extravagance? Smiling
What is your current state of mind? Just trying to survive
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Patience
On what occasion do you lie? These days, hardly ever, no matter how brutal the truth. Folks don’t like that shit.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? The marks. They are everywhere to make sure I never forget
Which living person do you most despise? Carter Breslin
What is the quality you most like in a man? The ability to forgive
What is the quality you most like in a woman? The ability to forgive
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Hard to say – lately I don’t have much to say.
What or who is the greatest love of your life? Ryker
When and where were you happiest? Running on the beach at sunset, the water lapping at my feet, the wind in my hair, and a smile on my face. That was so long ago…
Which talent would you most like to have? Sing like Lauryn Hill. She’s human, I know, but talk about badass. I love her.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My pain.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? The Death. That’s all I’m going to say.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Please don’t make me come back to this hell hole
Where would you most like to live? A secluded island in the Maldives, where no one can find me
What is your most treasured possession? my bow
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? The Death.
What is your favorite occupation? I only have one occupation – Killer
What is your most marked characteristic? Bringing The Death.
What do you most value in your friends? Loving me regardless
Who are your favorite writers? Judy Bloom and JK Rowling, which shows how long it’s been since I read a book
Who is your hero of fiction? Hermione Granger���duh.
Which historical figure do you most identify with? Vlad the Impaler���just kidding���kind of.
Who are your heroes in real life? Just Ryker. No plural.
What are your favorite names? This question is stupid
What is it that you most dislike? This fucking questionnaire
What is your greatest regret? Agreeing to this fucking questionnaire
How would you like to die? Most days I think I’m already dead.
What is your motto? Survive.

Lovers

 

Book III: THE PROPHECY

The Sanctum Trilogy

#TheEnd is coming January 2015