First discussion! Which forms of multiculturalism do you identify with?

[[deleted user]]

As an Afro-Cuban American woman, there are so many cultures I belong to,as well as subcultures.

While Im American, and African-Cuban and a woman, I share a subculture(something not always obvious) of being curvy, having a deep voice and wearing glasses ;p

Culture is often misconstrued as only being racial.

Being a twin is a culture,as not everyone knows what it's like to be a twin just as much as not everyone knowing what it's like to be Black.

Culture is truly defined by behaviors and characteristics and many other things that a norm adapts to.

So if anyone wants to share what their cultures and subcultures are, please feel free!

Let's get to know each other through our similarities and differences!

[Christiane]

I am Brazilian, and my ancestors are on my mom's side, Portuguese and Spanish, and on my dad's side, Spanish and Italian. I am a woman, the older sister, and the one who lives away from the family. I am a polyglot, and languages fascinate me. I am an elementary school teacher, a wife and stepmom. I am not a mom. I love reading, especially young adult, science fiction, fantasy, and if they involve multicultural themes, it is even better.

[[deleted user]]

Christiane wrote: "I am Brazilian, and my ancestors are on my mom's side, Portuguese and Spanish, and on my dad's side, Spanish and Italian. I am a woman, the older sister, and the one who lives away from the family...."

Welcome Christiane,
I love Brazilian culture so I'm glad to see our first Lusophone in the group!What are some of your fave books that feature multiculturalism?

[Christiane]

There are so many! I love "Texaco" by Patrick Chamoseux (sorry, I may have misspelled it). Another favorite is Isabel Allende's "Island Beneath the Sea." I also love Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, and the list goes on.

[[deleted user]]

My name is Libertad and I'm a full blooded Afro-Latina. Have a boyfriend who is bi-racial, no kiddos.

Multiculturalism hits me deep to the fact that i have many different ways of looking at things because of the people i choose to surround myself around. I'd love to get into more books that reflect this instead of books not moving forward continuing to write about the same old people and the same old themes.

[Tricia Drammeh]

I'm Caucasian, but my husband is from Africa. We have children, so multiculturalism in literature is very important to me. I want my children to have choices in the books they read. They deserve to read books with heroes and heroines they can identify with.

[[deleted user]]

Im so happy so far such a diverse group of people have chose to introduce themselves :)

Thank you so much so far for everyone who has taken the time out of their day to let me know a glimpse of who you are :)

[[deleted user]]

Deva wrote: "I'm a Black American woman interested in anything paranormal with a non-caucasian lead. I'm not much for romance and despise erotic. I just want a good story without a ton of fluff."

So as far the non caucasian lead, do you mean the Main Protagonist or the love interest?

[Tricia Drammeh]

My friend, Ruth, started a website for YA fantasy and sci-fi with diverse main characters: http://www.alienstarbooks.com/index.html

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Tricia,just looked at the link and it's awesome. Has a bunch of books i will add to my bookshelf :p

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears]

Geeks and nerds! Really, I want to see more MC books, especially in the YA market, which feature prominently geeks and nerds of color. One book that I cannot stop singing the praises for is . Not only is she smart, but the author respects girl friendships (not based on boys). I want to see more PoC's saving the world using science, magick or both, rather than sidekicks.

[[deleted user]]

@FountainPenDiva
I'm marking that book in my to read list.I too am desperately seeking books that feature POC'S saving the world with magic and science.Why can't we have our harry potter :)

[Tricia Drammeh]

That looks like a really cute book, FountainPenDiva. I'll add it to my list.

[Lorinda]

I'm African american with ancestry roots of Caucasian and American Indian roots, I've had my family tree researched. I have always had friends from different cultures and I love the vast diversity of our nation and our world.

[[deleted user]]

Lorinda wrote: "I'm African american with ancestry roots of Caucasian and American Indian roots, I've had my family tree researched. I have always had friends from different cultures and I love the vast diversity ..."

Awesome Lorinda!Welcome to the club!

[Leonard]

Thanks for adding me to the group, this is the perfect outlet for me. I wrote a YA fantasy novel with modern day pop culture. The main character is a mixture of Alien, African Zulu,Mediterranean and Spanish. The love interest of this warrior character is a beautiful Greek goddess. The book is diverse representing all races(Asian,Latino,White and mixed races)> I'm happy to see you have a group that represents positive characters
from different races. Here's the information on my novel. The Last Prince of Atlantis.

[Ruth]

Tricia wrote: "My friend, Ruth, started a website for YA fantasy and sci-fi with diverse main characters: http://www.alienstarbooks.com/index.html"

Thank you Tricia for the heads up on this group! I've already found two books that I MUST add to my website. Bless you my friend!

[[deleted user]]

Awesome Ruth :) Im glad you are gaining something from this group!

[Ruth]

This is awesome. I'm looking forward to hearing about a lot more books!

[Ruth]

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "Geeks and nerds! Really, I want to see more MC books, especially in the YA market, which feature prominently geeks and nerds of color. One book that I cannot stop singing the praises for is [book..."

Tricia put me onto this one, I've added a whole new page to my website just for science-based multicultural books! I'm so excited!

[Ruth]

Oh, a glimpse of who I am?

Welsh, Cherokee, another tribe that paternal GGrandma would NOT discuss (it was a shameful thing when she came up), White -- basically I'm a mutt, with maybe a smidgeon of Melungeon (maternal GGGGrandma was a Riddle, born in VA in 1975).

[[deleted user]]

Ruth wrote: "Oh, a glimpse of who I am?

Welsh, Cherokee, another tribe that paternal GGrandma would NOT discuss (it was a shameful thing when she came up), White -- basically I'm a mutt, with maybe a smidgeon..."

Your website is amazing and so organized!I hope to pick a few things off your shelf and add them to my collection

[Ruth]

Libertad wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Oh, a glimpse of who I am?

Welsh, Cherokee, another tribe that paternal GGrandma would NOT discuss (it was a shameful thing when she came up), White -- basically I'm a mutt, with may..."

Oh thank you. I've been trying hard to make it easy to find just the right book for a teen, parent, teacher, etc. It's not always easy to figure out where to place a book!

[Tom]

This seemed like a good place to pop in and introduce myself! My name is Tom. I'm of caucasian / filipino descent. Having been raised in the U.S. and Europe (Naples, Italy when my dad was stationed there for the Navy), I identify mostly with western culture. The Philippines is just too far away. I'd like to begin working non-European cultures into my writing however, and this looks like an ideal group to discuss the subject. I look forward to contributing to your group!

[[deleted user]]

Awesome Thomas.

Do you know much about your Pinoy heritage?

I typically love Richard Gutierrez films,lol. He's such a hilarious heart throb in the Filipino films.

What do you typically write about???

:)

[Tom]

Oh I've visited there many times. And I try my best to keep up with my family in Ilagan. It's just tough to really connect with them with the distance and language barrier. They speak English but not so well and I regrettably never picked up Tagalog. Something else to do when I get home from my deployment!

I've never seen a Richard Gutierrez film! I looked at his IMDB but didn't see any titles I recognized. Any recommendations?

I'm all about fantasy and sci-fi. My fantasy book Kydona is all about two opposing cultures and the misunderstandings between them that lead to war. But I do want to expand outward from European cultures in sequels.

[[deleted user]]

Well he typically does romcom films :) Not everyone's taste,but filipino romcom's are freaking hilarious. American ones I've never been able to laugh,as they lack great comedic timing.

Richard Gutierrez tends to have chemistry with most the actresses he works with,so they are typically funny too(in western romantic comedies, women are often just pretty and nothing else).

Here are a few i've seen:

Mano Po 5: Gua Ai Di
The Promise
I Will Always Love You
For the First Time
In Your Eyes
My Valentine Girls

But these I would start with first, they're my favorite:

When I Met U
My Best Friend's Girlfriend

He's apparently very popular,as every filipino woman i've met asked "How do you know him? He's like our Robert Pattinson." lol

Oh cool, do you know what part of Europe your European side hails from?

[Tom]

Gotcha. I'll have to take a look on youtube. Maybe I'll ask my filipino family for "When I met U" and "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" DVDs as well.

My European side is a combination of French, Irish and German.

[[deleted user]]

Are these the cultures you typically incorporate in your writing?

[[deleted user]]

BTW Thomas, are you self published? Which method did you choose and why?

[Tom]

The main culture in my book is French (nobles) and English (commoners). The culture they come into conflict with are Eastern European (mostly Ukrainian). There're Germans and Greeks too, but they haven't featured yet.

I'm self-published, yep! To be honest it's due to lack of interest from publishing agents. Responses to my queries were negative or nonexistent. And I think the culture may have had something to do with it. Some people say Anglo-Saxons are overdone and publishers are looking to expand into other cultures.