This year I decided to try and challenge what I read. I read a lot of books written by, you guessed it, cis white guys. And while there is nothing actually wrong with cis white guys, I think that we need to step away from them in the big bad world of fiction and literature and give someone else's voice a chance to be heard.

So this year, I'm trying to read books written by LGBT folks, women and people of color exclusively, and I'm trying to diversify from just reading the same old boring western-centric stories. I've got a lengthy list of works by South Asian, East Asian and African authors that I want to check out. I'm especially interested in queer narratives that take place outside of western culture. Suggestions are always wanted and encouraged.

I'm hoping that by reading a more diverse selection of stories will help me to bring a broader perspective to my writing on a whole.

I'm starting The Bone People, which is both challenging in prose and subject matter. Also in remembering that New Zealand is in the southern part of the world so June means winter. That was utterly confusing to me until I was like O H.

Here's to a more diverse 2016.

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