Interracial and African American Paranormal discussion

it's dissapointing when authors won't open their horizons. my greatest example is 'Alex Cross' a black character written by a white man. Alex has a black family and dates women of color. this is a successfull franchise. I ddidn't stop reading it cause James Patterson is white. I stopped reading it because Alex is a bit of a womanizer. but none the less, successful character can be of color.

As for blk authors going mainstream in the paranormal genre, I never read vampire huntress, but I would like to see better quality reads from the authors. The stories are interesting, but the execution is dismal more and more often for me. I DNF at least 3 or more books a week just on quality. I'm not saying they're not talented authors, but more attention needs to be paid to editing.

ok, that was my tangent. yes I'm dissapointed when black authors shut out characters of color. But, I understand that this is a small genre and its a way to get published, attention, and loyal fans. Personally I don't read books that don't have people of color in them.

When I first started writing/dreaming up stories, my main characters were white. My reasoning behind it was because I wanted to. Just because I'm black doesn't mean I all pro-black this pro-black that. If I wanted white characters, then I was going to write them. Also, I don't want to be known as a black author who writes about race and all that. I just want to write stories and have fun.

Then one day, I walked in a bookstore section to the YA and all I saw on the covers were white skinny girls.

Where are the men??!! What if I want to read something from's a guy's perspective.

But forget the guys, what about someone who remotely looks like me??!! I like boys too! I want see myself in a book and relate to them. Let's talk about hair problems and what it's like to be in a school with mostly white people!

From then on, I started having more black characters in my stories, but they were still secondary since I originally came up with white characters and I wanted to use them. However, as I grew older and saw a huge lack of diversity in books, I realized that I couldn't rely on other authors to write a book I wanted to read about characters who were non-white, especially in the YA genre. I also realized that Hollywood has little to no problem whitewashing characters. So I realized if I wanted to get something done, I was going to have to stop relying on others and do it my darn self- I know that sounds so cheesy, but I'm just being real-

So that was a perspective from someone who wants to write books and I share that because as a reader, I would wonder if that was what went on in the author's head. Just because he/she's black doesn't mean they must write about black characters and I do feel like it can be a turn off if that's what everyone expects you to do.

For me personally, I don't necessarily want to be known as a "black author." I just want to be an "author" who is black. My characters come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. :)


Here's a TedTalk by Chimamanda Adichie. I was the same way when I first started writing.

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_a...

This is a great topic and I'm thankful that Rike' responded as a writer. I have somewhat of a rebuttal:

(I also apologize in advance for not being a more active poster. I have been taking my time trying to finish "Birth of a Dark Nation" and making it perfect.)

So I am a black, gay, male novelist. My first three novels have black, gay, male protagonists. (Non-paranormal) This was because that was the story that was being told. At the same time, I feel it is of the utmost importance that people read stories that reflect themselves from authors who intentionally make it so.

People can read what they want, of course. But I am not likely to write a story with a white protagonist because I wouldn't know where to begin speaking from that level of privilege. Nor do I believe I could write very well from a woman's voice, because I don't fully "get" what women deal with in the world just by being women.

Writing "race-blind" or gender-blind or orientation blind is not good to me. Yes, the story is the story, but when I consider the novel I am currently writing, it is about BLACK vampires who came to America during the transatlantic slave trade. Their blackness is, if you will, a character in the story. The middle passage takes up several chapters of the story. The book just couldn't be written from any other racial perspective.

And I think America is owed stories which are told from the perspectives of black characters, regardless of the genre. That's the primary reason that I became a writer, to tell stories which hadn't been told. Stories for our people, if you will.

So.... as for the original question.... I am going to look sideways at a novel written by a black author with NO black characters just as I would a real life black person with NO black friends.

you know, I think I'd look sideways at someone who was black and had no black friends too...

Yes, as an author I have the perfect right to people my books however I wish. The problem for me is, and why I have chosen to write characters of color is the simple fact that the playing field is not even. I hope for a day when I can walk into a bookstore or go online and see a range of faces and genders on the shelves. Unfortunately we have a long way to go before that happens. Until it does, I will populate my stories with characters from various backgrounds. It is amusing (and frustrating) that authors of color have no problems writing white characters well, but white authors behave like they're being asked to undergo a root canal sans novacaine. I think what they really want to do is write a stereotyped character and not be called to the mat for doing so.

Amen!

This is actually a pretty interesting topic. I read a lot of books, probably about 5 a week on a good week and i have to say that most of those books feature all white characters. Thats not to say thats what i prefer because i would rather be reading about people of color doing the exact same things.

I think in a perfect world black authors would have the same luxury as white authors and would be able to write about who they want and how they want to. But i feel as though some black authors are guided not to write want they want in fear of not getting published or limiting their work to just other people of color.

I dont think black authors have problems writing for white characters like white authors have problems writing for us. The main reason being minorities are conditioned to know more about their culture than they are to know about ours. Yes we dont know about white privledge but there are obvious things we are able to write about that white authors may find trouble with. Many books ive read from white authors that featured minority people, the culture was often embellished or overdid. So it saddens me when a minority author gets the opportunity to write something relatable, they choose to write from a non black or bi racial stand point.

I dont think their should be a responsibility there but i do feel like black or latino or asian authors should already have that feeling where they should want to feel represented. So why choose to make little or no characters of color?

I dont think black authors have problems writing for white characters like white authors have problems writing for us. The main reason being minorities are conditioned to know more about their culture than they are to know about ours.

I was just thinking about that today. I feel like it's "easy" to have white characters in a book. In fact there was a time I was reading a book that didn't describe what the character looked like. I tried to picture a black person, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. I had so much trouble with it. I believe several of us are conditioned to think that characters in books are white unless otherwise stated. For me personally, I feel like I don't need anything special to make a believable white character. I've read plenty of books, seen plenty of movies, hung around plenty of white friends that describe different experiences. This primarily is for a white suburban girl. The rest would be left up to the imagination.

I don't believe the same could be said for white authors writing about non-white characters. Perhaps if they travel and study abroad, then the characters may be more believable.

Also, let me just rant for a quick second while on the topic of white authors describing/writing about people of color. I think a pet-peeve of mine is seeing an author describe their protagonist's hair and eye color and all that. However, when there's a black character, what I usually see is something along the lines of "beautiful black young woman" or he's black.

Okay, I know the skin color, but give me more! What does the hair look like? What kind of skin stone? Eye color? At some point, the eye shape? Something other than "this character is black." Don't be lazy!!

Also, I do want to be clear that I have and plan on having black protagonist in my books. It'll be weird for me not to have any books with black characters. What I wrote in my first comment was explaining how I used to think. However, I do stand by the fact that I wouldn't want people to expect me to write about black people. I write about black characters because that's what I want to read and there's a lack of diversity in a lot of genres.

I have to say I agree with Libertad.

There were no dominate Latinos(Maybe outside of Desi Arnaz, which I suppose I'm thankful for), dominate American Asians, or dominate Black Americans on television that were long term deals.

I loved watching Family Matters, American Girl, heck, even The Brothers Garcia(when the N actually wants to air it). But they were never permanent families in my household lineup. While The Parker's lasted five seasons, a household favorite of mines "Married With Children" lasted 11 seasons. Moesha lasted 6 seasons, but my beloved Step By Step lasted 7. You know as a twin, my favortie show as a kid was Sister,Sister. To this day, people still call my sister and I "Sister,Sister". Sister,Sister lasted 6 seasons, but another favorite of mine, Full House, lasted a strong 8 seasons.

Mind you,there are plenty of exceptions. The Jeffersons lasted 11 seasons, and there are definitely plenty of other shows featuring minorities as main characters that have been in it for a long haul.

But we definitely never had "The Brady Brunch" or "The Partridge Family" exposure. And when I bring this up, I mean ALL people of color. Not just Black.

I can write for Sue from San Francisco's point of view. I have her picture, her lifestyle, her essence stamped into my brain as the typical view of an American girl. But since there is no clear view of Guinevere from New Haven, a white author may just write me biracial,so to not have to deal with shaping my personality. She has no picture of me(outside of how the media wishes to portray me), no imagery to base my signatures to, so if a person of color knows me,I cant understand why they would ignore me, when our struggle is hard enough as it is.

I do have to admit that when I see authors of color *only* writing books about white female/male protagonists, it bothers me. I know those books sell, but those stories are being told over and over and over.
The stories that I've written (as a hobby) have always been from the perspective of a black woman because I write the kinds of stories that I want to read. I want to read about women who look like me, I want to read about women who are more than background color or about propping up the white best friend, I want to read about women who are more than walking stereotypes.

The big problem for me is that white authors seem to live in some lily-white bubble where in real life they have NO friends of any color, or have never interacted with people from varying backgrounds. They do not understand the rich diversity within these communities. They seem rather shocked when called to the Fail Mat for naming their sole black female character "Shanquisha" who lives in the ghetto but has a heart of gold and who is always helping/advising the white heroine.

Now, there are some white authors who do--in my opinion--a pretty darn good job of crafting believable characters of color. Suzanne Brockman's Alyssa Locke is biracial, but it doesn't feel like she's made that way to exoticize her or to make her acceptable to her larger reading public. The same can be said of Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe and even James Patterson's Alex Cross. These are all well-crafted and nuanced characters who just so happen not to look anything like their authors. I get so annoyed that white writers can craft vampires, werewolves, angels and demons--never having met any of these beings before--and make these characters sympathetic and heroic, but are stuck on stupid when it comes to crafting multi-dimensional characters of color or orientation (and don't get me started on the M/M romance fail that I've seen).

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "The big problem for me is that white authors seem to live in some lily-white bubble where in real life they have NO friends of any color, or have never interacted with people from varying backgroun..."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "The big problem for me is that white authors seem to live in some lily-white bubble where in real life they have NO friends of any color, or have never interacted with people from varying backgroun..."
Well, of course they make the argument that vampires and werewolves don't exist so they have a certain freedom there that they wouldn't have when it comes to writing about POC. It's all bullshit.

Being an elder goth, I take great offense that vampires don't exist (LOL). I know several *wink* and they don't sparkle!

But you're right, and it's such a lame excuse. Or they'll fall back on "OMG I created a black/brown/red/etc./gay/lesbian/etc. character and I got slammed for it so I'll never do it again". In actuality what happened is that they wrote a stereotype and got called out. Instead of listening to the criticism, they hunker down and blame others for their fail.

Oh, gotta love that excuse! And the response to the criticism, which is usually a whole lot of defensiveness. It's all so disappointing.

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "Being an elder goth, I take great offense that vampires don't exist (LOL). I know several *wink* and they don't sparkle!

Also, I'd love to know more about these so-called non-sparkly vampires. Perhaps on another thread. >.>

Funny I should see this as I'm writing a guest post on this very topic.

It's like they feel they're "owed" something because they went out on a limb and created this ethnic character and we should be happy regardless of how big the fail is.

Dennis wrote: "Funny I should see this as I'm writing a guest post on this very topic."

Can you send a link to the post you're guest writing.I'd love to read it.

Im sorry. I will not buy a book by a black author if there are only white character s in the book. I don't mind if the main character is not black but I feel there are so many white authors who claim they dont put black character in there books because they dont understand the black experience. For some reason they think we all leave the urban book life style. I feel
we should show we live as many different ways and lives as any other culture. So how hard could it be for a black author to change nothing about there character but the hue of the characters skin to be a little darker.

I know this is of the subject, but the conversion made me think about one time going to a beauty salon and the hair stylist, stated that she just didn't do black folks hair. (my stylist was late). so I didn't let her touch my hair, when asking my stylist how she got a job, she state that she was not require my law to know how, but that black have to know how to fix white folks hair to pass the board. And I thought she didn't want to know. For my first job interview my hair was done by a White Hair Stylist Instructor, She did a beautiful job. Now that was years ago I don't know what the requirements are now.

I wouldn't care. Considering the fact that I'm a huge advocate of more mainstream, successful authors being inclusive of black/multi cultural characters it would be crazy hypocritical. I don't think an author needs a personal perspective to write any type of chatacters. I read books by human authors with nothing but vpires or werewolves lol. One can always learn whatever one lacks in personal expertise.

What Rike said:

For me personally, I don't necessarily want to be known as a "black author." I just want to be an "author" who is black. My characters come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. :)

I don't feel like I can tell people how to write their book. I like diversity in my reading, but the author has the right to depict their characters as it is in his/her head.

I read and I don't recall a black character at all. I think there was a Hispanic...maybe. I enjoyed the story though

Wow, this is a tough one. You realize how much hasn't changed when you think that white people probably never have this conversation.

I've never read a book by a black author featuring only white characters. I haven't avoided them, I've just never seen it(I don't think). Is there a for instance?

I try not to judge one way or the other, I guess. When you're an artist, there's no telling where the inspiration is going to come from or in what form. Without a doubt, that will be influenced by your conditioning either way. White people don't generally write about black people just because they're not black. And by and large, most of the time, we would rather they didn't, quiet as kept.

I don't think I would ever write a story with all white people because that's not what I see, generally. On a conscious level, I want the little Bobbys of the world to have a story where the protagonist looks like them. When the movie is running in their minds I want them to see themselves. I never even realized that was important to me until I got older, even though there were so many instances in my life that pointed to that fact. In that regard, it doesn't even feel like a political or social act, though it is.

I love speculative fiction. I didn't have access to a lot of black authors writing that when I was a kid. I was shocked when I became an adult and found black authors had been writing it and writing it well (Octavia E. Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Tananarive Due) for years. I should've worked harder to find them but you know, as a kid, I just picked up books, that's it. And in this country, when you pick up books, when you look for the "best", you invariably wind up with tons of white authors.

Like I said, I don't judge anyone for where there imagination takes them and I don't fault them for paying their rent, but it really is like, if we don't write for us, who will? Why should they if we won't?

I, personally, wish we never felt the need to say "I don't want to be known as a black author but an author who just happens to be black". That hurts my heart. My guess is James Joyce never said "I don't want to be known as an Irish author". William Faulkner never said, "I don't want to be known as a Southern writer". Can you imagine ANY white writer saying "I don't want to be known as a white writer, I just want to be a known as a writer who is white."

But I get it, I do. They don't have to say that because that's already the way it's looked at.

But when we say, "My characters come in all shapes, sizes and colors" well, that's us. Larry Niven will write about a walking cat before he'll write a black person into his story. And you know, there's an extent to where I feel that's not his job and I don't want him to because he won't do it well. Stephen King, one of my favorite writers, is terrible at writing black people most of the time. He's gotten better, a lot better, over the years. And he bothers at all (which should count for something, despite what I've said). But most of the time I'm like, "Stephen, yikes." They're almost always reeeaally black or magic or they say "honky" or whatever and you can tell, here's a guy to whom black people are really outside of his everyday experience. That's cool, man. Stick to what you know. Because I'm used to reading stories about white people, seeing movies about white people, listening to music about white people. Like it or not, that's the norm. But King's not used to me at all and it shows.

So, (and wow, I'm talking myself the other way here) I guess I feel the black writer has to be responsible for saying that he or she exists and that we matter and have stories to tell or can be the heroes/protagonists/villains in the story. On a very real level, I feel like we will have more black astronauts, scientists, archaeologists, software developers, on and on and on if we write them into our fiction so that little black kids can see themselves doing it. I was really grateful to the movie The Martian for having two prominent black characters just because my hope is that some little kid will say, "Hey, I should get a job at NASA."

Again, if we aren't willing to say we matter, why would anyone else? But then the author gets marginalized, known as a "black author" (perish forbid) etc., etc. I'm not being sarcastic. I actually do get it.

But I ask the question:

Has any black author (outside of Alexandre Dumas) ever become rich and famous or even just well-respected only writing white characters? Real question. I have no idea.

I can't remember if I commented on this question before or not. I looked for my name and icon and didn’t see it. I agree with many of commentators above. In the beginning of my writing journey, I copied what I was reading. So many of my characters were white. My main characters were were brunette girls with tans. They were as close to black as I could make them in my imagination at the time. As I evolved as a storyteller, my characters began to reflect who I wanted them to be. I live in a diverse world so I try to write that way. I don't fault authors for their characters b/c that is what they felt their story needed.

I find it amazing that this question is over two years old and we are still struggling with it. Some writers may feel that they won’t be respected for their work, if they define themselves one way or another. I say do it first before someone else does it for you; in this world we don’t have the luxury. That is an ugly truth, I guess.

So, (and wow, I'm talking myself the other way here) I guess I feel the black writer has to be responsible for saying that he or she exists and that we matter and have stories to tell or can be the heroes/protagonists/villains in the story.

YES. Really, I could've highlighted your whole comment. I agree fully.

Jen wrote: "So, (and wow, I'm talking myself the other way here) I guess I feel the black writer has to be responsible for saying that he or she exists and that we matter and have stories to tell or can be the..."

Thanks. It's complicated. The other thing I always try and be aware of is black people turning on black people over issues like this. I try to just support the writer with the belief that the simple fact of them will open doors for others and celebrate success where it happens.

It would all depend on the subject for me. If I found out some Scottish Highlander bodice ripper was written by a black writer, without people of color, would it matter that much? Not to me. On the other hand if it's contemporary romance set in New York, that would get a side eye. But only then if none of their other works had books featuring POC.

Bobby wrote: It's complicated.
Always.

I'm reminded of The Mindy Project and the flack that Kaling always gets for her lack of inclusiveness, criticism that I feel is valid but I also think it's unfair that she has to represent for all South Asians/WOC. It's definitely complicated.

Jen wrote: "Bobby wrote: It's complicated.
Always.

I'm reminded of The Mindy Project and the flack that Kaling always gets for her lack of inclusiveness, criticism that I feel is valid but I also think it's u..."

Yeah, somewhere around here there's a poll about black speculative fiction and underneath, much of the discussion is people getting after N.K. Jemisin for making her protagonist a WOC but not specifically black. And I'm like, "Man, is that the struggle we need to be fighting?" And you know, maybe it is, maybe it is. But maybe that's not her burden or her purpose.

On the other hand, I remember seeing the movie The Help and hating it for all the reasons why we usually hate those movies. I try and look at it like, "Hey, once my people were domestic servants, don't be ashamed of them." And it's this book written by a white woman who then didn't give credit to the black woman she took a lot of the story from (allegedly). On the other hand, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer got good roles and a lot of notice and (hopefully) a fair amount of money and hopefully, it makes Hollywood feel like, "Well, we don't have to run from black stories." I always hope that.

See this is where I get back to "This is why we have to tell our own stories, where we get to be the astronaut." Then it will happen in real life. I'm positive!

And when I see people like Rike and Monique say, "I just want to be known as a writer who happens to be black" I feel that this is all the crap they don't want to have to deal with. They just want to write a story, tell their truth about the human condition and shouldn't that be enough? And shouldn't that sell if it's good? Period?

Bobby wrote: "Wow, this is a tough one. You realize how much hasn't changed when you think that white people probably never have this conversation.

I've never read a book by a black author featuring only white..."

Seriously your whole comment is amazing...

Guinevere wrote: "Bobby wrote: "Wow, this is a tough one. You realize how much hasn't changed when you think that white people probably never have this conversation.

I've never read a book by a black author featur..."

Guinevere, I'm just happy to be able to have this discussion with people who get it. Thanks.

I am one of those people who would much rather pay attention to what is on the page rather than the personality who is writing it.

I would prefer to see more diversity across the board in the fiction I like to read, but I do not have a problem with any author who just wants to write what (and who) they wants to write.

That said, I do admit I think I would be inclined to side-eye a black or POC author who writes exclusively white characters in this day and age. I would probably read the book if it looked interesting, but I'd still side eye you. It would be like if Shonda Rhimes had three tv shows on one and night not a single actor of color was cast.

In the recent kerfuffle between Effie Brown and Matt Damon she was pushing for writers and producers of color behind the scenes because she felt that that sort of representation on the creative side would lead to better representation on the screen. This is the same principal behind wanting POC writers to be the main push behind creating POC characters.

White writers have never had a problem representing for their people most of the time to the exclusion of all others. So when you come across a black/brown writer adding more exclusively white characters to the already over-abundant wealth and depth of white characters littered across literary/fiction history..then yeah, I side eye.

The example above of Seressia Glass and her Sugar & Spice series, does not get my side eye mainly because she was one of the first authors I read in romance who write for an Indie imprint that dealt exclusively with books that featured black characters. She has a strong back list of books that feature POC. It feels like this is her just deciding to write white characters in this time around.

I totally agree with you. Can any one name one white writer that wasn't writing a historical book that had no white persons in ut?k

Der wrote: "I totally agree with you. Can any one name one white writer that wasn't writing a historical book that had no white persons in ut?k"

I'm not sure that I understand your comment, but if the white author is writing a historical on say - pre-Roman Britain, then of course there is a near 100% chance that there would be no people of color in it.

If I misread your comment, please correct me or rephrase what you're saying. Thanks! :)

Regarding the initial poster's question about Black and writers of color only writing with white characters:

Brittainy Cherry is Black, and as far as I can see/read, her books all feature White characters only. The exception may be one of her latest books 'Southern Storms', which has a biracial heroine.
I recall mentioning in another thread (in another group) that I really thought that she had to be adopted and raised by White folks in the Midwest boonies somewhere, as Black people and other people of color were absent in her books.

Paganalexandria wrote: "It would all depend on the subject for me. If I found out some Scottish Highlander bodice ripper was written by a black writer, without people of color, would it matter that much? Not to me. On the..."

Actually...

Given the amout of recent historical research, it's less likely that there WEREN'T PoC in pre-Roman Britain. Not a lot for sure, but there was trade between mainland Europe, the Middle East and Britain.

With that said, I've come to the realization that I'd rather not stress about white authors including us in their books. And yes, it can be stressful, especially with an unfamiliar author whose backlist looks like Aspen in the winter, lol. It's hard to enjoy a book while wondering in the back of my mind whether said author has allowed their unconscious biases to show.

If a Black author wants to write nothing but white characters, well bless their little hearts. I don't need to read them when I've got plenty of Black authors who believe in telling our stories and giving us pride of place. After all, Pew Research proved that Black women are the biggest consumers of books. If that author doesn't want my money there are others who do.

I've been writing interracial romance for over 10 years, because that's how I want the world to be. Either the heroine or the hero is usually Black or Hispanic in my romances. I just had a werewolf shifter romance out where the heroine is a red-haired Irish, but the hero is dark and Hispanic. But there is a secondary romance between two Black men. In the sequel, due out soon, those 2 romances continue, and there are 2 new ones, both involving Black women and white men. Cover artists complain that they have trouble finding images to suit my characters. Too bad. That's the world as I want to see it.
I'm not Black, but I have many friends who are, and some are in interracial relationships. I also have Hispanic friends, Arabic friends, and friends from India. I'm in a suburb of Chicago, where people of many hues and nationalities live together.

If a white author writes an IR featuring non-white lead characters, I ALWAYS ALWAYS check their backlist books first. If said backlist is comprised of nothing but white characters, then it's a hard pass - sorry not sorry. I can pretty much tell the characters in the IR are going to be problematic as hell.

Diversity has become the new "it trend" in publishing (grrr) yet some editors and publishers still don't want actual #ownvoices authors writing those books. Even after the whole RWA meltdown, the industry is still playing games.

I want the playing field to be level and BIPoC authors given huge advances and lots of advertising and not told the only books they can write are "issue" books.

I'm not a "jane-come-lately" to this dance. Every one of my romance novels has inter-racial romance--for the past 11 years. I don't do it to be trendy--if I was going that direction, I'd write about rich, privileged alpha jerks who prefer poor, mousy young virgins. Bleah.

And if that playing field is being leveled, when can I get an advance, even if it's not huge? When will someone help me with promotions using advertising?

I do agree that more POC need to get published. And no, it's not just POC who read books with inter-racial, or POC romances. A well-written story is good to read, no matter the color of the protagonists.

Fiona wrote: "I'm not a "jane-come-lately" to this dance. Every one of my romance novels has inter-racial romance--for the past 11 years. I don't do it to be trendy--if I was going that direction, I'd write abou..."

While you aren't new, I'm noticing a steady influx of white authors trying to write "diversely" and making a total hash of it. Then they whine when called out on it. Also there's this tendency to write biracial characters - especially half Black/half white characters - as "exotic", which is cringy as hell (some authors actually *use* that word eek). These characters are either the "tragic mulatto" version 2.0 or written in such a way that makes them palatable to white readers.

While a good story is indeed a good story, as someone who's been reading since the age of two, I feel I have a lot of making up to do, lol, so I'm reading primarily BIPoC characters and authors for now. They need the support. Especially in fantasy and romance. It would be great if ALL authors received decent advances and ad budgets. Give us readers plenty of variety, lol. I'm thinking of that author who received $800,000 for their first book and it was totally mediocre.

It just sucks that Black authors still have to jump through hoops and their books are treated as an afterthought. The entire publishing industry needs a serious overhaul, and they need to stop telling BIPoC authors to write nothing but "issue books".

I recently found out that one of my favorite mafia author London Miller is a black woman writing so many white characters and I’m so heart broken as a black women because what message does that send ? Does she want to be in a white persons skin ? I genuinely would like to talk to her about it and pick her her mind because maybe I’m wrong

The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears wrote: "Fiona wrote: "I'm not a "jane-come-lately" to this dance. Every one of my romance novels has inter-racial romance--for the past 11 years. I don't do it to be trendy--if I was going that direction, ..."

*INSERT HUGE APPLAUSE HERE*

I'm not an author beyond starting a couple of novels when I was a stay at home mom and never finishing them :)

But this subject brings to mind a question I've always wanted to ask white authors who are afraid to right black characters and I suppose it applies to any authors who hesitate to write outside their racial perspective.

I've seen countless dedications and forwards thanking entire police departments, individual mental health professionals, nurses, doctors, teachers all thanking them for their valuable input in assisting the author by answering their questions. All in an effort to write their characters authentically. So why on earth isn't that a default thats utilized to write across races?

I mean, if I wanted to write a book where my heroine was white, I'd tap into my white family members, friends or even co-workers for anything I thought I may be making too generic or lack perspective about.

Hello, I’m currently going through this dilemma myself. I am also aware that I’m extremely late to the party and probably won’t get noticed.
I’m black.
I have a novel series idea that is my dream to create.
The main character is white.
Why? Well, as I explained to my mother, it was nothing deep. She was just how I pictured her.
My mother was less than thrilled.

Now, I guess what I’m trying to say is if I don’t know if I’m wrong for picturing the main character like this in the first place. Would I be a disappointment to my mother? My family? The black community as a whole? Will the controversy that my mother told me I’ll be in for being a black author with a main character come true? This question rarely gets asked and answered on the internet that you’d get more results about guides for white authors on writing POC characters.
My mother even blamed herself for how she raised me and that makes me sad. It’s just a person who looks different than me that I have a burning passion to write about. To me, her struggles is that relates to me with her, as After I told her nothing was her fault, she was still relentless. I don’t know how to feel, possibly disappointing my mom in some way.

All I wanna ask: if authors like Rick Riodan, a white man, are entitled to make Daughter of the Deep, a story following an Indian girl and get praise and be on the bestsellers list (with I assuming Indian people helping him write the story, which is great), then why shouldn’t I explore other cultures too? Like, why is it weird when I do it?

I genuinely don’t know if following my #1 dream in the universe is right, my mother said it wasn’t, due to the main character. Will the whole black community and my family follow suit too if I eventually release it? Since I’m young and out of highschool, I don’t know if I sound misguided on myself, the publishing industry, and my community. I just wanna be the man behind the curtain, not the topic of focus!

Tiana wrote: "Hello, I’m currently going through this dilemma myself. I am also aware that I’m extremely late to the party and probably won’t get noticed.
I’m black.
I have a novel series idea that is my dream ..."

Wow sis, that's a lot to unpack.

But if that's the story you want to write, then just write it. Stacy Reid is a Black woman who writes Regency romances and all of her characters are white. Maybe your mother believes there are so few books with Black characters and that it's important for you to help balance the books as it were. She's right about the lack of books, and the way the publishing industry makes BIPoC authors jump through hoops, but it's still also one hell of a burden to put on you.

I disagree that Riordan is "entitled" to write an Indian heroine. He CHOSE to do so and hopefully had sensitivity readers making sure he didn't commit racefail. The thing is, writing white characters isn't as fraught with pitfalls as writing BIPoC characters. There are WAY too many instances of white authors perpetrating unconscious bias and/or outright racism.

Also remember that Black readers are more inclined to read books by white authors and with white characters, unlike white readers who sadly will not.

Tell the story you want and let readers decide.