Representation is a gift

When I began SUMMER TO WINTER, I noticed more than one brown or Black reader and/or friend asked if (Peter) Dunlop is Black. 

The relief and joy in their faces, or in their voices, or text messages become even more so when they see other Black characters of varying cultural backgrounds, on my Instagram page. 

And there is an unexplainable reaction when my readers realize even the white characters' cultural backgrounds are also explained.

My Writing In A Nutshell

I've been writing my own stories since Pre-K, and get frustrated because I didn't know enough words. With parents showing me how to use a dictionary and encyclopedias, I wrote for fun. Then by 4th Grade all the way to high school, I wrote and drew stories to escape bullying and harassment. 

Now I use my stories to do what bards, griots, and other cultural storytellers do, tell the stories that will help others to not feel alone. To let them know that problems aren't unique but are familiar and shared. And therefore, there is comfort in the idea one isn't in a box and cloistered. 

I have been inclusive with my characters from the get-go. Especially now in hindsight of being this age. In this age. When I remember showing my character sheets, the comments were cruel enough, uncalled for, that for a long while, I doubted my abilities and capabilities.  

"Why is his skin so dark?" (We forget there are darker-toned people in this world?)

"Why does she look gay?" (Don't know how someone can 'look their sexual orientation' but the characters that were pointed out as 'gay' ended up being future LGBTQA+ in their stories)

"This girl has thunder thighs." (Aren't there many body types?)

"Why does this character have a foreign name?" (We all have names from countless cultures/ethnicities/and belief systems)

"Why do you make your characters SO OLD?" (They were in their mid-20s to early-30s. People also spoke out with my actual elderly characters. Why do characters have to be super-young? Won't there be other kinds of adults in one's world?)

I continue along this trajectory in my writing. I don't understand the limitations people impose on characters. It's an imaginary world. This reality has limits. Shouldn't the skies and imagination of the creator be the story's limit? Diversity and inclusivity are simply the tools to stretch the already imposing limits placed on a work of art. On a creative project. Not only must art reflect one's world, it must push further the boundaries of one's world. 

Why can't there be various ethnic groups in space or meeting aliens? Why can't a fat woman be the next wife to an emperor after the last wife passed away in childbirth? Why can't elderly people be leads in a scifi epic? Why does the lead have to be a certain shade? And why can't there be multiple characters who are LGBT+? Who is to tell me that the Patwah I grew up with can't be in the same scifi with aliens living among us? And why should I erase the reality that give my imaginary worlds' gravitas? Heft and weight? 

The disheartening comments reveal more about the persons than about my talents and ability to tell a story.

The Art of Plugging Away

Wow, I haven't done an 'Art of Plugging Away' post in a LONG time!

One of the side effects since updating my characters to Caribbean(or the diaspora), I realize I don't know how to spell most of the food/drink I've grown up with and have taken for granted.😄😍

Will list those words I had to do an Internet search on for an upcoming post.

Reclaim One's Heritage

Been struggling with a science fiction story. And then a friend from MFA program volunteered to beta-read it. Now I did most of the grammatical edits.

What's bothering me is one of the scenes I've decided to change from the alien's POV to the Jamaican-American's POV. I'm Jamaican-American or Jamerican and realized that though I can say a few words in Jamaican Patois/Patwah/Patwa, I'm illiterate when it comes to writing, reading, and can only spell certain words.

Was about to post on my Caribbean/Diaspora writers group page about me having to rewrite what a texting social media language but realized this is the difficult tasks and decisions a writer will come up against. So, I'm currently researching, remembering, and will read more on my culture's poet laureates. And while I'm remembering, will be reclaiming.

Race is a Myth

There's a book out about the myth of Race by a journalist named Sussman who also wrote an extension article on the topic via Newsweek.

Researchers and scientists have been pushing for everyone to use Ethnicity since that is more quantifiable. That's why in my scifi series, the aliens consistently use 'specie'/'Species'.

I will be purchasing Sussman's book soon.

I never understood how in my favorite SF shows, aliens kept using Race. They wouldn't because it's a misnomer.

Best of 2017 - Part Four

NOTE: Here, there be hyperlinks!

In honor of Banned Books Week, which will conclude tomorrow, I am posting my Best of 2017 books that have simply blown my mind (and that's not an easy thing to do, though I feel my tastes are wide-spread enough that I'm often more satisfied than disappointed) and wish to share my findings with my readers and visitors...

Last is The Best American Comics 2013 anthology series. This was another surprise gem that wasn't even recommended by a sophisticated online system! This anthology was a happy surprise and showcases a variety of comic stories (strips, excerpts from graphic novels, series, musings, autobiographies, and spec-fic entries) from a variety of professionals in the industry. 

This a thick hardcover and yet surprisingly light so I credit the material they used. Not only is there something for everyone, I would even recommend this title to non-comic readers! Now because of this, I will be finding and acquiring the rest in the series!

THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2013 is edited by Jeff Smith, creator of the famed and critically acclaimed "Bone" comic series and series' editors Jessical Abel, comic creator of "Trish Trash" and Matt Madden, comics creator, educator, translator and so forth.

Please pick up THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2013 directly from Hamilton Books or where ever books are sold.

P.S. Will be posting at a later date about the wonderful online bookstore (and ISN'T Amazon!) that is Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller!!!

Info on Banned Books Week here: Banned and Challenged Books

Best of 2017 - Part Two

NOTE: Here, there be hyperlinks!

In honor of Banned Books Week, which will conclude tomorrow, I am posting my Best of 2017 books that have simply blown my mind (and that's not an easy thing to do, though I feel my tastes are wide-spread enough that I'm often more satisfied than disappointed) and wish to share my findings with my readers and visitors...

Next up is Chain Mail Bikini- a comic anthology about female or femme-affirming gamers! 

Any Robert E. Howard fan would know the title is a nod to one of his most famous characters, Red Sonja, the butt-kicking shero/heroine of his Conan the Barbarian series as well as her own series.

I spoke about this anthology many posts before and I will provide that hyperlink when this post goes live. In the meantime, I feel this title deserves a second post review! 

Chain Mail Bikini is a trail mix of delightful ruminations and musings on a little-media-attention topic: girls and women who like to game (video games/board games/role-playing card games, etc) and how it sculpts one's identity, defines an individual, as well as the overall affect on that broader gaming community. 

Now, this may sound lofty and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. All I know is that as many people as possible need to read this gem of comic "essays" about gamers and the lives they lead - whether offline or online. Whether the favored game is made of paper, in pixels, or penned by a 'circle', the emotions are nevertheless real, the social commentary biting, sexism crackles, and feminism shines. 

As I said before, the comics are a mixed bag: some of the comic art is adorable, some are quite polished, even professional, some are quite rough, while others are drawn somewhat amateurish. But, however the aesthetic might be, this anthology carries a lot of heart. There is no BS. What you see is what you get and the authors aren't here to waste their time or the readers. They are just here to tell you their stories. No Ifs, Ands, or Buts about it. And no spoilers from this reviewer. 

Chain Mail Bikini is guest edited by Hazel Newlevant  and the intriguing front cover (for which I am now a fan of!) by Hellen Jo !

Please pick up Chain Mail Bikini directly from its website (available in PDF, hardcopy) or where ever books are sold.

Info on Banned Books Week here: Banned and Challenged Books

Best of 2017 - Part One

NOTE: Here, there be hyperlinks!

In honor of Banned Books Week, which will conclude in 4 days, I am posting my Best of 2017 books that have simply blown my mind (and that's not an easy thing to do, though I feel my tastes are wide-spread enough that I'm often more satisfied than disappointed) and wish to share my findings with my readers and visitors...

First up is Lightspeed Magazine's(r) ------- Destroy Science Fiction or Fantasy anthology series.

Anybody that knows me knows I love my anthologies! I'm obsessed! Between a novel and an anthology, I would have to be a fan of the author to choose the novel over the anthology. I blame my grade school days. Anthologies are perfect excuses to be introduced to new writers/authors and is a portable library of shorts: fiction, nonfiction, essays, interviews, comics, artwork, and poetry. Anthologies can be in every subject and are perfect for burgeoning and veteran science fiction/fantasy/horror readers.

Lightspeed Magazine's People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction is a meaty (sorry to vegetarians!) collection of hard-hitting stories, mind-opening interviews, and essays from authors of varying ethnic and cultural groups. Science fiction has always been consumed by 'people of color' but those that write it have not been given the media exposure they deserve. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction means to change that.

Not only did I relate to statements and some life experiences mentioned in author essays and interviews with the anthology, but I was dismayed that authors whom I thought were White turned out to be a different ethnic group! Take for instance Daniel H. Wilson, author of the Robopocalypse series! He's Native American. How many of us know that our First Peoples in the United States are writing speculative fiction? I'm sure many of the most well-read did not know or were aware, and that's tragic, indeed.

Included in this toothsome and almost brick-heavy (it is a bit weighty but so worth it) volume, are various art pieces and illustrations, many created for the stories but also to showcase the range of talent in the spec-fic landscape.

People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction is guest edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Kristine Ong Muslim - Hopkinson is a well-known powerhouse author and Ong Muslim is a writer to watch for!

Each entry in this anthology gives a smaller-font brief bio paragraph on each author and any social media they are on.

Please pick up People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction directly from Lightspeed Magazine or where ever books are sold.

Info on Banned Books Week here: Banned and Challenged Books

Notes from the sketchbook

The post topic is originally from my notes in sketchbook, but first, a bit of news...

The FIRST DRAFT IS FINISHED! IT'S DONE! FINITOOO!!

Now that I got that off my chest, the long haul to edit the second draft begins...
**********

Stacey and Slash may appear as an ordinary couple, I mean, they're both dogs, right?
However, remember what I am trying to state: they are interracial (one is Black and the other is Italian).

Nowadays, many interracial, inter-religious, as well as intercultural couples, are considered very common and everyday to many folks.

However, such pairings were highly unusual in the 1930s, and even quite dangerous for the pair involved!
There was once what were called 'Miscegenation Laws'.

State officials, as well as other authority figures, had taken it upon themselves to keep, not only their own race, 'pure', but made it unlawful for other types of interracial couplings: this meant NO Asian/Black, NO Black/Native American, NO Native American/Asian.

NO ONE, under penalty of law, could marry OUTSIDE their race.
Even if couples were legally married elsewhere, in certain states, such marriages were considered illegal.
Furthermore, children born in such unions were considered (I HATE this term when applied to people) 'illegitimate'!

During both of the characters' development, not only has each had to fight against society's ideas about who can develop a relationship with whom, but oftentimes, the person has had to fight cultural standards, expectations, and identities.

With Slash, he struggles with his ethnic group's ideas of masculinity as well as how he must behave.
This is both within the gang subculture he has spent much of his adult life, but also the broader, wider culture he originates from.

With Stacey, she struggles with her working life, and with a society that has historically hampered, impeded, and hemmed in Blacks.
Throughout the story, she is underestimated, ridiculed, and misrepresented, by a society's need to separate the black individual from the post-modern world.