It's a family saga that takes place on the a continent similar to Europe. Five of the characters are from a country that is modeled on France, one is from a country that is modeled on Spain and the other is from a country modeled on Germany.
Right now for the part I'm writing it focuses on Henri divorcing Therese for a younger woman (Anna). I took inspiration for the Tudor era basically. But I'm building up the world around them.
Ooh this is interesting because I've actually made it a point to keep my cast diverse.
My main male character is half-Sumerian (so, Iraqi) half-English. My female lead is the equivalent of an angel, but she's very dark skinned, with dark eyes. The male sidekick is Scottish. The other characters with a significant amount of page time are a half black/half white male, a white female, and the ~villain is Babylonian (so, also Iraqi). I have pictures, too, if anyone cares!
Main male pic. Theo is my main character, who did not worry about money while in college because his grandmother wanted him to ~follow his dreams of studying anthropology at a master's degree level. He's not religious and he was athletic. Main female pic Clemence is God's go-to girl and all around badass. Since she's never really been alive, she has no socioeconomic background. She doesn't have to be religious because she works for God. (My favorite character; she's going to become God!) She is asexual. Male sidekick pic Alistair is the 300 year old brawny sidekick
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I read a book with a black heroine and I wouldn't have even know it if it wasn't for the picture of the front. As a black woman, I'm constantly told my interests are my attitude or behavior is "white", which I've never understood. So I like when authors write POC and they act like any other character. I think you can call attention to their race without making their entire being (?) about their race. I can understand portrayals where POCs are aware of their disadvantages, but I know I don't spend all my time thinking about the fact that I'm black if takes make sense. I'm just like any other person with varied interests.
I have tried to slip it in casually every now and then to remind the reader that she isn't white, but at the same time, I don't want to overdo it and somehow be offensive that way. I have had things like "the way the light reflected off her dark skin" or something like that. I think this is okay? But she's never lived among humans so I don't think she's even aware of race, per se. Which I think goes along with what you said about not making it about her race. Like I said, I don't want to co-opt a race, and so I tried to keep things neutral, while having diversity in skin color. I hope this is a good idea but I struggle with wondering if it is or not daily.
I think that's a very good idea. Being honest, I don't think there is an easy way to call attention to a character's race. And I'm like the worst at recognizing it like with one of the character's love interest in the PLL book series. I just thought she was white until the other girl said her family didn't like the girl because she was black. I suppose that's from the conditioning that "White is the default" and I need overcome that myself in my writing.
i find religion easy to talk about for some reason. i think it's because i was raised around a lot of overly religious people that i have a need to represent that their are differing views on the subject. that may be why race is harder for me because i grew up in a diverse area and so it feels like such a fact to me that of course other races exist in my world i forget that if i dont acknowledge they're not whit everyone will assume they are.
But lets be fair, some of us are worrying about marketability as well and I feel like there's a clear painted picture of who is reading what books, based on fandom and things like that...so there's also the worry about writing something that there isn't a real market for.
love all the points you made in this and feel like you brought the surface the main issues people have with diversifying.
also, i see you're characters walking a very STRAIGHT line thus far. find the key word ;)
also, i see you're characters walking a very STRAIGHT line thus far. find the key word ;)
It's something I totally admit to! I've started characters with different sexualities but, ngl, I over think it and never feel comfortable with my portrayal. I don't want to commit a faux pas, you know? You've pointed it out and inspired me, though. Since the entire point of this work shop is to work on diversifying, I'm going to try my hand at shaking that area up a bit in my writing.
With religion, it's odd because I grew up surrounded by diff types myself... It just doesn't seem to come up in my writing much but now that I think about it, I've had a few non-christians.
One of the characters from We Shake Cities that I didn't mention is a Santeria. Also, she's Puerto Rican/Cuban and Black but I immediately feel guilty because she's not wealthy... thoughts?
love all the points you made in this and feel like you brought the surface the main issues people have with diversifying. I want to hear more people talk about this, to be honest. I
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i'm excited! taste the rainbow, nicole! i'll send you a pick of skittles.
i don't think religion comes up a lot in my past projects but it will in this once since they're all on the edge of death which tends to make people think about that kind of thing.
I LOVE YOU. i get a really ill feeling if i write a PoC as lower class because i feel like that's the stereotype? like i said, there can be fact in stereotypes but getting that to transfer into fiction realistically is a hard task to take on.
Same! i actually thought that would come up a lot more so far but it hasn't!
I can't believe that I forgot about height. This is a huge problem area for me. All of my characters are above average height. Harley's mixed heritage makes me love her more.
i use to write all my characters short for some reason and now they're all average height. i feel like in my head if i say a character is short they're a midget and if i say tall they're a giant so i have to readjust.
Agreed on the lesbian front. I am toying with making one of my main female characters a lesbian for that very reason. It's very unusual--in fact, I can't recall ever reading a book with one in it. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but nothing's jumping out at me right now.
Wow, what a diverse group of nationalities you've included! Sure more female characters are always good, but I think you've really captured a variety of economic levels, sexualities, occupations, etc. I have to tip my hat to you including a Suspension Artist and an albino in the same story, though now I'm really curious about how the plot weaves all these unique folks together!
Personally I think you've got a pretty diverse group of characters to work with here.
I think it's interesting that all of your characters seem to define sexuality on their own terms, or that you're so flexible that you've included many different labels. I'm happy to see a bisexual character. As a bisexual myself I'm always very upset about the lack of my sexual orientation in fiction.
I find it interesting that the only characters of color I see here have unnatural eye colors for their races/ethnicities, pink and green. I'm sure that Setmi being albino probably has some significance? Maybe you could explore that, though? This is something that I would immediately pick up on and wonder about if I were reading the book, I wonder wonder why one of the two characters of color was written to have pale skin.
Bisexual's are severely underrepresented in any media, and a lot of the times are thrown in just so that a character can sleep with literally anyone. It's upsetting, to say the least.
Setmi is albino due to a prophecy surrounding his birth, told by the Keeper of Doors. He was born into a Cult of Anubis, and him and his twin brother, together being the Duat Saut, were said to be the harbingers of the end of their father's reign. His twin 'accidentally' died due to being left out in the hot desert sun one day at only two months old. His father was content with allowing Setmi to survive, believing the prophecy to be averted with one of his sons dead. In the end, he just sealed his own fate.
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Caucasian
Royalty (I think that's what you mean by socioeconomic background. He's definitely the 1%)
Heterosexual
Tall and muscular
Blonde
Blue eyes
2. Therese Segovia
Caucasian
Royalty
Heterosexual
Petite and buxom
Redhead
Blue eyes
3. Anna Everart
Caucasian
Nobility
Heterosexual
Tall and lanky
Brown hair
Grey eyes
4. Jeanne de Caulmont
Caucasian
Nobility
Heterosexual
Petite and small boned
Blonde
Light blue eyes
5. Analise Huber
Caucasian
Royalty
Heterosexual
Tall, dark, and slender
Black hair
Blue eyes
6. Martine Bauldry
Caucasian
Nobility
Heterosexual
Medium height, curvaceous
Brown hair
Brown eyes
7. Cosette Puchot
Caucasian
Nobility
Heterosexual
Tall, slender, and pale
Red hair
Blue eyes.
These are the second generation, but I've been writing about them the most, specially the first four.
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Right now for the part I'm writing it focuses on Henri divorcing Therese for a younger woman (Anna). I took inspiration for the Tudor era basically. But I'm building up the world around them.
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My main male character is half-Sumerian (so, Iraqi) half-English. My female lead is the equivalent of an angel, but she's very dark skinned, with dark eyes. The male sidekick is Scottish. The other characters with a significant amount of page time are a half black/half white male, a white female, and the ~villain is Babylonian (so, also Iraqi). I have pictures, too, if anyone cares!
Main male pic. Theo is my main character, who did not worry about money while in college because his grandmother wanted him to ~follow his dreams of studying anthropology at a master's degree level. He's not religious and he was athletic.
Main female pic Clemence is God's go-to girl and all around badass. Since she's never really been alive, she has no socioeconomic background. She doesn't have to be religious because she works for God. (My favorite character; she's going to become God!) She is asexual.
Male sidekick pic Alistair is the 300 year old brawny sidekick ( ... )
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But lets be fair, some of us are worrying about marketability as well and I feel like there's a clear painted picture of who is reading what books, based on fandom and things like that...so there's also the worry about writing something that there isn't a real market for.
love all the points you made in this and feel like you brought the surface the main issues people have with diversifying.
also, i see you're characters walking a very STRAIGHT line thus far. find the key word ;)
Reply
It's something I totally admit to! I've started characters with different sexualities but, ngl, I over think it and never feel comfortable with my portrayal. I don't want to commit a faux pas, you know? You've pointed it out and inspired me, though. Since the entire point of this work shop is to work on diversifying, I'm going to try my hand at shaking that area up a bit in my writing.
With religion, it's odd because I grew up surrounded by diff types myself... It just doesn't seem to come up in my writing much but now that I think about it, I've had a few non-christians.
One of the characters from We Shake Cities that I didn't mention is a Santeria. Also, she's Puerto Rican/Cuban and Black but I immediately feel guilty because she's not wealthy... thoughts?
love all the points you made in this and feel like you brought the surface the main issues people have with diversifying. I want to hear more people talk about this, to be honest. I ( ... )
Reply
i don't think religion comes up a lot in my past projects but it will in this once since they're all on the edge of death which tends to make people think about that kind of thing.
I LOVE YOU. i get a really ill feeling if i write a PoC as lower class because i feel like that's the stereotype? like i said, there can be fact in stereotypes but getting that to transfer into fiction realistically is a hard task to take on.
Same! i actually thought that would come up a lot more so far but it hasn't!
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<3
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Personally I think you've got a pretty diverse group of characters to work with here.
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I find it interesting that the only characters of color I see here have unnatural eye colors for their races/ethnicities, pink and green. I'm sure that Setmi being albino probably has some significance? Maybe you could explore that, though? This is something that I would immediately pick up on and wonder about if I were reading the book, I wonder wonder why one of the two characters of color was written to have pale skin.
Reply
Setmi is albino due to a prophecy surrounding his birth, told by the Keeper of Doors. He was born into a Cult of Anubis, and him and his twin brother, together being the Duat Saut, were said to be the harbingers of the end of their father's reign. His twin 'accidentally' died due to being left out in the hot desert sun one day at only two months old. His father was content with allowing Setmi to survive, believing the prophecy to be averted with one of his sons dead. In the end, he just sealed his own fate.
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