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Diversity in Romance

But first... The first book in my Edwardian series for Sourcebooks is on sale now! Thornbrook Park $1.99 for Kindle... go get it! The price is already back up at Nook and Google Play. I hate for you to miss a good sale. 



Now, back to diversity. I've been on a Young Adult kick and I finally read Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park. I loved it. It's not just for the teens. The themes and feelings inspired are universal. 

After I read it, I raved to my daughter (a younger adult), who informed me that she has been in some discussion groups that were highly critical of Rowell's depiction of Park, a Korean and Irish American, and mostly, Park's mom, a Korean woman in America. I thought Rowell's depiction was fair enough, but I'm not a Korean American. My knowledge is limited. And that might be the problem of writing about people different from your own culture and experience. 

But what's the solution? I am not a man, but I write male characters, and I think I do it well. I want to fill my fictional worlds with people of all races, colors, sexual preferences, identities... because that is our world. The Romance Writers of America organization is currently promoting diversity in romance, and I applaud. We owe it to ourselves to learn, grow, and read books by diverse authors, books with diverse characters. We live in a diverse world. Embrace it! Read, learn, grow! 

Check out Book Riot's Diverse Historical Romance List (Jade Lee/Kathy Lyons is on it!). 

Have you read Eleanor and Park? Would you read a Young Adult book or do you think they're mostly just for teens? What are you reading now? 





Comments

  1. I read loads of YA books but tend not to stick to any one genre. I'll still be reading YA when I'm eighty :D

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