Introducing WU’s Diverse Voices Series: Why Diversity in Publishing Matters
By Grace Wynter | July 19, 2015 |
photo “Unity in Diversity” by Flickr’s fady habib
Therese here to introduce a new series here at WU, and explain its evolution. I recently visited the WU Facebook group and opened the floor to pitches: If you could write a post for WU, what would it be and why? Replies poured in–too many great ideas to use this summer, in fact–and in short order a theme began to emerge. Maybe it was inspired by the recent Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriages, but many of the pitches were tied to DIVERSITY.
We don’t talk about these issues as much as we should, do we? But we’re all very different, and those differences go beyond age and race and sexual orientation. We do not all have the same emotional experiences or voices or passions or fears. We are not all looking for the same experiences as writers–or as readers–and that’s ultimately a great thing.
So let’s start talking.
It’s my honor to host this series on Writer Unboxed and to introduce our first guest.
Grace Wynter is a blogger and writer of romance and women’s fiction. She spends much of her non-writing time tinkering with WordPress websites and working on completing her professional editing certificate with the University of Chicago. When she’s not alternating between the Marvel and DC universes, she resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I wanted to address the issue of diversity on WU because I believe it’s a community created by and consisting of the kinds of storytellers and writers who can lead the charge in bringing the issue of diversity to the larger writing community.” – Grace Wyter
You can learn more about Grace on her website, and by following her on Twitter and Facebook.
Why Diversity in Publishing Matters
Diversity’s a topic that’s being floated around a lot these days. For those on the “outside” of the conversation, all the diversity talk can seem like much ado about nothing. In fact, on a romance writer Facebook page I follow, when an admin recently posted a survey about diversity in romance novels, one of the first commenters responded with, “Oh, come on!” Apparently, she’d had her fill of diversity talk. That this reader would have such a frustrated response to something so important is disheartening, especially when you consider that at its simplest, most organic level, those of us seeking diversity in publishing desire something very basic: to see words, images, and stories that are inclusive in nature, in the very mediums that helped shape our lives.
Toni Morrison Made Me Do it
Toni Morrison said, “If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.”
It was only about three years ago that I realized I wanted to write fiction, but I’ve been reading it for as long as I can remember. Specifically romantic fiction with its star-crossed lovers and impossibly happy endings. As a teenager and later as a new adult, I devoured romance novels. But as much as I enjoyed those stories, something was missing. I read about blondes and brunettes, blue and green-eyed girls who, in the end, always found love, but there were no stories about girls who looked anything like me or my friends. In my school library and at my local book store, there were no stories about nerdy, fat, black, skinny, Latina, Caribbean, or Asian girls getting the guy. There were no stories where girls like me got to be the heroes. Where just for a little while, in the pages of a book, someone’s world revolved around them.
So although Toni Morrison didn’t say those words directly to me, she might as well have. And now, about a half a dozen first drafts later, I’m close to completing one of several novels featuring women who are underrepresented in the genre I love so dearly.
A Unique Perspective
Almost from the day I decided I’d start writing fiction, I began researching the publishing process. From traditional to self-publishing, from writers groups, to conferences, I studied everything I could find about the industry. And the one thing I learned early on is that for someone writing mainstream contemporary romance with a black female protagonist, the road is long and narrow.
The following is some of what I’ve learned over the past few years about diversity in the industry, through my own observations, and conversations with other writers, readers, and agents.
This feels like a good spot to include a disclaimer of sorts. The opinions expressed here are my own. I don’t speak for all black women writers, or women who write black female protagonists. I also don’t speak for all the non-cisgendered persons underrepresented in “mainstream” writing. This is my take on the world from my unique perspective as a reader and writer of color.
On Imprints and Shelf Space
One of the reasons I’m actively pursuing the hybrid route to publishing (a combination of traditional and indy-publishing) is what I perceive as the industry’s tendency to “shelf” writing that features non-white protagonists into narrow categories. Case in point – Harlequin Romance. Harlequin imprints include Blaze, Desire, Heartwarming, Medical Romance, Historical, and at least a dozen more. The imprint titles are all indicative of the type of romance you’ll be reading.
Then there’s the Harlequin Kimani imprint.
As far as I can tell, Kimani is a township in Malaysia, and maybe the name of a Kenyan tribe. It may also mean strong warrior, or honest man. The point is, the name Kimani doesn’t provide the reader with many clues about the type of romance they’d be reading if they selected a book from that imprint. The one big clue is that the name sounds “ethnic” enough to send a message that “black women, these novels are just for you.”
The issue isn’t that the imprint exists, because there’s obviously a market for it. A big one. I’ve read and enjoyed Kimani imprint titles. As a reader I know that if I select a Kimani title, the protagonist will bear some physical resemblance to me. And as a reader who wants to see her image reflected in the stories I read, this is important. The larger issue is that when I write a novel with a black female protagonist, it’s a good bet that my novel will end up shelved in an area designated as African American or multi-cultural, and not general romance or themed romance. This designation immediately limits my potential audience and my earning potential.
Narrowly shelving books with black female protagonists says, “Black women this book is for you, but the rest of you probably won’t be interested in this title because the protagonist doesn’t look or act like you.” It says, “These experiences are so far outside of the norm for you, that we had to give the category its own name.” Never mind that the novel might be a western, might be historical, or might feature a multi-cultural cast of characters. Segmenting in this manner tends to gloss over the most important point: These books are about the universal romantic themes of broken hearts, the pursuit of love, and the happily ever after.
And when it comes to actual shelf space in large chain bookstores, it’s even more challenging. If you’re not an internationally known author like Maya Angelou, Pearl Cleage, or Alice Walker, you’re not getting on that small shelf dedicated to African American authors. And forget about getting on the general romance shelf. But as an aspiring romance author that’s exactly where I want to be because when most women visit the bookstore looking for romance novels, they’re not going to the one African American shelf they’re going to the romance aisle. Side note: Indy bookstores are much better at featuring diverse authors and stories than big box bookstores and retailers.
On Writers and Readers
A couple of years ago I created a Meetup group for romance writers in my area. The women in my group are excellent writers and avid readers who select their next read from a mix of recommendations from friends and the carousel of books that rotates on their Amazon books page. During our most recent conversation about diversity, a couple of the women brought up a great point about why they haven’t read more ethnically diverse titles. It’s not that they’d actively avoided reading books with non-white protagonists, it’s that they’d not been exposed to them.
The Shonda Rhimes Treatment
Shonda Rhimes is a screenwriter and producer. She currently has three ratings juggernauts on ABC: Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. She’s a black woman whose shows feature some of the most diverse casting on television, and two of those shows star black women as their leads.
I call it the Shonda Rhimes treatment – when black women are portrayed as layered, multi-dimensional women who just happen to be black. Rhimes also does this for the Asian, Hispanic and gay and lesbian characters she writes. These women have lovers of all races. They’re strong and weak. Shonda Rhimes has proven that these stories can garner high ratings and advertising dollars. I’d like to see more of the Shonda Rhimes treatment in the writing and publishing community.
Stereotyping and Diversity
There are risks involved in portraying characters outside of your own experience. I understand this first hand. I remember a friend once complaining that the black male character in a television dramedy about three men, was the one with daddy issues. I reminded her that the other two characters were equally flawed – one a gambling addict, the other a womanizer unable to hold down a steady job. Which flaw would we rather? We must be willing to see flawed, multi-dimensional characters of color on TV and in our books.
There’s a quote attributed to author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that says, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
Shonda Rhimes (for the most part) can write without worrying about stereotyping because of the sheer number of people of color and LGBTQ she writes. Increasing diversity in our books and TV shows will free flawed characters from the burden of representing an entire race, religion, or ethnic group.
What Writers Can Do to Promote Diversity
Seeking diversity in publishing isn’t about being politically correct, it’s about ensuring that all stories are told. It’s about having people who love to read, being able to pick up books by their favorite authors and see their images weaved into the storylines, plots, and scenes. As readers and members of a large supportive writing community, there are things we can do to embrace and lead the charge of diversity in publishing.
- One of the best things we can do to encourage diversity in publishing is to read books by authors we’ve never heard of, or wouldn’t have sought out on our own. As members of a large, diverse writing community, we can solicit book recommendations from friends in our professional and social networks.
- When we get book recommendations and read the books, if we enjoy them, we should spread the word about these books and their authors, just as we would any other book we enjoy. We can leave reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and other platforms. Note: It’s important that we only recommend these books because we enjoy them, and not because of a desire to help promote something simply for the sake of diversity. In the long run, doing that only diminishes the efforts of talented authors.
- Incorporate diverse characters in our own writing. Most of us write about the world around us, and if we’re not around certain ethnic, racial, religious groups, or LGBTQ it might feel inauthentic to write “their” stories. But we write about murderers, adulterers, and the mentally insane. We practice diversity in our writing in so many other ways, surely a few of us can step out of our comfort zone and add characters whose emotions trump their race or ethnicity. Start small – secondary characters – the barista at the coffee shop, the neighbor, the cop, store owner, etc. The more we write and portray diverse characters, the more we can successfully present people without fear of stereotyping.
The ultimate goal is to have someone read a novel and say, that was an amazing story. I loved that. The characters appealed to me.
Our written word should reflect the larger society around us. We can get to a place where diversity isn’t an afterthought. It won’t be easy. We will step on some toes. We will get it wrong.
But if the story tellers and story lovers don’t do this, who will?
Thoughts to share on diversity in publishing? The floor is yours.
Grace Wynter is an author, editor, and workshop facilitator. She has an MBA from Georgia State University and a Professional Certificate in Editing from the University of Chicago. She has conducted workshops for organizations such as Writer Unboxed, Wake Up and Write!, Sisters in Crime, and the Atlanta Writers Club where she is also a freelance editor for their biannual Atlanta Writers Conference. Her editing clients include traditional publishers such as Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, and Hachette, and an array of indie publishers and self-published authors. Grace is the community architect behind Tessera Creatives, an online directory that connects authors and publishers with skilled, culturally competent freelance creatives who provide services for the publishing industry.
When she’s not alternating between the Marvel and DC universes, Grace resides in Atlanta, Georgia. You can connect with her at GraceWynter.com.
Grace, thank you for sharing.
Diversity in books is important. I remember a conversation, in a larger mixed group setting, during which a black grandfather and another black grandmother shared stories, and not so very long ago, of how their young daughters and granddaughters preferred to play with white dolls rather than black dolls. I had not realized how pervasive white privilege is. I continue my learning curve of what it means to live in the U.S. as a black person or person of color.
My novel, still in its drafting stages, has black people in it. Not as the main character but as some of the characters important to the plot. As I add in emotional layering for my main character, I do it for the other important characters and I think that helps me to avoid stereotypes and tropes.
And I’ve enjoyed reading “The Girl who Fell from the Sky” by Heidi Durrow, “Mr. Loverman” by Bernardine Evaristo, and two books by Jacqueline Woodson, “Brown Girl Dreaming” and her children’s book “Show Way.”
Thanks for reading, Lisa, and for recognizing how important it is for all readers to be able to see themselves in the pages of books they love to read.
Thank you for the great post Grace. I agree that diversity is very important in our stories. The protagonist in my current manuscript is a poor, fat, gay girl with few friends. I also agree that publishing and marketing should not shelve/market books with diverse characters in a “special” section. Even though well-meant, isn’t this its own form of UN-inclusion?
It is, but I don’t think it initially was meant to be. Because of lack of representation in “mainstream” fiction, when readers sought to find books that were inclusionary, the simplest thing to do was to send them to one place. Fast-forward to changing times and many more inclusionary voices, and that way of thinking now almost always leads to writers of color and LGBTQ having access to fewer readers.
Thank you again, Grace, for your excellent and honest essay. I’m embarrassed to admit that I never stopped to consider that our bookstores are segregating based on race. Now that I have I feel upset about it — not only that it’s happening, but that my eyes were closed to the problem. My goal for the week: Visit my local bookstores and look for this. I’ll follow up with thoughts.
Your last line really resonates with me: “if the story tellers and story lovers don’t do this, who will?” Indeed!
That’s a great way to help move the conversation forward and to change the landscape, Therese: visit your local bookstores and observe and report. I think you’ll be fascinated by what you find. Thanks again for tackling this topic, and for allowing my voice to be heard in the WU community!
Grace,
Thank you for this post. I’m writing a children’s series dubbed The Misfits that revolves around a motley crew of kids. I started with just a simple character, intentionally keeping her generic, but then I read this article:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/education/young-latino-students-dont-see-themselves-in-books.html?pagewanted=all
And I went back to develop her and her friends. I gave them real lives with real families and real problems. The characters are so vivid now. It’s not a story about diversity at all, it’s actually a comedic adventure with monsters, but their diversity is a thing in the background that colors the story. And hopefully, that gives little kids like the kid I was someone to look up to, someone to root for, and someone that reflects them.
Can’t wait to see your novel on the romance shelves where it belongs.
I love that, “diversity is a thing in the background that colors the story.” The story isn’t that your book has diverse characters, the story is their real lives and their real problems, and that’s what draws in readers of all types.
Grace,
I’ve seen you around, both here on the WU site and on the FB WU page, and may I say what a pleasure it is to read your words, your viewpoint.
I wholeheartedly agree about incorporating diversity throughout our works to the extent that books aren’t seen as a story about a “black” family or a “gay” couple (or the many other narrow categories in which people are placed), but about a “family” and a “couple” — plain and simple.
As I read your article (wonderful, btw), it brought to mind the 2010 film, The Kids Are All Right. I remember when the movie came out, it wasn’t touted as a LGBTQ-ish film about a lesbian couple and their kids, but as a film about a family — with family joys and family problems — whose kids went looking for their biological father. That could be any family. The fact that the parents were a lesbian couple was secondary. That’s what we need to see — the world where diversity has become so commonplace, it’s no longer viewed as different, but as much a part of life as the moon and the stars.
Because at the end of the day, aren’t we all a little different?
Thanks, Mike. It’s amazing reading comments from writers, everything they say is so “writerly” – “That’s what we need to see — the world where diversity has become so commonplace, it’s no longer viewed as different, but as much a part of life as the moon and the stars.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
‘The larger issue is that when I write a novel with a black female protagonist, it’s a good bet that my novel will end up shelved in an area designated as African American or multi-cultural.’
‘I’m embarrassed to admit that never stopped to consider that our bookstores are segregating based on race.’
Does this really happen in the U.S.? It’s not the case in Canada.
It’s probably not as harsh as it sounds, David, not intentionally anyway. In the beginning it was done so African Americans, Hispanic, and now LGBTQ readers could easily find stories where they were the protagonists. In some sense, we still need that today because so few “mainstream” titles feature any people of color. The main issues I have is that those “segregated” shelves are often the only places to find diverse authors and stories, and that the segregation, by definition, significantly narrows their potential audience.
I am soooo annoyed. My protagonist is black, & his best friend is black. One of my characters is in a wheelchair. One of my other characters is gay. (An editor advised me to delete him!) Several agents have told me that I am a strong writer, a good writer. And yet, none of them seem to want to rep my novel! So much for diversity!
When it comes to pitching your story, I think it’s a matter of finding the right agent and editor, and sometimes the no’s you get are a blessing in disguise. If the agents you’re approaching are not interested in portraying diversity, then there are a lot out there that are. I’ve visited several agent websites that specifically state they’re interested in multi-cultural and diverse works. I’d encourage you not to give up!
“Shonda Rhimes (for the most part) can write without worrying about stereotyping because of the sheer number of people of color and LGBTQ she writes.”
And this is both lock and key, I think, in the literary world. One of the keys is to be prolific in the representation of characters from marginalized populations because this is what our world looks like. I feel like the lock still comes in, though, when dominant populations and publishers suddenly determine that such a book suddenly becomes an “issue” one instead of simply authentic.
On a related note, I’m sure I’ve seen sections in bookstores that say “multi-cultural” and so forth, but it has never occurred to me that fiction would be there. Now I must investigate (and report) and see if we can’t have some impact with those booksellers about changing this practice.
Ditto on publishers automatically assuming that a book featuring a multi-cultural cast must be an “issue” book over a “story” book. It’s an expectation born of a certain mindset, one I think we can eventually change by representing stories and characters of all origins.
Great post, Grace, one that all writers need to read and ponder as you have made very important points. And I will be checking out how my bookstore shelves books. Shonda Rhimes grew up in a neighborhood south of Chicago where I lived. Her stunning rise is fantastic and I want to see more writers achieve what she has. But I also want to see writers who are not Shonda achieving as well. Diversity is such an important issue and as the world widens, we have hope for a more inclusive society that would mean diversity in all walks of life. Your post is a wake-up call on many levels. I have an African American detective in my novel. And because it’s set in a Chicago hospital, some of the nurses in the story could be African American as well. But I believe I need to read more books that include diverse populations, so that my wording isn’t clumsy, isn’t stagnant or prescribed as I fear the word stereotype. Does that make sense? The work has to blossom from truth. Thus I wish you and I could just sit down and share some of our work as you could tell me if I am missing or hitting the mark.
I’d love to exchange ideas and read some of your work. I think you’ll find that in my WIP, the characteristics that “reveal” my protagonist as a black women are her Jamaican heritage, the food she and her family eats, and strong family ties. Because it’s a romance, though, her emotions, the tension and conflict, and everything else that makes it a romance trumps the other descriptors. I think that’s key. In my opinion there’s no one way to make your characters talk to make them sound more “ethnic”, there’s no one way to make them think, or act, or behave. But, as I said in the post, I certainly understand your trepidation. No one wants to be seen as prejudiced, or writing stereotypes, not even me! Feel free to connect with me on Facebook and I’d be glad to exchange additional thoughts with you. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Grace, great post on a subject that is near to my heart as well.
I agree that it can be tough for writers to incorporate diversity that is beyond their experience, but that right there is just another symptom of the problem: if more writers would actually do it, even more writers would feel that so too can they.
I read a lot of posts from well-meaning writers who want to include diverse but are wringing their hands for fear of causing offense. Personally, I think that readers and writers from diverse backgrounds have an additional role to play by encouraging these portrayals when they do happen (even if they’re not quite as subtle or nuanced as we might want), and also by being willing mentors when people come to us with questions about our experiences (however much we might feel like they should already something about it). Like all other aspects of writing, it takes time to get good at this stuff, and even more time to build that critical mass of works to make the dream of diversity in mainstream fiction a reality.
Great points, Janna. I agree with you and that’s why I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject, particularly the part where I acknowledge that it’s scary to write about people you’ve never written about before. It opens a writer up to additional criticism, particularly if someone finds fault with what they’ve done. I’m certainly willing to lend an ear, and eye (both actually, it’s a package deal), to listen for tone and voice in other writers’ works. I’ll extend the invitation I did above: feel free to reach out to me on Facebook to continue the conversation.
Grace–
For me, posts tend to succeed to the degree they are written well. Yours is just that. which is especially important, because your topic matters a great deal. It also strikes me as speaking to issues I brought up in my own WU guest post, about taking chances with risky material, and personal identity as a writer.
I don’t take issue with anything you say in your post, but I think it’s useful to remember that for about the last fifty years, minorities have felt the need (legitimate in my view) to assert a special right to speak for their particular group. In universities, this gave rise to black studies, women’s studies, etc. It became conventional wisdom to claim that members of an identified minority had, by membership in the group, special insights and legitimacy to speak for and about that group. It’s easy to see how this led the publishing industry to compartmentalization.
If I’ve fully understood what you’ve written, your essay could be said to mark a swinging of the pendulum back toward the center. For me, that’s where the imagination will be once again respected, where writers of every origin and background will feel free to create fictions and characters in a liberated condition. If I’m right, you are signaling a better day-in-the-making.
Thanks again.
Thanks, Barry! I agree with you about “the need” to speak for a specific group. I think that was born out of having others tell stories that either didn’t include women, minorities, and LGBTQ, or stories where the diverse character was more caricature than anything else.
I think what I most want to get across with this post is that all writers can incorporate diversity into their stories, and I don’t even mean main characters. When someone writes a story set in NYC for example, and there’s not one person of color in the story – not a barista, not a fellow student, colleague, or teacher – then there’s some work to be done there. And also as writers who read (and don’t we all), we need to read more diverse stories, and share those stories with our circle of family and friends. That’s how the word spreads, that’s how books get sold, and that’s how we get to see more diversity in the aisles of our book stores.
I’m looking forward to reading this series. Thank you for getting us off to a good start, Grace. My goal is to begin to identify my blind spots, because I have a feeling they are ginormous despite good intentions and (I hope) a warm heart. Ignorance isn’t an excuse for inaction, but you can’t fix what you can’t identify.
For what it’s worth, in Canada I haven’t seen any segregated shelving in the fiction area of our only chain. There is a romance section, where all category romance is shoved into one end-cap section together, including Kimani romances. (Which I’ve dipped into, BTW. I have a friend who writes for them.) Single-title romance is shelved together regardless of sub-genre. Then we have YA, general fiction, mystery/suspense, horror, fantasy and sci/fi, and the discount section. All except the last are sorted alphabetically according to the author’s last name. We don’t even have a women’s fiction section, which I personally appreciate because that’s another area of potential ghettoization.
I see the shelving done a lot with literature. The Kimani reference was mainly to show that they created a category with a name that sort of boxed its writers in. You will find a few black authors on the general romance shelf, depending on where you live, but with self space at a premium, retailers will award that shelf space to books that will sell to a broader audience, and they assume – in fairness based on what’s already happening – that the broader audience isn’t interested in diverse characters.
Grace, in a novel I’m working on, I debated with myself and discussed with my critique partner whether to make one of my main characters black, but decided I had no idea what it was like to live as a black person or whether to even refer to the character as black, African American or a person of color. I was and am so afraid to offend that I chickened out. An author acquaintance of mine wrote a novel in which one of the main characters was a teenage boy. Someone wrote to her and said something to the effect that she obviously knew nothing about teenage boys. I happen to know that she has a son, who just recently entered his twenties. She knew where of she spoke and yet a reader decided it didn’t sound authentic. I can only imagine what the feedback would be if I tried to write about any ethnic group of which I have little intimate knowledge. So, while I may write about psychos or cel For me, it’s not avoidance based on a lack of desire for diversity, it’s a fear of coming across as clueless, unauthentic or, even worse, insensitive.
Densie, I understand your fear, and have felt it myself. You might be surprised to know that I toyed with making the protagonist in one of the stories I’m working on Indian. I went back and forth, did some research, and loved the idea, but decided to go with a culture I knew about firsthand (Jamaican.) That first draft is still sitting in my Dropbox, waiting to be revisited, and there’s still time for me to return to my original intentions. I think that as more authors introduce diverse characters into their stories, then it will ease the road for future authors. So you didn’t do it this time. Maybe next time, or the time after that.
BTW, small world. I’m in the middle of one of your novels (I posted something to your FB page a few days ago) and remember noting your references to Billie Holiday, reggae, and maybe a couple other things. They stood out to me because that’s how unusual it is to see references to anything like that in mainstream works. And references as small as those send a message to readers that this writer has a wider view of the world than many. So glad that we bumped in to each other here on WU!
Grace, yes, I realized it was you who had written to me! Thanks again. And thanks for pointing out to me my references to Billie Holiday and reggae. It never occurred to me that these were references to anything outside the mainstream. But that’s the goal, isn’t it? For diversity to be the norm and not stand out as unusual? So cool to see you here on WU!
The idea of more diversity/inclusion in publishing, I believe, is empowering. And I believe that it isn’t only underrepresented communities that are craving it. I read to expand my understanding. I read to expand my community. I hunger for more diversity in publishing.
Your essay hits on most of my own thoughts about the need and value of greater diversity in what we read and where we find it – so well said! I have included black and gay secondary characters in my crime fiction without making an issue of them. I don’t identify them by the label, but through bits and pieces of their stories, their perspectives, their choices. What I haven’t done is create a negative character because I’m so afraid of confirming false images and stereotypes. In an ideal world, as you noted, we should be able to write the spectrum.
Excellent article, Grace! I couldn’t agree more. As an African American writer seeking to reach all audiences and an avid reader of diverse authors, I absolutely see the relevance of your argument. In the novel I am currently writing, my major characters are black, but I am mindful to develop their narratives with a focus on their humanity rather than their “blackness.” Naturally, our culture is evident throughout, but I want my readers to see the story that surpasses any color. Also, I like your advice to incorporate characters of ethnicities different from your own. As a writer in the beginning of my career, I can’t help but to write what I know most intimately. However, I have created minor characters and characers in shorter pieces that are of a different race. I will continue to purposely do this in future writing as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for this insightful and important post, Grace. Best wishes!