Hey, everyone!
Have you seen the hashtag on Twitter “#WeNeedDiverseBooks”? If not, do a search for it. I’ll wait.
Okay, now that you’ve done that, I have to ask you: Did you see something of interest? I hope so.
There’s a big movement out there trying to bring more diverse characters to books. I am a part of it, and that’s why I wanted to make this video. We need characters of a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, and skin colors.
In this video, I talk about the lack of diversity in primarily steampunk and fantasy novels. This subject is a really important one to me. I think that it’s our jobs, as creators of fantastic and improbable worlds, to make sure that we include space for all kinds of people–not just the people who traditionally appear in the books.
I’m going to put together a couple of other videos too, but for now, I hope you enjoy this one. 🙂
If you’re looking for a more structured, instructional series, why not try my podcast? I’ve got some great tips for aspiring writers there too!
Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe!
As an artist of color I very much appreciate it when authors such as yourself stretch their boundaries in order to include diversity. My wife writes the stories for our shared steampunk/fantasy world of Ashelon and one of the things we always say is that the 1800’s happened everywhere. One of the things we strive to do is to include positive diversity into the steampunk genre through her writing and my art. It’s hugely important to us as I see that this is important for you as well. So I just want to say, thank you!
We would love to be guests on your podcast someday. My wife Carolyn Kay has one book out called “Dien Vek” and the second novella entitled, “Sikevra” is about ready to hit the public. (We just got the proof copy today, in fact!). I’m also doing an oracle deck that focuses on Steampunk/fantasy and diversity which should be out this year. Your video was very inspiring and it’s awesome that we’re not alone in wanting to see more diversity in our beloved genre. Take care and keep up the good fight! – Chaz