People of Color in Fantasy Literature

Today @ Fantasy I posted part 1 of an interesting roundtable discussion about PoC in the genre, both as writers and as characters.  The discussion this week focuses on the state of PoC characters in the genre and it names names!  Next week we’ll get more into what writers of color are offering up.  The week after that we’ll discuss specific books, stories, and authors that we love.

Not coincidentally there is also an interview with Catherynne Valente up on the Angry Black Woman blog today.  There we discuss why The Orphan’s Tales is rarely praised for it’s multiculturalism or even recognized has having a significant number of characters of color.  A dollop for you:

Catherynne: Sigrid is black–which has resulted in the most bizarre conversations, where I mention that, and a reader will blink and say “No she’s not.” At which point I blink, and assure them that she is. And then I have to quote my own book in regards to the brownness of her skin, which is mentioned repeatedly.

ABW: Well, Sigrid is a hero and a saint and the protagonist of her own story. Unfortunately, that’s not usually the space where you find black women in genre fiction.

Catherynne: Yashna is also meant to be black, though for some reason no one ever seems to notice the black, female pope.

Quite a bit of interesting stuff going on in both posts–go read!

Broad Cast

Ended last week on a high note, then woke up this morning to more good news.  Rachel Swirsky of PodCastle accepted my story, Change of Life.  The story was first published in Farthing 3 and now it will go on to have a second life, which makes me warm and fuzzy.  Plus, the story is damn fun to read aloud, so I’m excited to hear what the reader will do with it!

I don’t have any info on pub/podcast date yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll post it.  I’m excited in general since this means that PodCastle will start up soon, and I’ve been looking forward to it.  EscapePod is one of my favorite markets and a beloved companion on many a long subway ride, so I’m sure PodCastle will be just as awesome.

That makes two acceptances in December.  I wonder if good things really do some in threes?  I guess we’ll find out.

The Perfect End to the Perfect Week

I had a really great week these past seven days. I’ll blog the other parts of the perfect week once I have pictures uploaded, but I want to share this last happiness right away.

I sold one of my favorite stories, Enmity, to Electric Velocipede! Got the email late last night and did a happy dance that probably disturbed my neighbors. Now I have even more reason to wear my fabulous EV t-shirt.

More news as the publication date approaches — currently it’s TBD.

Ficlets

Writer friend John Scalzi blogs at a cool site for writers called Ficlets. The blog has interviews and news related to writing and reading, but it’s not the main attraction of the site. The purpose of Ficlets is for writers to post very short stories — maximum 1,024 characters. People read, rate and comment on your shorts, then have the option to write a sequel or a prequel to it. Other people might write sequels or prequels to those stories, and so on. If you get a lot of sequels and prequels going on, it’s a bit like a crazy tree sprouting up — all these different branches spawning branches spawning branches.

Anyone can join and add fiction. You can start with something of your own or riff off someone else. It’s all a lot of fun. Everyone should try it!

I have two stories up at the moment, which you can find here. I also discovered the other day that Wil Wheaton has contributed at least one story. I was a Wesley Crusher fan as a kid, so please pardon me while I engage in a little fangirlyness.