If You're Going to Dance in Storms, You Should Probably Research Them First

[anicalewis]

So, awhile ago, I was looking at upcoming teen books to potentially order for the library where I work, and I saw this:

Comments

[miss_maxine]

Thanks for this absurdly relevant post! I am going through all of these things in my fantasy novel

[anicalewis]

Yay for relevance! And yay for more talented people writing fantasy featuring people of color and queer characters! Yay I say!

It sounds like you've put good thought into it, and I think the fascination-tempered-by-creeped-out-ness is probably a good way to avoid the "smitten on sight with the magical beauty of Caucasian features" problem.

Also, outside species? Do I possibly smell elves and/or fairies? Nic is intrigued.

[miss_maxine]

Yeah, having people of color all over the place is really important to me for that novel. I hope it's in a way that's natural. It's something I put thought into all those years I was mulling the story over.

It's also somewhat important for the story that the white character is an Other and from a different culture with different values.

Do I possibly smell elves and/or fairies? Nic is intrigued.
Ha! Dryads, actually, but within the world of the novel they're called sprites.