I Have A New Anthology Out, and Some Stuff To Say

[sarahtales]

I have word that the Truth & Dare anthology is out early in the US, so I wished to alert y'all to it! I have a story in it, and so do many other awesome and excellent people, to wit: Jennifer Finney Boylan, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cecil Castellucci, Emma Donoghue, Courtney Gillette, A. M. Homes, Heidi R. Kling, Jennifer Knight, Michael Lowenthal, Liz

Comments

[emmacmf]

Something else to add to my book buying list!

The girl on the front of the US cover for the anthology looks like Drusilla from Buffy.

YA books should be encouraged to show the range and diversity of the people of this world; during a time when young people are questioning themselves and their own moral standpoints, it's important that they are exposed to scenarios outside of their own social and cultural influences so they aren't forced to think within an extremely narrow and limited viewpoint. It is entirely possible for a book to be life-changing.

Anyway, you put it so much better than I ever could.

[sarahtales]

Doesn't she, though? I've always thought that. I love Buffy, mind you, so it's all good.

I know some books were life-changers for me, so I think you put it excellently well.

[emmacmf]

She really does! And yes, it's a feet good thing because Buffy was awesome.

Books were a huge part of my formative years - they really do show you worlds you have no access or exposure to otherwise. Thank goodness for you authors!

[emmacmf]

And apologies for auto-correct fail - that was supposed to read 'very good thing'!

[raggedyanndy]

That is an excellent essay and you should feel good for writing it.

[thegreatmissjj]

It’s just that publishing isn’t a monolith. There are always going to be people who support breaking away from the default, and always going to be people who are against it, and you’re always going to have to deal with the mix.It's hard to remember that publishing isn't a monolith, although I would also say it's hard to remember the same of the reader, from this side of the desk anyway. As someone who works on the editorial side, it can be awfully depressing to hear how much the "bottom line" matters when acquiring a book. It's so easy to generalize a readership, a reading public, to publish or acquire books that cater to the fake-default world because it appears that's all the public wants to buy. When you look at "the bottom line", it appears all readers want are books about white, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied protagonists

[sarahtales]

Oh boy, yes as regards readers. I keep recalling the furore over Cindy Pon's changed covers, and yet I haven't seen a ton of the readers who said how much they wanted to support Cindy Pon... well, coming out and actually doing so

[ex_kaz_maho]

Oh boy, yes as regards readers. I keep recalling the furore over Cindy Pon's changed covers, and yet I haven't seen a ton of the readers who said how much they wanted to support Cindy Pon... well, coming out and actually doing so.

This. *sigh* I was thinking the exact same thing just the other day.

[imagined_away]

I'm so excited for this anthology. I'll have to look for it the next time I go to the library

[sarahtales]

Basically the problem is this: nothing exists in a vacuum.

Like, maaaany fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments think that Adam Lambert should play her character Magnus Bane in a movie version of her book, since he's gay and Magnus is bisexual, and he has a look that sounds similar to the character's. People have gone so far as to say they won't see the movie unless AL plays Magnus, and suggested she was racist for saying she didn't want an actor based on his race. (Magnus is Asian, Adam Lambert is white.)

And in an ideal world, well, maybe it'd be less important. (Though I still think it'd be pretty important, given that a character's heritage and identity is a huge part of that character--way more than, say, their height.) But in this world, where white actors get the vast majority of parts and white actors are cast so, so often in the place of people of colour (The Last Airbender movie, and now Akira, to name very modern examples), depriving actors who aren't white of roles (because it almost never works the other way

[imagined_away]

Like normal you've taken what I was thinking about put it in much better words.

Part of me wants Alan healed (mostly because he's in pain) but I know Alan would be a very different person if he hand't spent almost half his life with his leg injury. He'd still be smart, sure, but who knows how much he would have focused on physical things instead. In a way his leg getting hurt allowed him to become the awesome character we all know and love.

So I'm glad you didn't heal him. Because while some part of me would have been happy to see him not being in pain anymore, I think a lot more of me would have been upset that he just got magically healed when it was such a part of him. And what I really like is that Alan doesn't want to be healed. He's okay with the way he is and I think that's awesome

[bibliokat]

Wow, that's a really good example with Barbara. Hmmm, you've given me more to think about, thanks!

[patu_paiarehe]

Great post, really gave me something to think about. And on a side-note, yay Karen Healey! She's from my hometown!