Annoying Fellow Writers <-- That has two meanings. Writers who are annoying to us and whom we annoy. So, any of you ever got an opportunity to speak with or befriend a writer whose politics and views of literature is totally opposite to yours? I actually got into a fight with a very famous romance writer who said that race shouldn't matter in a book. No names or anything. I just want to see how often this happens with other folks. I don't think any of us would willfully set out to befriend a writer who is racist but on the internet strange things happen. So yesterday I ticked off a white feminist because she told me my story should have a female main character.My main characters is a white boy from an oppressive rich culture who learns that his people are preying on poor black cultures. The other two main characters are female black characters. There's a war going on but we see the war through the eyes of the white culture. All the rumors and stories we hear are told through the white characters. (I'm kinda talking about the American media and how American culture views the resources of the world as its right. But I am more concerned with the path this white warrior takes as he realizes he and his culture are wrong.) And -- perhaps I'm wrong here but-- the way I see it, the book is for a Christian fantasy publisher. I already have an interracial love affair and two black female main characters. I certainly don't want to push it since Christian males who read fantasy tend to read books with white males as the lead. So I hope I'm not wimping out..but I DO think my story set up is valid.So my questions: A) should I as a woman only write books with black female main characters? Should I reconsider caring about the growth of the white male boy and totally focus on the black females? B) Should I even care what white feminist writers think? C) Should I stop befriending folks who are totally unlike me? ( I just joined a new networking fantasy group called www.wonderlands.ning.com So far they are nice people but I am being very careful jumping into such a large community. I like seeing "Black" or "People of Color" or "Multicultural" in the titles of my writing groups. And after reading Tobias' blog about the stuff going on over at Asimov... http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/07/10/asimovs-forum-ickiness/ well, I am beginning to think that my tendency to be integrationist might not be smart. Especially when non-white folks give me stupid advice based on what they consider important.
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