Thursday, July 8, 2021

Why do you think you have the right to write --- characters?

 Yes, I am sorry, but I was born white, and I am a straight cis woman. I am fully abled physically, I am Autistic, I have FM, I am overweight, I am youngest of six kids, but have no children of my own, I am happily married to a transman, who is as white as I am. I was brought up by a Christian mother, but I am Pagan, my husband is Jewish.

I will be writing GLBTQA+ characters, male characters, characters of different colors, races, and species, of varying abilities, religions, etc. I will be writing mothers and fathers, grandparents and grandchildren, and families, friends, co-workers and strangers, people having different occupations and hobbies, skills and talents, and everything between heaven and earth, and I don't think any of them will be exactly like me. They all will have something of me in them, of course, because that's what anyone can ever write.

Because I believe we are all human beings, and the essential humanity is something that's the same in every human being. Even my non-human characters will have this human essence, because I am a human and cannot write anything but human characters. I believe love is love, be it between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man, lovers, family members, friends - I believe we all recognize the love if we have ever loved anyone. 



Wednesday, July 7, 2021

 One vulture, bolder than the rest, dropped down from the ledge on wide-spread wings, stirring up the putrid air. Unheralded, a Gary Larson cartoon flashed into Anna's brain. Vultures around a kill: "Ooooooweeeeee! This thing's been here a looooooooong time. Well, thank God for ketchup."

Gagging, Anna turned and stumbled toward the pool. Razor thin lines of red appeared on her face and arms where the saw grass cut. Oblivious to their sting, she fought free of the vegetation.