This fed through in my FB feed and can I just say “argghhh!”? This kind of thing gets me so riled up as both a writer and a reader. Technically I’m not aiming to write YA since my characters are all aged in the New Adult range (the youngest is 18, but he’s got a career and by book two he’s married), but I could easily be lumped there since I write lighthearted bordering on comedic with youngish characters. I know that when I go to approach agents and whatnot once these books are ready for the world to see them, I’m going to have a hell of a time getting them picked up. Most of my cast is LGBT, very few of them are white (because pale skin makes no sense for the location of the culture), I’ve got some disability-type things in there (so far there’s a main character with anxiety/social phobia and a secondary who is unable to speak), and I don’t ever try to hide these things in subtext. Oh, and the culture itself? Triads are the normal form of marriage. Look at me, corrupting and alienating readers with my committed, healthy relationships and non-white characters.

THIS is the kind of story I want to read, which is why it’s the kind of story I’m writing. And you know what? I’ve had quite a few people say that they want me to finish writing the series because they want to read it. Because it’s different. I’m so freaking sick of agents and publishers saying how anything not mainstream won’t sell. It will. Diversity is important. New ideas are important.

To disprove the theory that the same old, same old is what people want to read: I’m straight and as white as you can get and have far more interest in reading diversity than about people exactly like me. It’s boring, honestly. Give me something new. Let me learn about things that are unfamiliar to me.

This turned into a rant, but it’s just something I feel so strongly about. I don’t want to come off as “my writing is amazing!” because honestly it’s a pile of messy first and second drafts. My point is to let there be diversity. It’s a good thing! Really! People who don't fit into the published mainstream want representation. People who do fit into the mainstream should be allowed the opportunity to learn about people who are different from them. It's a win-win all around.

~Meri