#diverseauthors

Posting a screenshot of the ask since Tumblr is stupid and eats it up whenever I try to answer it.

Tbh, I'm constantly in the "disappointed but not surprised" mood. I'd seen some posts about Mara Dyer but I really didn't know about the Graces. Thanks for pointing that out! :)

Also, biracial kids, especially those living outside their country, are coveted, for lack of a better word. Some have significantly lighter skin than their PoC parent and gemstone-colored eyes. Hence, with glee, the author can use terms like honey/tanned/golden-brown to describe them. Because God forbid a character have dark eyes or skin. Or even be fully PoC and have ethnic name. Nope. Only white names are allowed! (Audrey Rose, Mara Dyer, Ariadne Bridgestock🙄). We'll not do our research!

And the sad part? Research wouldn't take much. You can scour Wikipedia entries for the histories and basic understanding of the country. You can explore Quora and Reddit threads to add the small intricacies in the character, like speaking Hindi, or their mother tongue, if we're talking about other countries (endearments or swear words and a lot more), mentioning their favorite food, or books or movies or places. It's all available at their disposal!

You are right. We're more than just sarees and music and spicy food. We're living people with a multitude of cultures and diversity. Every Asian and African country is! Write us as you will write your normal characters, with interests and a personality, instead of stereotyping. And some people (like me) would be happy to answer your questions. You could ask.

Unfortunately, these authors think that making their characters biracial fills up the diversity quota and they deserve a gold star and a cookie for that.

There's some books around with good Indian characters:

1. The Pandava Quartet by Roshani Chokshi

2. Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

3. Ten Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon (actually all three Dimpleverse books)

4. The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

5. Unmarrigeable by Soniah Kamal: a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in Pakistan.

Perhaps, their only downside, the ones set in modern-day, is that they're all set in USA. I would love for some YA fantasy to be set in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (South Asia). Children here are starved for representation (I'm speaking from experience). We need Indian teens, living in India, navigating the culture and giving hope to us all. Trust me, we're seriously in need of this.

📚 BOOK MAIL 📚

Happy release day to @trinielf and her gorgeous Sweethand!! 🥳🥳🥳

I will not confirm nor deny the possibility that some pacing around the living room might have taken place while waiting for the postman to arrive with my copy… I will not be taking criticism at this moment 😂

Have you looked at it though? It’s just so charming, and sweet, and cozy-looking! @lenikauffman never fails to deliver a stunning cover! 😍😍

Just wait until you hear about the plot though! Did I mention it’s HATE TO LOVE, the most superior trope ever? And that the main character is a PASTRY CHEF? Oh man, I can already feel the urge to bake calling out to me! Here’s how the story goes:

After a public meltdown over her breakup from her cheating musician boyfriend, Cherisse swore off guys in the music industry, and dating in general for a while, preferring to focus on growing her pastry chef business.

When Cherisse’s younger sister reveals she’s getting married in a few months, Cherisse hopes that will distract her mother enough to quit harassing her about finding a guy, settling down and having kids. But her mother’s matchmaking keeps intensifying.

Cherisse tries to humour her mother, hoping if she feigns interest in the eligible bachelors she keeps tossing her way, she’ll be off the hook, but things don’t quite go as planned. Turns out for the first time in ages, she and Keiran King, the most annoying man ever, are on the island at the same time. Avoiding him is impossible, especially when Keiran’s close friend is the one marrying her sister, and he’s the best man to her maid of honour.

Keiran doesn’t know what to make of Cherisse now. They’ve always butted heads. To him she’s always been a stuck-up brat who seeks attention, even while he secretly harbored a crush on her. Now with Cherisse’s sister marrying one of his good friends he can’t escape her as the wedding activities keep throwing them together.

When things turn heated after a rainy night of bedroom fun, they both have to figure out if they can survive the countdown to wedding day, without this turning into a recipe for disaster.

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