White People Really Need to Stop Writing About White People

White people really need to stop writing about white people.

There’s this crazy movement in fantasy literature right now, and it’s about exploring the diverse populace that make up each and every world writers create. And for some reason, white people keep writing only about white people. Oh, there may be a token character, or an offset of society (usually not fully-fleshed out and left a bit vague) that supports the notion of racial equality in the world, but the larger portion of writers are wearing some frost covered snow goggles.

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

It’s a regular habit of mine to find my foot in my mouth with the taste of a rubber sole leaving a grimace on my face. Let’s be clear; I never intend the wrong thing, and I try very hard to scrub my language of any offensive terms or terminology that I am unclear of, trying to correct any wrongdoing before it can occur. That said, no one is perfect, and often my ignorance leads me through a few dark tunnels before I find the light.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

 

Image of the book cover of The Slow Regard of Silent Things

If you understand obsessive-compulsive disorder, keep reading.

And if you don’t, well, then definitely keep reading. Because what Patrick Rothfuss has done with his novella, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, is create a window into the mind of a young woman who lives—and thrives—surrounded by the ever vigilant demons of o.c.d.

James Matlack Raney: Independent Publisher Extraordinaire

 

Image of the book cover of James Matlack Raney’s first book in the Jim Morgan series: Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves

Here at Phenom, we had a chance to talk with independent publisher James Matlack Raney, author of the Jim Morgan series. His most recent novel, Jim Morgan and the Door at the Edge of the World has just received an award for First Place in the Writer’s Digest’s Self-Published Book Contest. After highlighting some excellent points on the independent publishing industry, Raney gave us his take on diversity in literature.

So-Cal Comic Con 2015: A Quest for Diversity

As I walked through the doors of the QLN Conference Center in Oceanside California on a gloomy Sunday at about eleven thirty in the morning, I was reminded of the old maxim, “never judge a book by its cover.” Writing for a literary journal that seeks out and exemplifies diversity in writing, I was doubly reminded. With that said, I was still amazed at how much  the So-Cal Comic Con resembled its much larger cousin, the San Diego Comic Con.