The balancing act that is real life.

As of late my life has seemed somewhat full. Work, housework, friends, pets, and my marriage have been taking a lot of my time, and the rest has been filled with planning for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (I like to be ahead of the game, thank you). When the hustle and bustle finally wears down, all I want is to curl up on the couch with my husband and do something that doesn't really involve thinking.

What's a writer to do?

My answer: I keep a handy dandy notebook and a pen on my person at all times. It's the best idea I've had. Whether I'm at work or at home or stopped at a red light, I can always jot down little inspirations and ideas whenever they strike me.

A peek at what's in that notebook right now:

• A list of names I liked that I overheard while working
• The phrase "valley of ashes" from The Great Gatsby
• Bits of song lyrics I heard on the radio
• A small grocery list (not everything can be inspirational)
• "Write something with herons."

 Obviously it's not all gold, but when I have little time to just sit down with my words, every little bit helps.

Getting into a character's skin.

I'm going to start this post out with a link to the Racebending website. It's dedicated to highlighting racial inequality in media and what changes should be made to make equality a reality in the entertainment industry.

Now then. It's recently come to my attention (it wasn't pointed out to me, but I noticed it myself, rather) that some of my stories could be considered "whitewashed," or lacking in racial diversity.

My best explanation is that I don't consciously think about it. When I think back to my friends from high school, it never registered that I had an African-American friend or a variety of Asian friends. They were my friends. It was that simple. Even when I had to describe them to someone, it usually sounded something like, "Oh, she's about 5'7" with black hair, skinny, with a pretty face and sort of smaller eyes...oh, and I guess she's Asian." After high school, my white friends were actually in the minority. Then I married into an Asian family. I have no excuse for the lack of diversity in my writing considering the diversity I've been surrounded with for most of my life.

When I was writing Chasing Faith, it never even occurred to me. Admittedly, I have a favored look for my female protagonists - small stature, sort of pale, with black or reddish hair, and with green or hazel eyes. Most of my protagonists fit that bill at least somewhat, and Faith is no exception. However, I don't know why most of the other characters wound up being white. I think it was laziness, honestly. Blond hair and blue eyes? Not much need to describe further.

Of course, part of reading is in interpretation. Even some of those who read The Hunger Games were surprised (or even outraged) to find out that a few notable characters were black in the movie, despite being described that way (or ambiguously) in the book. Often times, readers imagine what they'd prefer. In Chasing Faith, Consuelo and her siblings were explicitly described as Peruvian; however, Raven and her family were implied to be at least partially Hispanic. Did anyone pick up on that? I don't know. I imagined Drake as African-American as I wrote him. Did he come off that way? I don't know. I'd be interested in feedback on that.

In my new project, I've been focusing a bit more on diversity. One problem I'm facing thus far is that every single last name is pulled from a book written about the upper-class lifestyle in the 1920s...and as such all of the book's characters were white. It's making things a tad bit frustrating because, to me, the names don't seem to match.

Then there's the question of what extent I should pull in cultural references (and thus do immense research for fear of getting it wrong), or if I should make the characters more "Americanized." This is the problem I'm facing when writing the trio of Arabic siblings. It would be wonderful to reference Islam in ways that aren't a stereotype - for instance, having the sister choose to wear a shayla or hijab as part of her faith, rather than having it viewed as an oppressive restriction. But then, what if I get everything wrong?

I think I'm reading far too much into this right now. Faith in myself and I can deliver, right? Anyways, here's a sneak peek at some of the character descriptions for my current novel, which is what got me thinking about this to begin with. Hope the payoff was worth the rant.

Maddox Buchanan: Half-Hispanic (Mom), half-white (Dad). Less dark than his older brother, Markus, since he spends less time outside. Often bullied.
Kareem Ismay: Arabic. Mom left the family years before. Older brother Aakif is a bully (see above), and younger sister Aisha holds more to their faith than the boys. 
Pepper Gatz: Both parents are African-American, but since Mom's grandpa was white Pepper got a throwback gene and appears to be white, with light skin, brown eyes, and chocolate brown hair. Still marks race as African-American. Less favored by her parents than twin sisters Shanda and Chantal, who actually look like their parents.
Holly Quinn: White, but fake-and-bakes. Light brown hair and blue eyes. The not-so-nice girlfriend of Kareem. Her brother Hector is blond with blue eyes, and isn't so nice either.
???: I can't tell you everything!

Homophobia is gay.

As some of you may know, I've been working on a "super secret project" since last week, and, while I'm not about to tell anyone what it is quite yet, I'm going to announce one of the major issues it confronts: homosexuality.

Or, more accurately, homophobia. Because homosexuality isn't an issue.

Why did I choose this theme? For one, I owe it to my friends and family, no matter their sexual orientation. Chances are that somebody in their life is gay, and what they face shouldn't be swept under the rug. Furthermore, it seems that many people remain willfully ignorant about homophobia and the effects it can have.

How many people are aware of the connection between self-mutilation, suicide, and sexual orientation? Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths are four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peer. Why is this? There is of course confusion with themselves, but quite often it is due to the rejection of their families or the bullying and ridicule they face from their peers. In 2009, notably, there was a large number of LGBTQ suicides that made headlines throughout America. The problem hasn't disappeared.

On a related note, what of the violence against homosexuals? In some cultures, homosexuality is punishable by death. People from those cultures who emigrate elsewhere often take those values with them nonetheless; if someone in their family is outed as homosexual, they may take that punishment into their own hands. Sometimes it is a matter of family pride and shame. Others, and probably more often, the violence is perpetrated by outsiders - homophobic people threatened or horrified by the idea of homosexuality enough to assault, rape, or murder. Some women on the Project Unbreakable website report their rapists saying "Now you're not a lesbian" after the assault - they took it upon themselves to change them. Likewise, men can be raped as well, and women can be rapists. It goes both ways.

I know the concepts of rape, murder, and homophobic violence often make people uncomfortable. That's exactly why I write about them. You should be uncomfortable knowing these problems exist in the world. I write to tell a story, sure, but there are real problems at the heart of it all. I can only hope my readers see that and take it to heart - maybe they'll be the ones to come up with a solution.