Race and Gender Do Not Dictate The Genre Or Audience

Like all editors and agents, I get a lot of submissions of one type that truly frustrate me. These are submissions where it is clear the author really does not understand the genre and seem to think that by doing one thing with a character, it suddenly rolls that book into a particular category. For me, this happens to be multicultural fiction and women's fiction. I know I have written about this in the past, but I do think, every now and then, we need a reminder.

Both of these genres can be seen as a lens into a particular world that might not be familiar with people outside of that group. Both give us an insight into how a character, who is truly part of that world, make decisions, react and behave, because of that "cultural" vision. I should note, I am putting "cultural" in quotes because I am referring to this as something similar to "a culture of learning." Neither fall into the definition of culture. 

When we talk about multicultural fiction, we need to see that entire world. Goes simply beyond the color of a person's skin or the person's name. Simply telling me that a character is an African American Female, does not make this multicultural or a story that would especially appeal to the African American population or the African American population. I recently read a submission that did just this, and had the person not mentioned that element, the race or the gender of the character did not matter. 

For it to be truly multicultural, it needs to be a story what that culture functions in the story much like any other character. We see how that entire world dictates everything the character says and does in the story. It impacts decision making. It is truly a living, breathing entity.

If you think of going into a true Italian trattoria in Florence, Italy, you know what I am talking about. I am not referring to those that cater to the Americans with their Fixe Prix menus. I am talking about those where the regulars hang out. EVERYTHING is Italian and THIS is what a multicultural text should do.

The same goes for Women's Fiction. These stories are not those with just a female protagonist. Male authors, please take note of this because you are some of the worst offenders of this type of submission. Women's fiction gives the reader a view AS a female how a the world is seen and the world functions. It is a story that gives the reader a chance to truly experience the world through this gender lens If you think about Phillipa Gregory, you can see just this. These stories show us a world that the historical books do not focus on. We see all of these events through the female lens.

You can probably add to this equation, that adding a LGBTQ character to a story does not change the focus.  Adding a romance to a story does not make it a romance. Putting the story in a romantic city does not make it a romance. 

Hope this helps!

Understanding Multi-Cultural Romance

It seems like there is a lot of confusion out there about multi-cultural romances. I do think a lot of this is stemming from the constant talk in politics and society about issues of racism, diversity and so forth. It is unfortunate as these two issues are potentially blurring the lines and making this issue murkier than it needs to be.

Let me first of all say, I am someone who is certainly supportive of diversity issues. What I will be talking about here is the GENRE of MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE.

It seems that many people today are missing the point about the definition. It seems that people seem to be thinking that putting ethnic characters into a story makes it multicultural. This is far from the truth. Yes, multicultural literature will have characters of different races and ethnicities, but this is not what defines the genre.

I like to think of this genre the same way I think of women's fiction. In the case of women's fiction, it is not about the character, but the perspective and the point of view of the story. This genre looks at the world through the female lens. We see how the world is processed through the female psyche. In other words, the "feminine perspective" or "feminine point of view" becomes, at some level, a character in the story.

The same holds true for multicultural literature. Along with the characters in the story, it is the world that the characters are living in that comes to life as a character. If we want to talk about an African American Multicultural piece of literature, the African American experience and point of view will come forth in the story. We are immersed in the ethnic experience. In other words, it is much more than simply putting in characters who happen to be African American. The GMC (goals, motivation and conflict) of every character and action in the story needs to be shaped by that cultural experience.

I want to also bring up the historical aspect of this genre. There will simply be some time periods where that ,multicultural experience will not likely emerge. Regency romance in London will not likely bring forth an African American experience. This is just one example, but I think you can understand what I am talking about.

If you are someone who wants to write, or thinks you are writing a multicultural novel, you need to ask yourself what is the focus of the story. Is the focus to tell of the experience of this cultural to show how this culture shapes the thoughts, actions and believes of the characters in the story? Or, are you telling a story simply to include people from a different culture? If you are doing the second, you are NOT telling a multicultural story. If you are doing the first, make sure that entire experience is woven in throughout the entire story, not just as a plot element, but as a theme and setting element. We need to be immersed in that culture.