Today I have the absolute pleasure of speaking with co-authors Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams on the show!

Anita is an award-winning media critic and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. She is best known as the creator and host of the highly influential video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, and she dreams of owning a life-size replica of Buffy’s scythe.

Ebony Adams is an author, activist, and former college educator whose work foregrounds the lives and work of black women in the diaspora. She writes widely on film criticism, social justice, and pop culture, and lives with a steadily-increasing collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.

On top of all this these ladies are now co-authors of the YA nonfiction book History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know, which is a fascinating (and aesthetically beautiful) book highlighting the lives of women who made an impact on the world.

I couldn’t help but fall in love with this book! First off, with its gorgeous illustrations, my inner graphic design geek went off the charts. Then there is the subject matter, which is something I feel super-passionate about, and the fact that it’s YA makes this book even better. When we share the stories of strong, impactful women throughout history with the young women of today, we’re not just empowering the young generation. We’re empowering everybody to help make our culture and our society better.

So listen in as Anita, Ebony, and I chat about this truly awesome book, and the importance of challenging our own perspectives through what we read and what we write.

In this episode Anita, Ebony and I discuss:

• The research technique of “insistent archaeology”.
• How to translate scholarly texts into exciting stories.
• The dangers of passive reading.
• Advantages of the YA genre to get unknown stories out there.
• Why stories about women should be shared with young children of all genders.

Plus, both of these lovely ladies’ #1 tip for writers.

About Anita Sarkeesian

Anita Sarkeesian is an award-winning media critic and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. Best known as the creator and host of Feminist Frequency’s highly influential video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, Anita lectures at universities, conferences and game development studios around the world.

Anita dreams of owning a life-size replica of Buffy’s scythe, and she is the co-author along with Ebony Adams of History vs Women which is available now.

To connect with Anita check out her website at www.anitasarkeesian.com or hit her up on Twitter at @anitasarkeesian.

About Ebony Adams

Ebony Adams, Ph.D. is an author, activist, and former college educator whose work foregrounds the lives and work of black women in the diaspora. She lives in Los Angeles with a steadily-increasing collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.

She writes widely on film criticism, social justice, and pop culture, and along with Anita Sarkeesian is the co-author of History vs Women.

To connect with Ebony hit her up on Twitter at @ebonyaster.

To learn more about Anita and Ebony’s organization Feminist Frequency, head over to feministfrequency.com.

And don’t forget to check out Anita and Ebony, along with their co-host Carolyn Petit, on their podcast Feminist Frequency Radio.

History vs Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know

Rebels, rulers, scientists, artists, warriors and villains, women are, and have always been, all these things and more.

Looking through the ages and across the globe, Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency, along with Ebony Adams, has a PhD in English, have reclaimed the stories of twenty-five remarkable women who dared to defy history and change the world around them. From Mongolian wrestlers to Chinese pirates, Native American ballerinas to Egyptian scientists, Japanese novelists to British Prime Ministers, History vs Women will reframe the history that you thought you knew.

Featuring beautiful full-color illustrations of each woman and a bold graphic design, this standout nonfiction title is the perfect read for teens (or adults!) who want the true stories of phenomenal women from around the world and insight into how their lives and accomplishments impacted both their societies and our own.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 242

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 242: Challenging the Status Quo — Interview with Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Anne Sibley O’Brien on the show!

Anne is a children’s book writer and illustrator who has created thirty-seven books, some of which she has written, some she’s illustrated, and some for which she has done both. Her focus is on diverse children and cultures and this passion comes from being raised in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries.

The most recent books she has written and illustrated are the companion picture books, I’m New Here and the just-published Someone New. These books look at the story of three just-arrived immigrant children both from the perspective of those children themselves and from the point of view of their new classmates.

As the daughter of immigrants who has spent her life straddling two very different cultures, these books had a powerful impact on me. And I’m not the only one. Both titles have received starred reviews from Kirkus, and I’m New Here has gotten numerous accolades including being named a Kirkus Review’s Best Book of the Year.

In addition to all her amazing work as a writer (as if that weren’t already enough) Anne is also the cofounder of I’m Your Neighbor Books, an online searchable database of children’s literature that shines a spotlight on the contemporary immigrant experience.

Listen in to hear me and Anne chat about these amazing picture books, the modern immigrant experience, and how to open up the world to children (and everyone else) through books.

In this episode Anne and I discuss:

• Showing the experience of immigrant children from both sides.
• Mirror books, window books, and why we need to read both.
• How to represent a culture that is not your own authentically in your writing.
• Developing empathy in children through diverse books.
• An inside look at I’m Your Neighbor Books, what it is and how to take part.

Plus, Anne’s #1 tip for writers.

About Anne Sibley O’Brien

Anne Sibley O’Brien is a children’s book writer and illustrator who has created thirty-seven books, some she wrote, some she illustrated, and some she wrote and illustrated. Her focus on diverse children and cultures is a direct result of having been raised in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries.

Her first novel for young readers, In the Shadow of the Sun (2017), a political escape thriller set in North Korea, is a Junior Library Guild Selection, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, a CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and an International Literacy Association Teachers’ Choice.

The most recent books Anne wrote as well as illustrated are the companion picture books, I’m New Here (2015) and the just-published Someone New (2018), about three just-arrived immigrant children and their classmates. Both titles received starred reviews from Kirkus, and I’m New Here is a Kirkus Review’s Best Book of the Year, a CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year.

To connect with Anne check out her website at www.AnneSibleyOBrien.com.

And to learn more about I’m Your Neighbor Books, check out www.imyourneighborbooks.org.

I’m New Here

Three new students are immigrants from Guatemala, Korea, and Somalia and have trouble speaking, writing, and sharing ideas in English in their new American elementary school. Through self-determination and with encouragement from their peers and teachers, the students learn to feel confident and comfortable in their new school without losing a sense of their home country, language, and identity.

Someone New

In this companion story to I’m New Here, three elementary schoolers—who aren’t new—begin to understand and embrace three immigrant students.

In I’m New Here, readers meet three recent immigrants trying to adjust to a new country and school. In Someone New, the same story is told from the perspective of the three American students who welcome the newcomers. An honest and heartwarming look at diversity, inclusion, and friendship.

If you decide to check out either I’m New Here, Someone New, or both  we hope you’ll do so via these Amazon affiliate links, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 218

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 218: Mirrors and Windows in Children’s Literature — Interview with Anne Sibley O’Brien appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I am delighted to have Yang Huang on the show!

Yang is an author and former engineer. She grew up in China’s Jiangsu province where she  participated in the 1989 student uprisings, and moved to the U.S. to attend Boston College.

Her debut novel, Living Treasures, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal in fiction, and her essays and short stories have appeared in several notable magazines and journals including The Margins, Asian Pacific American Journal, and Porcupine Literary Arts Magazine just to name a few.

Her latest book, My Old Faithful, is a collection of interlinked short stories centered around the five members of one totally ordinary yet thrillingly singular Chinese family.

So listen in as Yang and I chat about this amazing story collection, and how and why you should always write dangerously.

In this episode Yang and I discuss:

• The benefits of writing in your non-native language.
• Interlinked short story collections vs. multiple P.O.V. novels.
• How to immerse yourself in your character’s world, why you should.
• Why diverse readers need diverse writers.
• Risking it all, pushing your writing (and your readers) to the edge.

Plus, Yang’s #1 tip for writers.

About Yang Huang

Yang Huang grew up in China’s Jiangsu province and participated in the 1989 student uprisings. Her debut novel, Living Treasures, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal in fiction, and her essays and short stories have appeared in The Margins, Eleven Eleven, Asian Pacific American Journal, the Evansville Review, Futures, Porcupine Literary Arts Magazine, and Nuvein. Her latest work of fiction, a short story collection centered around a Chinese family titled My Old Faithful, is now available.

Yang now lives and writes in the Bay Area where she also works for the University of California, Berkeley.

To connect with Yang check out her website at www.yanghuang.com.

My Old Faithful

My Old Faithful is a tender collection of interconnected stories that introduces readers to a totally ordinary yet thrillingly singular Chinese family. The writing is remarkable in its sense of place and fidelity to lived human experience.

The ten short stories, which take place in China and the US over three decades, depict what Huang calls the “grass people” of China—middle-class citizens with little political clout who struggle to make their voices heard. In particular she focuses on one close-knit family, offering narratives from the mother, the father, the son and the daughters. They merge to paint a textured portrait of family life, full of pain, surprises, and subtle acts of courage.

With quiet humor and sharp insights, My Old Faithful shows both the drama of familial intimacy and the ups and downs of the everyday, all playing out against the backdrop of tremendous social change. Huang writes of a father who spanks his son out of love, a brother who betrays his sister, and a young woman who dares bring a brown man home to her conservative parents. There’s an aging wife who shows kindness to a young prostitute caught soliciting her husband and a woman returning to China after many years to find her country changed in ways both expected and startling.

Huang is a former engineer who grew up in Jiangsu province in China and moved to the US to attend Boston College. Her formative experiences in the democracy movement and the 1989 student uprising taught her that “one can strive to live with dignity and honor in an unjust society.” Her fiction carries in it this undercurrent of everyday human bravery.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 217

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 217: Write Dangerously — Interview with Yang Huang appeared first on DIY MFA.

But writing for kids is more than morality tales and special messages. It’s also about wonder and exploration and fun. Kids deserve books that run the gamut of emotions and cover a wide range of experiences.

Kids Deserve Authenticity

One of our goals as writers should be to present an authentic depiction of the world, meaning it should be true to life. That means good stuff and bad stuff.

Sometimes people assume that kidlit should be a ‘gentler’ version of the world. But that erases the experiences of kids who don’t live in gentle places. To deny that bad things happen is to send these kids into the closet. “Your story is too dark to talk about here. No one would believe you. So don’t talk about it.” That message is downright dangerous, allowing abuses to fester and poison generations of children.

It doesn’t help kids to shield them from the world as it is. It actively hurts them to pretend the world is not as their own experiences have shown them.

Kids Deserve Representation

Representation matters. “Representation” is the way in which media, in our case books, depicts people. If you have a book that only shows one kind of character you’re sending a subliminal message that other types of people do not exist in your book’s world. Or that their stories are not worthy of being made into books. Collectively, publishing has typically focused on white, abled, Christian, cisgender characters. That’s an entire industry telling kids who fall outside that narrow definition—black kids, gay kids, Sikh kids, neurodivergent kids, and on and on—that they don’t exist in the world of story. That their stories aren’t important enough to tell. There’s been a big push in recent years by organizations like We Need Diverse Books to get better representation for all groups in children’s literature. While progress has been made, there’s still a long way to go.

One of the most heart-warming moments I’ve had online was to see the photos of black girls with big natural hair taking photos of themselves with Daniel José Older’s Shadowshaper. The cover shows a girl with her curls flying free, proud and ready for action. Young readers were, and are, ecstatic to see themselves on book covers.

“She looks like me!”

We need to depict the real world, so kids can see themselves in stories. So they know their voices matter.

When a child or teen sees themselves on the page, sees their circumstances on the page, they feel validated. Recognized. Like they matter. Like it’s okay to talk about their experiences, and to feel all the mixed up, painful things they may be feeling.

Kids Deserve Aspirations

But fiction isn’t solely for showing all the bad things that happen. None of us can survive on a diet of gritty realism alone. This is where fiction excels: in aspirations. Aspirations are hopes and ambitions, the things we long for. Dreams.

Sometimes kids need an escape from the real world. Sometimes the real world is too brutal. Or maybe they’re sick of monsters under the bed and pop quizzes. They want adventure! They want to go to new places, explore experiences they’ve yet to have.

That’s a good and powerful impulse. Because dreaming, imagining, is the first step in problem solving and accomplishing big things. The more ideas a child is exposed to, the better they’re able to confront new challenges. Seeing a thing on the page signals that the thing is possible, and expands a kid’s sense of what is doable. They can then apply these ideas to new circumstances.

Aspirations come in many forms. It could be the desire to be an astronaut, or simply to grow up and be an adult. It’s been shown that kids “read up”, meaning that they prefer to read about characters who are a few years older than they are. Books are a way of preparing kids for what comes next. A fifth grader may feel better prepared to start middle school after reading a middle grade series set there.

Let kids dream. Let them experiment. Let them see that amazing things are possible. Show them that the world is full of wondrous things, and that they can directly contribute to making things even better.

Kids are People, Too

Most importantly of all, kids deserve our respect. They are small, learning humans, not inferior to adults. Just less experienced.

They are still capable of the full range of emotions. They feel fear and love and anger and sadness. We must treat them responsibly—showing them the truth, showing them what’s possible, and showing them in a way that acknowledges their capabilities and limitations.

Just like characters, kids have agency. In story terms, agency is the character’s ability to push on the plot more than the plot pushes on the character—do things happen to the character, or does the character make things happen? Children often feel powerless because the adults in their lives control everything from what they eat to when they sleep to where they live. Stories starring kids with agency give the reader a taste of responsibility and power. Seeing a character mess up or succeed primes a young reader to make decisions in their own life.

Every experience they have impacts the adults they will become. For instance, it’s been demonstrated that reading increases empathy for other people, with Harry Potter cited as a particularly potent shaper of attitudes.

When you set out to write for kids, be they babies, grade schoolers or teens, you have a responsibility to treat your readers with respect. Know their limitations as well as their capabilities and expectations.

Kidlit can help build a better, more inclusive, more creative, more truthful world. If we work to give kids everything they deserve.

Bronwen Fleetwood writes fiction for young adults, and nonfiction for writers. Bronwen studied creative writing at Eugene Lang,The New School for Liberal Arts, has acted as leader of the Princeton Writing Group, and as a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month. Bronwen currently lives on the Whale Coast of South Africa, between the mountains, the sea, and a lake. You can connect with her at bronwenfleetwood.com.

The post The Special Responsibility of Writing Kidlit appeared first on DIY MFA.

Tami is a former teacher and current full-time author of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, as well as nonfiction. As a teacher, she made it her mission to introduce her students to all types of literature, but especially diverse books.

While it was refreshing to see a better selection than what she was accustomed to as a child, Tami felt there weren’t nearly as many diverse books as she’d hoped for. It was then that she decided to reignite her passion for writing, and put those books she longed to see on the shelves herself.

Tami is the author of several current and upcoming children’s books, but she is here with us today to share an inside look at her beautiful middle grade novel Like Vanessa.

So listen in as Tami and I chat about this awesome book, and the importance for all writers to write what they want in an authentic way.

In this episode Tami and I discuss:

• Pouring your own experiences into your character.
• The concept of colorism.
• Crafting a novel in the no man’s land between MG and YA.
• How to use poetry to pull readers into your character’s emotions.
• Writing in your authentic voice without being pigeonholed.

Plus, Tami’s #1 tip for writers.

About Tami Charles

Tami Charles is a former teacher and full-time author of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, and nonfiction. As a teacher, she made it her mission to introduce her students to all types of literature, but especially diverse books.

While it was refreshing to see a better selection than what she was accustomed to as a child, Tami felt there weren’t nearly as many diverse books as she’d hoped for. It was then that she decided to reignite her passion for writing.

Tami’s debut  middle grade novel Like Vanessa is available now from Charlesbridge and her picture book Freedom Soup will be released by Candlewick Press in Fall 2019.

To connect with Tami check out her website at tamiwrites.com.

Like Vanessa

“And in that moment I believe what they say could be true for me. That I could be like Vanessa Williams.”

In this semi-autobiographical debut novel, thirteen-year-old Vanessa Martin watches as the first black Miss America is crowned.

It’s 1983 in Newark, New Jersey, and Vanessa’s life is a far cry from the glamorous Miss America stage. She struggles with family, friendships, racism, and self-confidence. When a new teacher at school coordinates a beauty pageant and asks Vanessa to enter, Vanessa decides there’s no way. But with help from Pop Pop and her cousin TJ, Vanessa prepares for the challenge. Add in the neighborhood mean girl, a mysterious envelope addressed to Vanessa, and trying to make monthly ends meet, and eighth-grade is as stressful as it gets.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 210: Showing the Diversity within Diversity — Interview with Tami Charles appeared first on DIY MFA.

NoNieqa is an award-winning educator, literary activist, and writer of “intense” young adult literature. She is also a passionate supporter of the #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices movements.

Her debut novel The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary has gotten stunning reception including a  Booklist starred review that called her “a voice to watch” with “exceptional writing and compassionate realism.”

NoNieqa is currently joining us live from the school where she teaches (and where her book is set). Listen in as we chat about her amazing debut and how to create strong characters that elicits an emotional response from readers.

Also, just a quick heads up, for the first time ever on DIY MFA Radio we have a teeny bit of explicit language towards the end of the interview. Due to the nature of the discussion I decided not to bleep anything out, but I wanted to let you know in case you have small children in the room or you, yourself, are not comfortable with explicit language.

Now let’s dive into the interview!

In this episode NoNieqa and I discuss:

• Tips for getting inside your character’s mind.
• Why you should make the reader work to piece the story together.
• The art of writing a realistically flawed character.
• Using language to show a character’s true voice without losing your reader.
• The importance of knowing what you are not willing to surrender in your writing.

Plus, NoNieqa’s #1 tip for writers.

About NoNieqa Ramos

NoNieqa Ramos is an award-winning educator, literary activist, and writer of “intense” young adult literature, who plants seeds of mass creation in the minds of impressionable youngsters. She is a passionate supporter of the #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices movements.

She resides in Virginia with her soul mate Michael G. Richards, beloveds Margot and Lango Tango, lizard Athantas, nefarious guinea pigs Cookie Dough and Friskette, and two felines, Black Magic and Eartha Kitt.

Her debut novel, The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary, was released by Carolrhoda Lab in February 2018, and her second novel, The Book of Love, will be released in fall 2019.

To connect with NoNieqa check out her website at nonieqaramos.com.

The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary

Macy’s school officially classifies her as “disturbed,” but Macy isn’t interested in how others define her. She’s got more pressing problems: her mom can’t move off the couch, her dad’s in prison, her brother’s been kidnapped by Child Protective Services, and now her best friend isn’t speaking to her.

Writing in a dictionary format, Macy explains the world in her own terms—complete with gritty characters and outrageous endeavors. With an honesty that’s both hilarious and fearsome, slowly Macy reveals why she acts out, why she can’t tell her incarcerated father that her mom’s cheating on him, and why her best friend needs protection…

the kind of protection that involves Macy’s machete.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 202: Crafting Powerful and Authentic Characters — Interview with NoNieqa Ramos appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Shanthi Sekaran, author of the new novel Lucky Boy (affiliate link), a book that has been getting a lot of pre-publication buzz and is an Indie Next Great Read pick for January 2017.

Lucky Boy is a moving story about two unforgettable women in California: an undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife, who both love the same child but can’t have him. The novel beautifully weaves together the themes of motherhood, immigration, infertility, adoption and minority life in America. More personally, as the first-generation American child of Brazilian immigrants, this story hit home and had me riveted from page one.

In this episode Shanthi and I discuss:

• The importance of fiction in humanizing different groups of people by bringing them and their experiences to life on the page.
• Using both research and imagination to create a vivid experience for your readers, and in particular how she crafted the dramatic immigration scenes in her book.
• Connection to the point of view of the characters and how to capture their experiences and emotions with authenticity.
• Crafting her book around the theme of motherhood, and how “mother” can mean very different things to different people.
• The universality of the “immigrant experience” in America, and how there are many common threads between immigrants from wildly different experiences.
• How there are also stark differences between immigrants with different levels of privilege, and how it’s important for us to understand these varied experiences.
• Why it’s important that writers live their lives and be present in the world.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About the Author

Shanthi Sekaran teaches creative writing at California College of the Arts, and is a member of the Portuguese Artists’ Colony and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. Her work has appeared in Best New American Voices and Canteen, and online at Zyzzyva and Mutha Magazine. A California native, she lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.

Her latest book, Lucky Boy, has been generating a great deal of pre-publication buzz and is an Indie Next Great Read pick for January 2017. More recently, Sekaran wrote an excellent, thought-provoking opinion piece for the NY Times, “The Privileged Immigrant,” about privileged vs. unprivileged immigrants:

Lucky Boy

Is love alone enough to raise a child or does someone need the means to give that child a better life? Lucky Boy is a moving story about two unforgettable women in Northern California: an undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife. Both are bound together by their love for the same boy.

Solimar Castro Valdez has always been a dreamer, wishing for a better life away from her small town of Popocalco. Drunk on optimism and full of faith, Soli embarks on a perilous journey across the Mexican border. Weeks later she arrives on her cousin’s doorstep in Berkeley, California, dazed by first love found then lost – pregnant, undocumented, and unmoored. When her beloved son Ignacio finally arrives, Soli discovers that motherhood can be her identity in a world where she is otherwise invisible.

Despite enormous pressure from her parents to conform to their idea of the proper Indian-American lifestyle, Kavya Reddy has created a life she adores. Her marriage to her husband, Rishi, is mostly happy and she loves her job as a chef, but at thirty-five her life starts to seem empty, a gaping hole at its center that can only be filled by a child. When she can’t get pregnant, this desperate desire strains her marriage and tests her sanity, setting her on a path leading to Soli’s infant son Ignacio, sent into foster care when Soli is placed in immigrant detention. As Kayva learns to be a mother to this boy she builds her love on a fault line, her heart wrapped around someone else’s child.

The novel beautifully weaves together the themes of motherhood, immigration, infertility, adoption and minority life in America.  It’s also a story about California and a larger portrait of what the state looks like now – who does the work and who has the power. A native of California, Shanthi Sekaran was inspired by her own upbringing as a child of immigrants, by the news stories she was hearing about undocumented mothers losing their children when they were put into detention centers, and by living in Berkeley, a place that for all of its progressiveness is also incredibly privileged. She applied these real life inspirations to fiction and the result is revelatory. At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Lucky Boy will leave readers thinking and feeling and debating long after turning the last page.

As with many books recommended on this site, these are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you choose to purchase this book via this link, DIY MFA will get a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 132

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 132: Capturing Diverse Experiences on the Page — Interview with Shanthi Sekaran appeared first on DIY MFA.

This question goes deeper than “how do you write what you don’t know?” After all, it’s one thing to write historical fiction about a time period long ago and fill in those gaps using library research. But how do you write about characters whose experiences and backgrounds are different from your own without crossing the line and appropriating that experience in some way. We all know we should include diverse characters in our stories, but how does a writer actually do that without appropriating those experiences?

In this episode, Nick opens up about his process, and talks about how he portrayed the experiences of war veterans on the page even he has never been in the military himself. If you’ve ever worried about this question of appropriation, this podcast interview is a must-listen!

In this episode Nicholas and I discuss:

• The winding road to getting published.
• The importance of research in nailing your plot.
• The importance of language in nailing your prose.
• Writing characters who are different from you.

Plus, Nicholas’s  #1 tip for writers.

About The Drifter:

The Drifter draws its considerable strength from Petrie’s uncompromising portrayal of shattered war veterans, returned home and trying to reintegrate into the civilian world they left behind. The unforgettable protagonist, Peter Ash, came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: what he calls his “white static,” buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress. Ash is drawn back to the past when an old friend from the Marines commits suicide. When he goes to Milwaukee to help the man’s widow, Ash makes a discovery—a suitcase filled with money and explosives—that leads him into an investigation of his friend’s death, which may take him back to the world he thought he’d left behind. Suspenseful and thrilling, and featuring a compelling new hero, The Drifter is an exciting debut from a fresh voice in crime fiction.

This is a gorgeous book, and if you’re into crime fiction with a strong literary bent, this one will be right up your alley. If you choose to buy this book, we hope you’ll consider doing so via this affiliate link (which gives DIY MFA a small commission at no cost to you). Thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

About Nicholas Petrie:

“I was never in the armed forces, but I swung a hammer for a living for many years,” Petrie writes in talking about the genesis of Peter Ash and The Drifter. As part of his extensive research, Petrie says he “talked with a number of veterans about their experiences. In the course of these conversations, I felt like I came to understand these men and women in a way that I hadn’t before, and to truly admire them. Over and over, I encountered that extraordinary quality of character I tried to capture in Peter Ash—a happy warrior who sees every difficulty as a challenge to be overcome, and every challenge as an adventure. The more research I did, the more interested I became in the idea of what to do after your war is over. After the largest set of sustained military operations in decades, this is one of the singular challenges of our time. Many veterans come home and overcome these challenges, but some veterans have more difficulty, some due to physical injuries, some with the less tangible but no less real injuries of PTSD. I’ve tried to find both sides in this book.”

A debut author, Nicholas received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington and won Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. His short story “At the Laundromat” won the 2006 Short Story Contest in the Seattle Review. A husband and father, he runs a home appraisal business in Milwaukee.

To learn more about Nicholas read his blog here, follow him on Facebook, or visit his website.

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If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 83: Writing Outside Our Experience – with Nicholas Petrie appeared first on DIY MFA.

BEA is the Big Kahuna of trade shows in the US. If you’re in the book business, this is where you want to be. This event is centered on BOOKS, but writers can get a lot out of the expo as well. Because there’s so much going on, though, it can be a little overwhelming. Fear not! This Book Expo survival guide episode will give you all the inside details on how to make the most of this event.

The best thing you can do before you go to BEA is define your goals and map out your strategy. At DIY MFA, my big goal is to connect with book publicists so I can set up more great podcast interviews with amazing authors. In addition, I keep my eyes open for overall book trends and themes to feature on our Five on Friday column (#5onFri). Plus, I’m always up for making new friends and meeting fellow book lovers.

BEA is a industry only event which means that as an unpublished author, you would have a hard time getting a badge. But, if you review books on your blog, you could get a blogger pass and go to BEA with the goal of discovering new books to review. For a book blogger, BEA is a great place to find content, whether that be about specific books or authors, about industry trends, or about other facets of publishing.

Even if you know what your goals are for BEA, these are a few survival tips you should keep in mind. Listen in to get all the details.

Book Expo America Survival Guide 2015

1) Focus on what you can offer.

It’s easy to go nuts over all the galleys and swag, but don’t get caught up in the “mine, mine, mine” mentality. Focus on offering value, not taking it. Remember not to offer what you can’t deliver. This means, if you say you’re going to review a book for someone, you’d better review it. If you only review books you liked (so you refrain from reviewing arcs you did not like) be up front about that.

Keep in mind that as an author, you’re not there to foist your wares. BEA exhibitors are selling their books to buyers and librarians. Chances are you’ll be interacting with marketing and publicity people (editors and agents are more likely to float around the show or be in private meeting rooms). This means the people you run into on the show floor aren’t the ones who could make a decision about buying your book, anyhow. Be professional and be courteous.

Most importantly, have a real conversation with the people you meet. Make friends. Book Expo is how I’ve met a number of wonderful authors and industry professionals whom I’ve had the pleasure staying friends with over the years. These connections are worth more than any marketing pitch.

2) Develop your PITA (Pain In The @$$) radar.

Make sure that you aren’t being a PITA! Think about the needs of the person you are talking to and respect others’ time. One way that I make sure not to be a PITA is by using the 3 minute rule. After 3 minutes of conversation, I thank the person for their time and ask if I can follow-up via email. At this point they either hand me a business card, or say “it’s OK, I can keep talking.” Either way, it’s a win.

If you’re shy like me, here are a few other networking tips:

1. Say something nice.
   Never underestimate the power of a kind word. When in doubt, a compliment is a great ice-breaker. But remember to be authentic. Don’t say something just to say it. Make sure you actually mean it.
2. Act professional.
   It’s easy to get caught up in the Literary Super-Dazzle (LSD as I like to call it). Galleys, book signings and celebrity authors… it’s enough to make even the best of us lose our cool. Just make sure to respect the rules and the people around you. Don’t lose your head and start snatching up books, cutting people in line, and causing a scene. Honestly, that just makes you look like an amateur. As long as you keep your wits about you and behave like a grown-up you’ll be just fine.

3) Plan in advance.

I spend about a week before Book Expo just planning out my itinerary and scheduling meetings. This is a big event and it goes by fast so make sure you plan in advance. Follow #BEA15 on Twitter to see who else is going, find out schedule updates, and plan what you don’t want to miss. Also, check out the following links for updates on can’t-miss galleys and events.

• Publisher’s Weekly: Children’s Galleys
• Publisher’s Weekly: Adult Galleys
• Kirkus BEA 2015 Guide
• School Library Journal Guide to ARCs and Signings

4) There’s more to BEA than what is on the show floor.

Check out panels and other talks going on in the basement of the Javits Center. Also check out the BEA Bloggers Conference, uPublishU, and several other conferences going on at the same time. (Some of these require an additional ticket.) I’ve attended the blogging conference in the past, and definitely found it valuable when I was starting DIY MFA. In addition, if you’re an author looking to connect with bloggers, the Blogger Directory for that conference is an invaluable resource!

I myself am always excited to check out the book buzz panels (where editors talk about the book on their list with the most buzz). This year the tech-geek in me can’t wait to check out some of the talks on multimedia, too.

5) Bonus logistical tips.

The Javits Center is basically in no-man’s land on the West Side. There will eventually be a subway stop there (who knows when that will ever happen) but for now, you might as well be in Siberia, you’re so dang far from the rest of the city. Whether you attend BEA for one day or for the entire conference, make sure to keep these basic things in mind:

• Be prepared to eat your meals at the food court, because there aren’t any restaurants nearby. If you decide to grab lunch, go before or after peak lunchtime.
• Bring a water bottle and a snack. Food at the Javits is expensive, plus it’s a mob scene. If you can survive on snacks for a day or two, go for it.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Seriously the Javits is HUGE and you’ll be doing laps from one end to the other. Comfy shoes are a must.
• Rolling suitcases are not allowed on the show floor. To avoid hauling around a heavy pile of swag and books, you can check a rolling case in coat/bag check, and then drop off some of the stuff you acquire at regular intervals. Keep in mind that you’ll need to bring cash for the coat/bag check.
• If you can, make arrangements for a ride after the event because it’s nearly impossible to get a cab after the show floor closes. (Did I mention it was crazy far from everything?)

There is so much cool stuff happening in and around BEA. I want to make sure you don’t miss a thing! Also, I love meeting my fellow Word Nerds face-to-face. If you’re going to be at BEA, tweet or email me, so we can connect.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for updates and pics during the show.

Link to Episode 43

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 43: Book Expo America Survival Guide 2015 appeared first on DIY MFA.

Last week was the National Book Awards and two things happened that set Twitter on fire. The first was Ursula Le Guin’s beautiful acceptance speech after being honored with a lifetime achievement award. In this speech she warned that “hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now…. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries–the realists of a larger reality.” Click the link to read a transcript of the speech in its entirety. It’s short and quite powerful.

The second thing that happened was that MC Daniel Handler (AKA Lemony Snicket) put his foot in his mouth by making racist jokes not once or twice, but THREE times during the ceremony. The worst insult of the lot was at the expense of author Jacqueline Woodson who won the National Book Award for young people’s literature with her book Brown Girl Dreaming. I won’t repeat any of the jokes here because I believe repeating such words (even to criticize them) only gives them more power. If you’re curious, just scroll through the Twitter hashtag #NBAward and you’ll get the gist.

I want to talk about our responsibility as writers and how both Le Guin’s words, and Handler’s words relate to this responsibility. What set most people off about Handler’s jokes was that they were racist, but the problem goes deeper than that. We’re not living in a time of slavery in the USA anymore. We don’t have segregated bathrooms, water fountains or seats on the bus. Racism–or any “ism” for that matter–is more subtle these days, but no less insidious.

The problem with jokes like Handler’s at the National Book Awards is that they separate people into categories according to race, gender, religion, etc. and that they put the label front and center and shove the human being into the background. These labels only serve to push human beings into neat little boxes; they are like a shorthand and they over-simplify the beautiful complexity of humanity. When we use words that are racist, or sexist or any other “-ist” it’s like we’re saying someone: “I don’t have time to see you as a full, complex human being, so I’m just going to slap a label on you and call it a day.”

As writers it is our duty NEVER to use such shorthand. Why? Because it wouldn’t be the Truth. Humans are not the color of their skin, the language they speak, the amount of money in their bank account, and so on. Humanity is messy, and complicated, and sometimes even contradictory.

In her speech, Ursula Le Guin upheld the responsibility of a writer: she told the truth. She reminded us that as writers we are “realists of a larger reality” and that our job will be to shine a spotlight on that reality. Handler’s words evaded the Truth, not because they were factually incorrect but by making these jokes, he put the label at the forefront and the humans into the background. As a person, he should have followed that old adage “if you don’t have something nice to say…” but more importantly, he failed his responsibility as a writer because he obscured the full human truth with labels and shortcuts.

There’s a movement now called #WeNeedDiverseBooks. It’s a Twitter hashtag, and a website, and they raise money to help bring more diversity to literature. Handler’s jokes made abundantly clear that a lack of diversity in publishing and books is still a huge problem. Interestingly enough, Handler chose to atone for his jokes by matching donations to #WeNeedDiverseBooks for one day. (My opinions on that score are a matter for a whole other discussion.) This organization is making great strides to address this issue and I applaud their efforts, but we need to do more. Just by labeling books as “diverse” automatically puts them in a category that’s separate from the rest of literature. Increasing diversity in literature is the necessary first step because we can’t show a full picture of humanity if essential pieces are missing from the story. But it is also only the beginning.

Once we’ve filled in those gaps, once we have more stories in our literary culture that reflect the diversity of our society, then we have to take another step and this one is even more important than the first. Inclusion is not enough. We have to tell the Truth behind the labels. We have to show people as individuals, and while they might represent diverse groups, they are not defined by those groups. It’s not so much that #WeNeedDiverseBooks. What we need are #BooksThatTellTheTruth. This Truth is not about shortcuts and labels; it’s not about pigeon-holing people and sorting them into neat categories.

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In eleventh grade, we had a unit in our history class called SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). One of our assignments was what I now call the “bubble” exercise. The teacher handed out a sheet of paper with five circles. We were supposed to put our names at the center of the page, then in each of the “bubbles” we were supposed to list a circle or group that we identified ourselves with. After taking a few minutes to fill out the sheet, we went around the room and everyone shared what they wrote down.

This was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life because as each of my classmates read what was on her sheet, I realized I had done the exercise completely WRONG. The “bubbles” that my classmates listed were things like their gender, ethnicity, social class, etc. I on the other hand, had listed the people in my life like: my family, my school friends, my music friends, my martial arts friends…  When I finished reading what I wrote, I said: “I guess I did the exercise wrong. I didn’t even write down that I’m Brazilian.” The teacher gave me this funny look that I didn’t quite understand at the time, kind of a half-smile like she was in on a secret joke that no one else in the class got.

That day at lunchtime, I overheard some of my classmates making fun of my answers to the exercise. Didn’t I understand that the whole idea was to be aware of my identity? How ignorant was I that I didn’t think to mention my dual-nationality? Apparently I couldn’t even label myself correctly (in fact, I was unable to label myself at all).

A year and a half later, understood my teacher’s secret joke. My guidance counselor let me read the recommendation letters that my teachers had written to colleges. One line jumped out at me and it was from that history teacher: “Gabriela refuses to be pigeon-holed, and she’s not afraid to tell the truth.” That was when I realized that point of that “bubble” exercise wasn’t to list out which circles we belonged in, but to challenge the very purpose of those circles in the first place.

As writers, we are given the privilege of our words being allowed to enter another person’s mind and to influence what they think and feel. Essentially, our words occupy someone else’s mental real estate and can influence and affect other human beings. This is a huge responsibility, and we must recognize as such. We must also be aware that our words are shaped by our experiences, that “rules” are often shaped by the contexts in which they exist.

We might all interpret Ursula Le Guin’s words in our own way, and our understanding of her powerful speech will be different depending on our individual experiences and who we are as human beings. However the heart of her speech remains the same across the board. Her words express hope and empowerment to writers. Handler’s words, on the other hand–whether we interpret them as racist or not, as mean-spirited or just plain stupid–they were words spoken in an attempt to prop one human being up while putting others down. No matter what context you put them in, the meaning at its heart is still the same.

Words are powerful, and writers have the opportunity to use that power for good. It’s our job to show the world as it really is, in all its beautiful complexity. It is our job to tell the Truth. Anything less than that is not enough.

The post Diversity in Publishing: We Need Writers Who Will Tell The Truth appeared first on DIY MFA.