YA in Diversity Tour & Giveaway

Two weeks ago I had the chance to attend the Austin stop for the Diversity in YA tour and interview each of the authors who were in attendance, which were: Cindy Pon, Malinda Lo, Dia Reeves, Bethany Hegedus, Jo Whittemore and Guadalupe Garica McCall. These ladies were so much fun to sit and talk with. I have a feeling we could have talked and laughed for hours. They are all amazing. During our interview we talked about everything from writing about diversity, cultural influences, to how their heritage's play a role in their books.

One of the questions I asked was "Were there any books with diversity that you read while growing up?"

Cindy Pon: "I wrote the book I wanted to read as a teen. I never remember reading about anyone that looked like me growing up."

Malinda Lo: "Same for me with Ash. I also saw myself with Robin McKinley's characters."

Bethany Hegedus: "To Kill A Mockingbird was a big influcence on me and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. Teen wise, The Rock and The River, it's powerful and relatable."

Guadalupe McCall: "The Peal by John Steinbeck was the first book I read that had hispanic characters in it, and The Old Man & The Seaeven had Cuban characters in it and I devoured them both. As a teacher, Gary Soto's Neighborhood Odes inspired me to write. I wanted a book about a hispanic girl coming to America and what it was like for her growing up. There is not a lot of books for Mexican American girls, I wrote something I wanted to read."

Dia Reeves- "I wrote what I wanted to read as a teen."

Jo Whittemore: "We Were Here by Matt De La Pena"

How did your heritage play a role in your writing?

Bethany: "I address diversity in my books, that's something I dwelt with growing up in the south. My books deal with diversity and race. It's not something that gets swept under the rug. I was always curious about other cultures. Being curious about other cultures doesn't negate your own."

Jo: "I grew up one of 2 Asian Americans in my school. I write about outsiders and underdogs, I was one. My heritage gave me insight."

Dia: "Same as Jo, I grew up around mostly black people. I went to all black school. There were only four white people there. At college I felt like an outsider, it was totally different from what I had been apart of it. It was shocking. That's why I write- on the fringe of everything. I have experienced racism within my culture, but I never felt the struggle to fit in. You have to be secure and honest with who you are. Always try to be yourself."

Guadalupe: "My characters are hispanic. Growing up I learned to embrace my culture, but I wanted to know more outside of the box. I knew there was more to see. I loved watching Star Trek and I wanted to explore everything. I wanted to see all sorts of cultures and my characters look for the outside, there's more going outside than around them. They look outside the box."

Pictured:

1) Varian Johnson, Guadalupe Garica McCall, Dia Reeves, Jo Whittemore,

Bethany Hegedus, Cindy Pon & Malinda Lo

2) Malinda Lo, Me & Jenny Moss

3) Cindy Pon & I

4) Dia Reeves & I

5) Guadalupe Garica McCall & I

If you ever get the chance to meet any of these fabulous women, I highly recommend that you do. They are all insightful, intelligent, fun women to be around, talk to and laugh with.

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The panel was fantastic and was hosted by Varian Johnson, one of Austin's own local authors. Here's a few notes I took during the panel:

How Would You Define Diversity?

Bethany: "It represents the world we live in today"

Guadalupe: "As a bowl of fruit"

Malinda: "Fun, celebratory"

Jo: "The little differences make us all the same"

Cindy: "Every culture has it's food, and I love eating. I bring food to my books"

Dia: "Include everyone, including the freaks"

Do You Feel Required To Represent Your Own Diversity In Your Books?

Malinda: "It's not a requirement for me. If it doesn't feel right I won't add it"

Dia: "It's fun to represent me, but t's not a requirement. I'm happy I'm able to"

Cindy: "I write from the heart and my characters let me know who they are"

Bethany: "It's reflective of my experience"

What Challenges Did you Face With Writing Diversity in YA Fantasy & Sci-Fi?

Cindy: "I had a hard time getting an agent. I sent 121 letters and had 100 rejections saying it wouldn't sell in YA or Adult.

Varian: "People of color don't write science fiction. In the future, we don't exist."

Jo: "Story telling issues. It's hard to describe physical descriptions with out sounding racist."

Malinda: "With different worlds you have to describe them to a default. You have to explain stuff with out explaining it the way adult fantasy can."

Guadalupe: "I'm working on a book based in the future and will have to explain why there are so many hispanics. It's hard to make it not about race"

Covers (to put people on them or not to put people on them)

Malinda: "No people on the covers. I like to envision people in my head."

Varian: "Readers want to be anchored in certain things. Race is important to my story and I wanted to have a gender neutral character on my cover." He also added, "Readers can picture characters how every they'd like to"

On selling books with Diveristy to libraries, Malinda Lo said, "Sell the book on the story, not the diversity"

Bethany added, "Relate to the readers on what they are already exposed to"

I also loved this quote from Dia, "Reader wise, it's your story. Default to whom ever you want"

Giveaway time!! I have some wonderful swag I'm giving away to two winners. YES this giveaway is open to international followers!!

1st & 2nd winners will each receive one book from one of the YA in diversity tour authors

3rd winner will win the signed book plates from the event (signed by all the authors), including signed book plates for author Jenny Moss and Cynthia Leitch Smith whom were also at the event and the SIGNED Silver Phoenix post card set from Cindy Pon

To enter, you need to fill out the form below. 1 entry per person/ per email. If you have more than one, your entries will be deleted.

Thank you to Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo for allowing me the opportunity to interview you and the panel of fabulous authors and for putting together this fabulous tour!