Elsie: I’m so glad the book is resonating for you. Thank you for letting me know. (And I hope the second half doesn’t let you down.)

As an adult, and having a daughter who will someday (gulp!) be a teenager, I think that it is so important to have characters who reflect who you are, how you live, what you look like, etc…, and if the characters are good, I don’t think it matters who writes them.

Mayra Lazara Dole: Thank you. What you’ve said is some of what I was trying to get across in my comments further upstream. White privilege means being able to write these stories without worrying too much about the consequences for other people when those consequences are very real.

And asbolutely all writers should write what they know. The vast majority of writers writing of a culture they’ve never experienced are going to bugger it up. When that culture is a living one (i.e. you’re not writing an historical) you will be called on your failures. More to the point you should be called on them.

I think every choice we make for our characters impacts who they are (some more than others) – skin color, where they grow up, how their body looks, whether they’re religious, etc. Even things like whether their mother had diabetes will change the way our characters see the world — it’s up to us to try to make those parts into the whole and sometimes readers see us as getting it right and other times as us getting it wrong and we keep trying.

in other words. i think that in order to get it right, it’s about writing what you know (or have known intimately). there are few white folks who can get away with writing “authentic” POC characters without even having them as friends. once again, i suggest you get to know the folks you’re writing about intimately, especially if they form part of a community of which outsiders know little about.

white authors, you should be scared, VERY scared… lol… ok, seriously, you should be worried because many POC feel you are stealing their souls. we’ve never, ever had your same opportunities. as an africanam friend would say, “the times of white people painting their faces black in hollywood are over.” why don’t you sit back and allow us to get our work published while you keep writing what you know until we catch up? shouldn’t it be about equal opportunity? if so, please consider giving us a chance to make our mark(about 90 percent of all books are written by white authors).

on the other hand, having been born in a communist country with censorship, please, write what you want, but just know that even though you have every right to write whatever you wish, you’ll hurt some of us. many POC’s won’t be as forgiving, but some will. to some POC’s it will feel as if you are stealing from them… don’t you want POC to write their our own books?

Well said, angharad @ #17. I would add that the point (as I read it) is to not sit in fear, and to go out and do the work, then put it out there. Be brave. Take the feedback that *all* writers get. We get lashed at for all kinds of things. We get tons of things terribly wrong. This is no different. It’s a learning curve. So, go out and learn. Once you think you’ve done your very, very best, put it out there and see what comes back. It’s the only way to grow—as a writer, and as a person.

Either way there is heat and as an author this sort of heat does not feel good. However, I think that if we are not approaching these risky topics because of the fear of the heat, then we are doing a disservice to our readers and ourselves.

For instance Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf has been viciously attacked over the years by (mostly) African-American men for being anti-male and letting the side down. There are heaps of other examples. I’ve seen strong criticisms of Coe Booth’s Tyrell for not showing a “positive” picture of African-American life and, yes, letting her people down.

I’ve seen Jewish writers attacked by other Jews for being self-hating Jews. Etc. etc.

So I’m not sure I agree with you. I think all writers get attacked over the issue of representation. I don’t see a double standard there.

I get why it’s more fraught for a white writer to use the “n” word than it is for a black writer. It should be more fraught. We white writers should think about it long and hard. Because historically we’re the ones who’ve done the damage with it.

So, yeah, I thought it was absolutely appropriate that the character in Bug Boy would say that word give the setting and that character’s attitudes. I would have used it had I written Bug Boy but I suspect it would not have gotten past editorial. I suspect that’s true of most YA publishing houses.

I used the word “nappy” in Liar because it’s the word Micah would use. But as it’s a word that black communities are very divided over I thought long and hard about it. I read lots of pro and con arguments about the word. I talked to many friends about it. And decided to keep the word but, yes, it has upset some readers and I feel bad about that. But I also think it was the right decision.

Do I think I’ll attract more criticism for using the word because I’m white? Probably not. You just have to look at the debate over Carolivia Herron’s Nappy Hair to see that black authors get attacked as well. They’re absolutely not immune.

I think we need to be more careful because a white person using those words is more offensive. But plenty of white writers use the “n” word and don’t attract tonnes of criticism. I’m thinking of Richard Price’s work, such as Clockers and the writers of The Wire in particular. But there are other examples.

In chatting with her, it came out that I am Jewish myself and that completely disarmed this woman. She told me that she couldn’t very well be offended if I’m Jewish too.

This interaction struck me as very interesting and I came to realize that there really is a double standard when it comes to what is and is not appropriate. It’s like you have a wider berth if you are of the particular group you are characterizing.

And this I do not like. Enough that in my second novel I avoided use of the “n” word even though I knew in my heart that it needed to be in there. And Justine, you are the only one who has called me on this issue thus far.

But I think this is the region we as writers should be exploring. With every word we write we are making observations and if these observations don’t ruffle a few feathers then what are we doing it for?

Those kinds of people make me sigh. I don’t know what to do to get them to a) understand that the world doesn’t revolve around them and b) take an interest in the people not like him.