Writing Black Characters as a White Author | Author’s Blog

I started writing my current novel-in-progress about a week before the Black Lives Matter protests started in America, and it made me realise that I have never written a black or minority character in any of my books. And I am ashamed of that fact. So, I did something about it. 

A really useful tool for me was the Tumblr page https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/ and I have come back to this page time and time again for reference when describing people of colour respectfully and accurately. Just as white people can be tanned, or freckled, or pale, black people are not all the same. 

Skin Tones: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/96830966357/writing-with-color-description-guide-words-for 

Hair Descriptions: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113627509260/words-to-describe-hair

I decided to do this because, for every person that reads my previous work, the only ones who can physically identify with the characters have been white men and women. Yes, I included different body shapes – I am a short, plus-sized woman so have always included curvier female characters, but I was saddened by the fact that a young black woman couldn’t pick up my book and find a character like herself. 

In my current novel, I have two black characters, and I would like to use this post to share them with you. Also, I haven’t followed the trend of having the only two black characters in the story be related – they aren’t even the same species. 

For reference, the book will be called The Crown of Sea and Stone: Marina’s Tale and is about a mermaid princess called Marina who turns into a human using a secret crown that belonged to a grandmother whom she thought was long-dead. 

King Cedric: 

The man in the middle stood tall and strong, but his face was kind and homely. Marina could tell instantly that this was the king that her guide had spoken of. His crown looked similar to the one on her own head, but his crown was wider and less bejewelled. His deep umber-brown skin had faded with age, but he still struck Marina as a handsome man. The king’s eyes were a rich copper colour, warm and kind, and his hair was short and dark grey but Marina suspected it had once been shiny and as black as night. 

Enyo: 

They crossed the foyer with ease, but as they rounded the corner for the office corridor, they came face-to-face with a palace guard. Her silver armour was polished to perfection, with silver scales to match, her cool tawny skin glistened with sweat, her silky black hair in tight corkscrew curls framed her angled face. She looked ethereally beautiful even in the face of danger. 

“King Justus! Queen Alina!” the guard exclaimed, her eyes darting back and forth between the monarchs and the corridor from which she had just emerged. 

“Oh, Enyo! Thank the stars,” King Justus sighed, but then he followed her worried gaze towards the two Scots soldiers. “Lower your weapons, Enyo is one of my private guards.”

“Are you sure she can be trusted?” Alistair peered at her, his accent growing thicker in the wake of a potential fight. 

“I am the one who instructed her to return to the palace,” King Justus explained, still not in love with the idea of his brother-in-law’s men being the ones who led the fight. 

“I was on my way to finding you, Your Majesty when I heard a lot of banging coming from Lord Lucian’s office. I think there is a girl trapped in there. I tried to break down the door but it wouldn’t yield, sire.” As she spoke, she pointed back behind her where Lucian’s room lay twelve feet from them, the door hidden around the curved wall. “She sounds very distressed,” she added. 

I hope you enjoyed these characters, and I would really appreciate any feedback you have about the way they are described. Along with many people, I am still on a re-educative journey and I want to go out of my way to make sure I do not cause any offence or distress to members of the black community. 

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I have also compiled a list of books by diverse authors or books containing diverse characters if you are looking for something new to read whilst re-educating yourself on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Diverse Book List: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11-NlLwi-WmXVGZEK8BAnJDDkF2nuvTBcQHNk_dHx7DY/edit?usp=sharing

More Resources: 

I found this article on Cumbria.gov.uk called Talking About Racism which was quite interesting.https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Content/Internet/537/6381/6387/40828163633.pdf

This article by Joshua Adams also helped me understand the problematic issues surrounding the phrase ‘people of colour’ – worth a read: https://level.medium.com/we-should-stop-saying-people-of-color-when-we-mean-black-people-29c2b18e6267 

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All opinions are my own. All the fictional writing contained in this blog post are the intellectual property of Melissa Holden, copyright 2020. Please do not edit or share without the author’s permission. 

500 Followers, A Milestone Post

Since it’s conception in 2013, this blog has had many purposes, many milestones, many birthdays. It is the one safe place; the one continuous space, where I can write freely and know my words will not only be seen but appreciated.

Originally posted on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWZvn22D9vT/?taken-by=melissaholden94

I just wanted to say thanks, to old and new followers – you make it worth posting. I know I am a bit of a sporadic blogger, but my work/life balance leaves something to be desired. I really appreciate the loyalty.

Thank you all so much for the love and support, and I hope we will be seeing more of each other soon.

Love, Mel ❤

Work Out The Demons (InstaPoetry)

Originally posted on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWI6Iq6DS9e/?taken-by=melissaholden94

Excuse the typo on the second to last line! – Mel x

Saying Farewell to my Pseudonym

The blog-fans among you will know that I have removed my pseudonym, Melody Carter, from the Internet. She’s gone now. *RIP fictional version of myself*

I’ve waved goodbye to her website, her Facebook page, and her Twitter. I’ve exported all her churlish attempts at Children’s Fiction or bizarre tries at Adult Writing. She isn’t working well for my writing career, so, like the proverbial rose – she had to be dead-headed.

(Although the design for that website was pretty awesome, so I may have to move the typography over to another site… we will see!)

I found Melody Carter no longer had a place or standing in my writing portfolio; she had become just an extra tab on my social media to ignore and avoid during the low moments.

Any writer can tell you that this is not a fun career choice by any means – particularly as there is no money in it. So it becomes hard to justify your meager efforts when you are spread so thin across your many pen names.

Instead, (if rather late in the day) I have decided to solely write under my own name; no pseudonyms or pretenses. Just little me and my little words on my little books.

I hope you can all get behind me on this, and as you have all been such lovely readers; I am sure you will be.

I’ll be back soon with some news about my upcoming novel, Finding Jennifer, but for now; I’m off to drink tea and ponder over Chapter 12.

Graduation | 1 Year Later

A year ago to the date, the Creative and Professional Writing BA (Hons) Class of 2015, graduated.

We were nervous and stressed and our robes were trying to strangle us. We had rogue family members randomly popping up to take pictures, and we spent our time either losing our friends in the crowd or readjusting our gowns.

We had spent three years stuck in cupboard seminar rooms, only 11 people in our year at any one time, freezing cold and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Lectures were nearly always followed by alcohol, in the true spirit of sticking to the writing cliches, a tipsy wobble home to do our assignments. Quick nap or dinner and you were ready for  a night out.

It is safe to say that university was one of the most turbulent, stressful, broke, enlightening and friendship-filled eras of my life. I do not regret a single second – including the time I got so drunk that I had to go to class wearing sunglasses in the middle of December… yep… pathetic is the word you are looking for, my friend!

It is the time after university, after you’ve graduated that nobody prepares you for, not really. You are of course advised to get a job in your studied profession, but that doesn’t work for most students. We end up behind bars or retail or office jobs, slugging the 9-5 with everybody else.

You tend to lose your confidence, your passion, you lose motivation for your talents. As a writer and graduate of Creative and Professional Writing, it was never going to be easy to get a job, let-a-lone a career in creative writing. So instead, I did some writing projects and got a full time retail job, thinking it wouldn’t be a distraction. Oh boy, how wrong was I!

I have barely written anything for my current novel – compared to what I planned to write anyway –  and my poetry has all but resorted to a quick Instagram post every week. I am struggling to write, read and do anything creative.

But that is my fault. I spent three years training for this year, training myself for my future career goals, and I am wasting that. It has taken me a year to realise that I am not the writer I was whilst at university, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t be.

It’s time to get back into not only my writing, but also my studies. I’m going to go back to my studies and get my Masters degree (hopefully) in Creative Writing and go from Melissa Holden, BA to Melissa Holden, BA MA. Time to pull my socks up and get back out there!

Indie Pride Day 2016 | #IndieBooksBeSeen

On July 1^st 2016, Indie Authors from around the world will be covering social media with pictures of us holding up our books with the hashtags #IndiePrideDay and #IndieBooksBeSeen.

Last year thousands participated, and our Indie Pride Day trended for three days on Twitter; generating over 25,000 tweets. This year, we believe we can do even better!

We are about to make history as the biggest online showcase of Indie Authors and titles ever, and we all hope that you’ll support us on our #IndiePrideDay.

Just like last year, some authors will also be offering book discounts and giveaways – so keep an eye out for the Indie Pride hashtags; you might just end up with a new book to add to your shelf. 

Tell every Indie Author that you know to mark their calendars for July 1st! If you are not an Indie Author (but support us), please post a picture of some indie books that you may have on your bookshelves – or you’ve added to your To-Read list!

Remember on July 1st, when you see the Instagram posts, Facebook statuses, Tweets and #hashtags – spread the love and show your support for the Indie Authors. Every single Like and Double Tap helps the cause!

#IndiePrideDay and #IndieBooksBeSeen are about proving we’re more than just a hashtag: we’re a revolution to the publishing industry, and to readers and authors around the world. Spread the bookworm love and support for #IndieBooksBeSeen on Friday July 1^st 2016.

Keep an eye out on my social media and this website, as I am doing my own giveaway! Details will be released on July 1st 2016 for 24 hours. Good luck!

A Writer’s Muse: Myth or Must-Have?

For as long as their have been story-tellers, there has been the idea of muses. Originally, – in Greek and Roman mythology – they are the nine goddesses (daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne) who presided over the arts and sciences; helping to inspire and create. 

In the ‘good old days’ of Shakespeare, and later the Romantics; ‘muse’ was an everyday term for writers, poets and playwrights alike. It’s well known that crafty old Will would take a lover in town, leaving his doting old wife clueless in the country. (Personally, I hope she got her own back and slept with a hot gardener, but that’s another article!).

So we must assume that other Romantics, such as Byron, Keats, and other stuffy poets that Lit Professors love to chorus on about, must have had muses – or a girl who they sweet talked for a few months before moving on to the next innocent maiden (or servant boy).

However, in the age of selfies, Tinder and Instagram filters, how can we claim to have muses, when the whole social media aspect of our lives is to present a perfect, prettier version of ourselves?

We’ve all been there: you meet someone online and think they’re cute, then you meet them in person and they either look nothing like their picture – or they are a complete and utter bore!  No inspiration found there, then. 

As a writer myself, there was a time where I too considered muses to be a thing of myth, or at least only of writing history. But recently, my mind has been changed. Having said that, I would like to clarify a few things.

Muses have changed to suit the 21st century. They are no longer scantily-clad girls or gleaming muscle-men in torn white shirts. They are the everyday people. Our friends, our colleagues, the random faces we encounter everyday.

We absorb so much information through our phones, that sometimes we forget to stop and just look. Look at the dozens of faces that walk past us every single day. They are our muses. That character that appeared out of nowhere in your story? You walked past her on your way to work. That suspicious baddie on page 109 of your new novel? He’s that rude guy who served you in the supermarket.

Our brains are beautiful,  creative, chaotic entities – but they don’t create people out of thin air. Just like our dreams, they pull features, words, accents, gait, height, weight, patterns – all from the passersby you womble past every single day.

So, fellow writers, wanna-be playwrights, and hopeless romantics that name yourself poets: go and find your muse! Maybe you already know them. Maybe you saw them in the cue today. And maybe they just walked past you whilst you had your head buried in a screen. Go find your muse. Go and be inspired.

 

Dear Me: The World Has Changed

Dear Me,

You grew up thinking the world was a certain way. That intellect and creativity were flaws and things to be hidden. You grew up knowing how to stretch money. You grew up thinking girls were wrong.

You were wrong. The world doesn’t just exist of your past.  It’s fragile, and constantly changing: but it’s beautiful.

A crazy-amazing world built for people who want to change. People who want to progress. People who have learned from their mistakes.

Because, guess what?

You’re alive in the 21st century, where Girl Power isn’t the Spice Girls. Where we have better paid jobs and where intellectual role models are aspired to almost as much as glamour models. Where girls can be just as strong as boys. And where creativity is encouraged.

Dear Me… The world grew up too. Enjoy it.

Writers Are People Too – Cover Launch

Here is the cover for my new e-book, Writers Are People Too.

Blurb:

Writers are people too! They have every day lives as well as their writing careers. This collection contains articles and poetry about writers lives, the words, the everyday and the normal.
It also includes tips for writers such as: How To Edit Your Novel and How To Be a Professional Writer.

 

Release Date:

July 1st 2014 on Amazon Kindle. Click here to be taken to my Amazon page. 

Writers Are People Too (In Progress)

I’m working on a collection of articles and poetry called Writers Are People Too, and I’m pretty excited.

After I postponed Searching For Katherine, I decided the best way to take a step back from the novel was to take a break from fiction for a while. And so, I am spending my summer writing articles and poetry, and exploring my recently developed strong-arm that is the world of non-fiction.

Writers Are People Too is pretty self-explanatory: it’s about how writers have lives outside of their writing careers. Many of us have dipped a toe into sharing this with the world via life-blogs (mine’s called The Life Of A 19-Year-Old Author) and it’s been pretty successful.

The non-fiction eBook will cover everything from society to personal relationships to how we live our day-to-day lives.

Writers Are People Too is humourous, but ultimately true. It’s written by a writer, about writers, for writers – and the general public. I won’t be spilling any trade secrets, but giving the world a chance to remember that writers are people too.

If you can think of anything that you think should be included, comment below, or Tweet Me @melissaholden94