I think I left my jaw on the floor in the bathroom.

[apocalypsos]

Oh, man, there's nothing like waking up on a rainy morning, being too groggy to stop myself from clicking on a new RaceFail post, and getting to read a rec.arts.sf.composition quote from Patricia Wrede from during the planning stages of The Thirteenth Child in which she ponders how to write around the Native population since they won't be around to engage in "prepping land for human occupation."

o.O

WHAT.

I had to get up and walk away from my computer for a moment after reading that, and then I got to come back and read the bit where, upon pondering how best to kill off an entire indigenous people, she dismisses endemic conditions (like, say, smallpox) as too complicated and ridiculous but concludes having them all be eaten by giant hungry magical creatures is "nice, effective, and tidy."

I think I need to go work on my crackalicious completely stress-free bisexual rockabilly superhero novel now. Before my brain explodes.

*

Yeah, so. It's rainy and gross and I'm about to shower and pack up my crap and head over to the cafe to see if I can get a good chunk of chapter fifteen done. I blame RaceFail for keeping me on my mark, because I've got a bisexual Mexican-American woman as my main character and I already know I'm going to have to go back and tweak shit for pretty much every single one of those identifiers, although at least the "woman" part I think I can handle. (I made it real easy on myself, too. Offline, I know of absolutely no Mexican-Americans and only one possible bisexual I haven't gotten a chance to talk to since St. Patrick's Day whom I can pester for help. *eyeroll*)

But, yeah. Right now it's hard not to be heavy on the sexuality aspect, since the possible love interests are the ex-girlfriend and the new guy, but I know I need to work on the Mexican-American bit. I keep worrying I'm keeping it too subtle (which I suppose is better right now, at least considering the way I write and edit) or that I'm going to screw it up, because seriously, it took watching a LOT of RaceFail moments over the years to get me to the point where I'm more comfortable writing outside my comfort spectrum of tiny-little-straight-white-girl. (The first couple of books I tried writing in college and right after were all tiny-little-straight-white-girl and also terrible. Ugh.)

I'm good now, though. Well, okay, not perfect, obviously, but I'm willing to accept help and advice on all counts. (Although not right now, if only because if I stop right now, I'll never finish this silly book. Urgh.) And hell, at least I think I can peek my head out from behind my white privilege far enough not to make a "prepping land for human occupation" crack.

Comments

[jamethiel]

Um. I'm bisexual, if you need to pick my brains. jamethiel dot bane at gmail dot com. Can't help you with the Mexican-American thing as I am 1)Australian and 2)Of Anglo-Celt descent so white I glow in the dark.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Oh Christ. Human occupation?

HUMAN?

As for the smallpox bit. She sounds like freaking Jeffrey Amherst, the one who gave smallpox-tainted blankets to the Indians.

Although I'm online, feel free to ask me anything about bisexuality. Queer R us.

[myniamh.livejournal.com]

The term used here was Terra Nullius.
Which was essentially 'People? What people?'.

[lattara.livejournal.com]

Patricia Wrede, what the actual fucking fuck?

[xturtle.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetie. The internet is chock full of bisexuals! Post your questions, you'll have eleventy seven answers for each one!

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

Is THAT what my fraction-ancestors were doing? Gosh, I had no idea. All this time, I thought maybe they were living in their own civilization. And that they were human. Wait 'till I tell mom!

Someone please give this woman gender-reassignment surgery so I can kick him in the balls.

[slashfairy.livejournal.com]

*eyeroll*
*bitch-slap*

honestly.

more polyamorous than bi-sexual, but if I can help...

here are the readings from the Chicano/Latino film studies class I took last Spring which might be of some use- I learned a lot, both about my white privilege, and about my Mexican-American neighbors/friends/patients. I've got access to some of the lesser-available movies, too, if you think they'd be any use.

[dangerusliasons.livejournal.com]

Um you really can't just dismiss all those big potential threats to human society, smallpox, anthrax, and so on...and to do so in the world of writing is substiuting your own reality for someone elses'. If I were planning on reading this Author, I wouldn't. There are a lot of other was to wipe out a civilization. Much more easier ones.

[sasha-davidovna.livejournal.com]

Aargh, aargh, aargh. She has been one of my favorite authors since I was a kid, but this is just... How is it even possible to be a writer (and a relatively socially conscious one - she's certainly a feminist if nothing else) and not notice what those words actually say. "Prepping land for human occupation," really?

[azurelunatic]

...aaaagh.

And I'm Yet Another Bisexual, so feel free to hit me up if you want another bi-check.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

Oh, what the hell?! I don't even have words to describe how damn disgusting that is. :-(

[erinlin.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I haven't been this disappointed in an author since I found out Roald Dahl was anti-semetic.

[conuly]

WHAT???

[erinlin.livejournal.com]

Ok, not hatefully anti-Semitic but at the very least really flipping clueless. Via Wikipedia:

Dahl told a reporter in 1983, "There’s a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity . . . I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason."

"There aren't any non-Jewish publishers anywhere, they control the media - jolly clever thing to do - that's why the President of the United States has to sell all this [military] stuff to Israel."

You should read the Wikipedia article, it's got all the details. I'm just really disappointed, you know? "Why you gotta be like that, Dahl? I thought you were so cool!"

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

*cries*

[conuly]

This is not my week for childhood authors, is it.

[calicokat.livejournal.com]

What. The. Fuck. I will cut a bitch. This is the point where I now am prepared to go look for a way to do harm to this woman's career. Discrimination against Native Americans hits closest to home for a number of reasons. (Although I have only one Native American ancestor.)


Good luck with your own writing!

[calicokat.livejournal.com]

I makeum Amazon.com review.

It's the one with one star.

I feel only marginally, marginally better.

[azzinita.livejournal.com]

Apropos of nothing, I'm from New Mexico. I'm white, but it's the culture I grew up with. So I might be able to help a little bit. The setting also depends, the culture in Los Angeles is WAY different than New Mexico, which is WAY different than New York.

Though I most heartily recommend getting someone who is actually Mexican-American to give you a beta read. As a guera from the heights, I can only do so much. -. -

[hiddenw.livejournal.com]

I'm Mexican-American although I am so damn Americanized I don't always feel like it. Ha. But if there's a question I can run it by my family if I don't know the answer. Throwing that out there.

[elorie.livejournal.com]

Aside from all of the very credible and obvious objections based on that attitude being completely barbaric and morally bankrupt, it's also...I don't quite know how to put this. Useless. We don't need more fiction that glorifies or otherwise blithely ignores the reality of settlement, expansion, and Manifest Destiny. We need more that does the opposite.

I tell my students to read literature written by members of the group you want to write about. There's a LOT of stuff written by Mexican-Americans out there.

[sabotabby]

I'm glad you exist and hope you finish that bisexual rockabilly superhero novel soon because seriously, that shit sounds awesome.

I also hope that positive things come out of this RaceFail, like that POC sf/f publishing company came out of the first round of RaceFail. Because I'm torn between fascinated amusement and horror at seeing so many authors whom I previously liked turn out to be unable to see past their own honky privilege.

[agent-mimi.livejournal.com]

I read Wrede's quote a few days ago on... man, I can't remember which blog it was. But yeah, the guy who found her quotes about the book on Usenet when she was in the planning stages totally blew her little defenders out of the water. End of story.

[agent-mimi.livejournal.com]

Ah, it was on the tor.com thread, Alo's comment at #110. If anyone really wanted to know.

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=26059#comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/]

What the everloving fucking fuck? I am really wanting to punch that woman right now.

[hobbit-feet.livejournal.com]

Just came across this post and wanted to say that I'm bisexual and Mexican-American if you have any questions.