TWO OF HEARTS by Christina Lee released this week – a sexy contemporary romance about Dakota Nakos – a Native American woman whose former lover returns home to help solve the mystery of her father’s murder. Christina wrote a wonderful letter to readers about writing diversity and I wanted to share it here. Thank you Christina!
www.christinalee.net
on twitter @Christina_Lee04
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Dear Reader,
We can probably all agree that there needs to be more diversity in romance novels. Probably all novels in general. Having said that, writing about diverse characters in books can feel daunting for an author. It can be tricky and scary to take on the challenge, because we desperately want to get it right.
This is my second time writing about the Nakos family and this Native American community. The first time was in WHISPER TO ME, a book in my New Adult series. But what makes this experience different is that the nature of the plot required me to take an additional amount of time to consider all options and points of view. I immersed myself deeply in the culture through dozens of hours of research.
Even still, there was much more to learn and discover. All of it awe-inspiring and devastating and beautiful.
But as this book goes out into the world, I remember what one of my sources said. That within each culture, gender, age, or socioeconomic status, there are differences—in opinions and traditions and mindsets. And unless you’ve actually lived in the community or culture you are writing about, you won’t inherently know it. You can only try your best in your interpretation of it. That’s what I’ve aimed to do here.
Still, any mistakes or misinterpretations are my own. I painstakingly tried my best to create a story that I hope you will thoroughly enjoy.
Author Christina Lee
