Sara Raasch's Blog, page 539

That description is just for SNOW LIKE ASHES (and it isn’t the official description that will be on the jacket either — that is forthcoming!). I’m so glad you are excited! I’m excited for it to be out in the world :D 

Because so much of fantasy takes place in settings that in no way resemble the real world, featuring species that in no way resemble human, fantasy writers often have trouble dealing with regular people. This is something that, I think, isn’t as much of a problem for mainstream writers, because they can simply describe the world around them and come up with a reasonably accurate representation of humanity. They can also fall back on the plethora of real-world terms used to describe human beings, racially and otherwise. But using these terms makes no sense if you’re dealing with a world that doesn’t share our political/cultural context. You can’t call someone “African American” if your world has no Africa, no America, and has never gone through a colonial phase in which people of disparate cultures were forcibly brought together, thus necessitating the term in the first place.

That said, it’s equally illogical to populate your fantasy world with only one flavor of human being, which is what far too many fantasy stories default to. Granted, many fantasies take place in confined cultural spaces — a single small kingdom in a Europeanish milieu, maybe a single city or castle within that city. (But how did that castle get its spices for the royal table, or that lady her silks? What enemy are the knights training to fight? Even in the most monochromatic parts of the real Ye Olde Englande, I can guarantee you there were some Asian traders, Sephardic or Ashkenazic Jewish merchants, Spanish diplomats or nobles partly descended from black Moors, and so on.) I get that lots of countries on Earth are racially homogeneous, so it makes perfect sense that some fantasy settings would be too. But whiteness is the default in our thinking for Earth-specific cultural/political reasons. So while it’s logical for fantasy realms to be homogeneous, it’s not logical for so many of them to be homogeneously white. Something besides logic is causing that.

So. It’s a good idea for all fantasy writers to learn how to describe characters of color. And I think it’s a good idea to learn how to describe those characters in subtle ways, since they can’t always rely on Earth terminology. Now, doing subtle description increases the chance that the reader might misidentify the character racially — and to a degree, I think there’s nothing you can do about that. You’re working against a lifetime of baggage in the reader’s mind. But you can still insert enough cues so that when combined, they’ll get the idea across.

alexbracken:

apriki:

Located in Dublin, Ireland, Gillian Reynolds Casting has begun auditions for Outlander. The company has been associated with feature films such as “Count of Monte Cristo,” “Reign of Fire”and the Starz series “Camelot.” An intern at the company wrote in a blog post:

Yesterday we spent our entire time in a hotel conducting casting auditions. These auditions were pretty cool because they were for an American television series called Outlander. It is produced by Sony and will be run on Starz within the next year. Outlander is a tv series based out of Scotland, which you can see why they came to an Irish casting agency for actors. The coolest part was that the role that was being auditioned for was for one of the lead male roles, therefore, I got to see a lot of beautiful Irish actors throughout the day.

Irish actors?  IRISH?

"Outlander is a tv series based out of Scotland, which you can see why they came to an Irish casting agency for actors." 

This made me sad.

Which is ironic, because Sheldon got hacked in this episode. Ironic, or lazy of me. 

hopethefangirl:

derek-hales-butt-cheeks:

hedgeh0ggy:

kyleehenke:

this video is so freaking awkward I cant stop laughing

P

It’s literally saying “no”.

I am snorting and laughing and wheezing fjdsaklfjds IT IS LITERALLY SAYING NO

"That is the sound of pleasure."

"Nooooo."

"It means he’s enjoying it."

"Noooo."

"It builds trust."

"NOOOO."

That’s it. My week cannot be topped.

Things are getting EXCITING over at the Valentines’ — we had a cover reveal for Sara B. Larson’s DEFY, and now, because EPIC THINGS ARE AFOOT, we have ANOTHER cover reveal—

—for Kristi Helvig’s sci-fi BURN OUT!

To celebrate the awesomeness, there is an epic giveaway going down. So yes, you get to see a shockingly fantastic cover PLUS get a chance to win shockingly fantastic swag. No, I do not believe life gets any better. 

Kristi is giving away a YA book of your choice + DEFY THE DARK! The contest runs from 6/25 to 7/9. Click here for the Rafflecopter giveaway!!

For the Valentines’ celebration, head over here. If all you want to do is ogle the pretty, well, LOOK NO FURTHER.

Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth’s final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns “red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.

Coming April 8, 2014!!

Right? RIGHT?? This makes three Valentines’ covers so far, and I must say, the remaining eleven have a LOT to live up to!

ikolism:

when a really good storyline is ruined by an unnecessary/forced romantic subplot

Enter now! Win fantastical summer goodies and earn your piece of the SNOW LIKE ASHES blizzard!

Click here for the Rafflecopter giveaway!

Learn more about the Join the Blizzard contests!

epicreads:

Final winter 2014 HarperTeen titles!

Ooo THE PRETTY!!!