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Alright, so, check it. I was going to wait until after André comes out in July to do this thread, but at the gentle urging (read: coercion) of my girls, it's happening now.
Long ago, in the year of Beyoncé 2019, I was at a two-day editing seminar. 1/17
Long ago, in the year of Beyoncé 2019, I was at a two-day editing seminar. 1/17
Loved it, great instructor, met @Gigi_Writer, all that good stuff. Day two of the seminar included a "blind" one-page critique from other attendees.
Let me back up. I'm not the critique group type of person, okay? That's not my ministry. My reader group is SMALL. 2/17
Let me back up. I'm not the critique group type of person, okay? That's not my ministry. My reader group is SMALL. 2/17
So I'm already stepping out of my comfort zone to do this. But look, I'm chillin on cloud nine. I'd gotten the Carina deal just two weeks before, and nothing can bring me down. Wow, my naïveté was strong.
All that said, though, I submit André for a group critique. 3/17
All that said, though, I submit André for a group critique. 3/17
I'm curious about opinions, and I'm a big girl so I can handle it (lies. Please be very gentle with me).
So we go through a ton of submissions, which are not blind. They start that way, but then there's follow-ups, clarifications, all that jazz. Totally not blind. 4/17
So we go through a ton of submissions, which are not blind. They start that way, but then there's follow-ups, clarifications, all that jazz. Totally not blind. 4/17
Then we get to mine. If you read the first word of the manuscript, it reads André. So we know we're in a man's POV, right? And he's talking to another man, who conspicuously didn't bring his wife to a financial services meeting. Trying to play big dog. 5/17
It's not subtle. It's literally on the page. So anyhoo, we get to the end of the read, and there's silence. Just...silence. Then the first question. "Where's the wife?"
And friends, let me tell you, that was the LAST question I thought I'd hear. And it's asked over and OVER 6/17
And friends, let me tell you, that was the LAST question I thought I'd hear. And it's asked over and OVER 6/17
again. "Where's the wife?" In a conversation between two men, the only thing the predominantly white woman audience could focus on was the lack. The fact that they WEREN'T on the page. And I, dear readers, am made of confusion. 7/17
Of course, we have our one white guy there, who intones that this must be some lackey forced to put up with this mind-numbing work. 
Now, I'll give him a pass. It's not until the first line on the next page that you find out André owns his own business, so whatevs. 8/17
Now, I'll give him a pass. It's not until the first line on the next page that you find out André owns his own business, so whatevs. 8/17
But naturally, like before, this submission doesn't stay blind. The instructor asks if the owner wants to identify themselves, and I do. Then she asks me what the scene's about, something to that nature.
Me: It's a Black guy sick of this white dude's shit.
Silence. 9/17
Me: It's a Black guy sick of this white dude's shit.
Silence. 9/17
I seem to have a knack for it. And then, BACK TO "where's the wife?" Because apparently their absence from the page was more important than what was there.
And as I sit here, one year later (Jesus this year's been a decade), I see the same centering problems. 10/17
And as I sit here, one year later (Jesus this year's been a decade), I see the same centering problems. 10/17
Notwithstanding the popularity of m/m romance with cishet white women, they're still used to being centered. Either by fetishizing the characters so the sex scenes are for their personal voyeuristic enjoyment, or placing themselves as the BFF who knows all the deets. 11/17
What I've learned is unfathomable, is outright exclusion, or negative representation. There's a reason @ladrianaherrera's Misty rings true for so many BIPOC readers and angers so many others. She's explicitly negative, because she can be, and get away with it. 12/17
There's a reason André's client doesn't bring his wife. He's a racist, misogynistic asshole who thought he was going to put a Black man in his place. Focus on that shit, not the hand-wringing over where the wife is. Y'all know this isn't romantic suspense. FOCUS. 13/17
That shit is old, and it's tired, and I need our colleagues to do better. Not everything has to center you, and if that makes you uncomfortable, I need you to sit with that and really marinate on it. 14/17
If you can't read a book without imagining where you are, imagine how we feel. Just imagine.
On another note, one of my reviews for Jeremiah was almost comical, in the the entire thing is focused on Collin. It's a great review, but it's...about Collin. 15/17
On another note, one of my reviews for Jeremiah was almost comical, in the the entire thing is focused on Collin. It's a great review, but it's...about Collin. 15/17
And y'all know I love Collin, but even in that, you can't center the Black man who's on the cover and for whom the book is named? Just easier to skip over him and on to the white guy huh? It's 2020, y'all. We have GOT to do better. 16/17
Shit, I don't even remember the purpose of this whole thread. Stop centering yourselves, be better colleagues, do better work.
And pre-order André while you're here. Two Black leads. What will they do with that
? FIN 17/17 https://books2read.com/HRAndre
And pre-order André while you're here. Two Black leads. What will they do with that
? FIN 17/17 https://books2read.com/HRAndre
