thoughtfulWhen I opened my planner to today, I found a note from myself, written months upon months ago, letting me know that today was the release date for Wicked Pretty Things.
Well, damn.
For those of you who may have missed the whole sordid mess, Wicked Pretty Things was a YA paranormal romance anthology in which I was supposed to have a story. I withdrew my story, as did many other authors. You can see my original post on the situation here, which includes links to various other posts on the topic. As you can probably guess (if you don't already know), it was a big mess. Eventually, so many people pulled out of the book that it was canceled. It's not coming out today; it's not coming out ever.
I hate that this book had to die. I hate that withdrawing my story was necessary. I am so very proud of our community of authors and readers and bloggers for standing up and saying "no, this is not okay; no, this is not that time; no, this is not that place; no, we will not say that we're against bullying and discrimination, and then sit passively by while we bully through exclusion, while we discriminate against teens who need literary escape as much, if not more, than anyone." We said no. We said no, and because of that, things changed, even if it was only a very little bit.
I'm sorry that I'm not celebrating this book's release day today. I'm sorry that I'm not running a contest and babbling about how wonderful it all is. But I am very, very proud of everyone who was involved with this project and stood up for what they thought and knew and believed was right. Things are getting better.
We're making them a little bit better every single day.
August 3 2011, 17:24:25 UTC 5 years ago
Your post back in March, where you pointed out that books didn't make your sexuality, was much appreciated. Though I think I have to disagree just a touch for myself. Books may not have caused my sexuality, but they sure made sure it bloomed and grew into something unstinting and untwisted.
Books gave me freedom to know that the many facets of sexuality existed, and might - just might - be okay even if it they are different. To use your own topical example, I started into Valdemar with Arrows of the Queen in sixth grade. Three lesbian heroines (albiet secondary characters) didn't even make me blink. Three books later, three homosexual guys showed up, and that was just fine too. ("Stick to the sheep, they don't snore." is still my favorite ending line to a book ever.) While those books, and many others, didn't influence my genetic makeup, they certainly helped me stay away from the pitfalls of assholism and name-calling, of self-doubt and anxiety, as I had to figure out who and what I was.
August 5 2011, 19:21:39 UTC 5 years ago
I am so glad you had those books.