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It has been a week since the US presidential election. Its outcome has caused me to reexamine many things, including my writing career. If you live in the US, I won’t make assumptions about how you voted. And I’m sure everyone everywhere is sick of talking about politics. I want you to know what this situation means to me, and how I plan to move forward.
From the moment I decided to be a writer in high school 47 years ago, I’ve always sought connection. Writing gave me a voice when I was too shy and awkward to speak for myself. Since then, I’ve seen how my words can inspire and inform people.
As someone who comes from a community that has suffered some of the most horrific persecutions in history, I felt it was important to show the humanity of others who have been marginalized. The authors of these communities are the best ones to tell their own stories, and it’s especially important now that we support them and their works. And I want to make sure their communities are included as I write about the beautiful tapestry of our diverse American society.
This type of connection, these types of stories, can only exist in a free and open society. Artists do not fare well in authoritarian regimes.
I’m not overreacting to the impending change in government. Book bans and restrictions to subjects and characters have been going on for years. The incoming administration has expressed its intention to further these restrictions. Even if the government doesn’t criminalize content outright, publishers may be reluctant to publish certain types of books.
For these reasons, I had to make changes in my writing career.
First, I canceled my author appearances for the rest of November. I didn’t feel right pitching my books and giving writing advice as if everything’s OK and nothing’s going to change.
Second, I put certain writing projects on hold. One of them is Christina’s Portrait. Although it’s inspired by a real-life tragedy, it covers many serious contemporary issues like homophobia, racism, gun violence, the COVID pandemic, and the necessity of grief. This would not be an easy book to publish after Donald Trump returns to the White House.
I’ll still write, but I need to write about other things. Still, it meant I had to set aside dreams I had. But something strange has happened since I let go of those dreams. I’m finding my voice again.
As authors, we get so focused on genre, branding, platform, and audience building that we forget why we started writing in the first place. We want to tell stories people enjoy and pay good money for, but we want our work to matter. We want to awaken readers to different perspectives and share our values. And we want to instill in our readers the most important value of all, empathy.
A situation like this forces us to return to the basics and focus on what’s truly important. This upheaval brought me back to the reason I started writing, connection. And we’ll need connection more than ever.
I plan to stay connected with you as long as I am able. I hope you’ll stay connected with me. |
