Black Beauty Blog Tour: Review of Black Beauty @constanceburris

Hey y'all. So we've been suffering from some travel lag, after an amazing time at the Baltimore Book Fest. So much going on, that I haven't started my September Martial Artist Spotlight, or shared some of the awesome stuff that went down at Bmore Book Fest!

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 30: Author Bret Alexander Sweet Talks About #BSFM

So we officially close our Black Speculative Fiction Month event starting tomorrow, with our usual Martial Artist Spotlight, but we just have one more interview left.

We almost met this author back in early October, when we ventured to Sacramento for KidLitCon. Obviously because we'd never been, and lack of time management, we weren't able to cross paths.

But we saved one of the best interviews for last on our Black Speculative Month event. His book "Among The Veils" made our Top Ten list of spec fic titles featuring Bi/Multi-Racial protganists of African descent.

Author Bret Alexander Sweet is always a pleasure to have on the blog. Here's what he has to say about Black Speculative Fiction Month.

Characters From The Motherland: Twinja Book Reviews Top Ten List of African Main Characters in Spec Fic #BSFM

So we've highlighted Afro-Latinos, Bi/Multi-Racial and for the most part African American main characters in books. But what about the selected few who are able to identify with specific countries in Africa?

Many Black Americans have parents whom are immigrants from all over the continent of Africa. Since it's also the birth of humanity, it doesn't hurt to make a list highlighting main characters who can trace their ancestry before slavery.

For our last list, we cover Characters From The Motherland.

We'll try to make sure every book on the list can highlight specific countries, as opposed to pretending Africa is a monolithic continent, where every culture is the same. But if it's not stated, it is possibly a fictional world based on Africa.

Twinja Book Reviews Top 10 List of Speculative Fiction titles w/ AA protagonists #BSFM

After dedicating a fistful of lists featuring YA and MG categories, We wanted to shed light on some Adult novels with strong #Specfic themes.

Yes, you'll probably find some authors and titles that you're all familiar but we hope you discover some new titles as well on our Top Ten List of Speculative Fiction w/ African American protagonists.

Middle Graders Are Awesome Too!: Twinja Book Reviews Top 10 List of MG Books w/ AA Main Characters #BSFM

Now for some reason the Middle Grade Category doesn't get much love from a YA lovers. Maybe it's that the characters are just slightly younger? Maybe readers feel more conflicted with all the hoopla going on surrounding older readers reading stories intended for younger target audiences. 

But what's so amazing about this category is how much room there is to grow with a Middle Grade character! Many readers have to remind themselves that cool books like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are Middle Grade so that's like waaaaay more years to hold on a story. We don't know about y'all but the longer the series, THE  BIGGER THE FANGIRL!

So today's list will be.....

Top Ten Middle Grade #SpecFic Titles

Blended and Bold: Twinja Book Reviews Top Ten List of Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial Main Characters in Spec Fic #BSFM

We weren't sure how readers would interpret a list full of main protagonists whom are of African heritage, but also a blend of identities.

Black identity is extremely important to us, especially because we're Afro-Latina. We don't identify as mixed race but it is always difficult to explain being of blended cultures or identities and proud of such.

As a woman who has a biracial boyfriend(who is half Black-Haitian and half White-Colombian) I tend to forget that he struggles with identity and how he classifies himself as much as I do. We come from two different sides of the pond. We talk about race ALL the time. I know he doesn't always have it as easy as I think he does.

Never Too Young To Be a Hero: Twinja Book Reviews Top Ten List of YA Black main characters in Speculative Ficition #BSFM

Been a little distracted over the past few days, so we're revealing five lists in one day to conclude our month long event for Black Speculative Fiction!  

It's kind of no secret that we have an insane preference for Young Adult. Young Adult is just about one of the most versatile categories a writer can write in and while all the haters out there who think YA is just for teens, Libertad and myself pride ourselves in our love of YA titles!

There's something about reliving your Young Adult stage through a book. We all remember what it was like to be 15, awkward and going through things for the first time. It's always interesting to see teens have to go through these things WHILE having to save the world too.

 Twinja Book Reviews presents our Top Ten List of books highlighting Black teens in Spec Fic!

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 23: Author Dennis R. Upkins joins us again! #BSFM and LGBTQ Month all in one!

So we've got another awesome treat from author Dennis Upkins! Seeing how Black Speculative Fiction Month and LGBTQ Month fall under the same month, we couldn't go the entire month without addressing both!

Denny was cool enough to join us twice for the month, to bring awareness to some awesome spec fic featuring strong intersectionality, which is what we're really big on here @ Twinja Book Reviews!

Take out your pencils people! We're about to add some more books to our Amazon wishlists!

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 20: Author Dennis R. Upkins stops by for #BSFM

This is our first time celebrating BSFM, but the awesome Dennis Upkins has always been a crowd favorite. 

It honestly wouldn't be BSFM without him, and hopefully we'll get a chance to touch another great monument for the month with him as it is also LGBTQ Month as well.

He kind of doesn't require an intro, but We'll give him one anyways =)

Our next author to discuss Black Speculative Fiction Month: Dennis R. Upkins!

Why We Need Diverse Book Reviewers and Bloggers: Twinja Book Reviews' List of Black Book Bloggers Who Review Diverse Spec Fic #BSFM

We're more than halfway through the month, and it's about time we released some awesomeness!

Since it's Black Speculative Fiction Month, we've been highlighting authors who write speculative fiction, but what about those of us who read it? Everyone talks about how we need diverse books, which is 100% true. But one of the things we often over look, is the diversity in the book blog world.

Any one can have an appreciation for diverse titles, as they enrich the lives of everyone. But the lack of diversity makes it difficult for those who fall under a default, to truly understand the differences in narratives being told.

Black Speculative Fiction Month Day 18, #BSFM Co-Creator Author Milton Davis

We couldn't have Black Speculative Fiction Month without it's other creator, author Milton Davis.

Milton has made himself comfy on several of our bookshelves, and has been a guest on our blog during our "Diversify Your Steampunk" event, highlighting Steampunk outside of it's default narrative.

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 15:Author Alicia McCalla's Thoughts on #BSFM

 So we've been a bit taken back after KidLitCon. We're slowly gaining back momentum, after just a day of being back from California. 

To keep the ball rolling, we're featuring another author today. She's been on our blog before during our first annual Diversity Month event, and it probably wont be the last time she shows back up.

Her book "Breaking Free" will have made our list for best Black Speculative Fiction Month books in the YA catergory by the month's end(still figuring out , out of the pile of many, that we want to skim it down to) but in the meantime, here are author Alicia McCalla's thoughts on Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Black Speculative Fiction Month , Day 11: Rae Lori and A Kiss of Ashen Twinja ;p #BSFM

We're currently at KidLitCon, and having so much fun. There are so many people to gain connections with here, but we haven't forgotten it Black Speculative Fiction Month!

We're actually most associated with the next author through social networks! Rae Lori is a Black Speculative Fiction author, that we're surprised we haven't had on our blog before =)

Every author we've encountered have their own takes on Black Speculative Fiction Month, so it's amazing to see all the diverse experiences and take backs from this awesome event.

Here is what author Rae Lori has to say about Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Beyond Black and Ability: Twinja Book Reviews Top Ten List of Black Main Characters with Disabilities in Speculative Fiction #BSFM

So we're revealing some pretty cool lists of novels(which will include full length, novellas, short stories in anthologies, and the like) and the more we immerse ourselves in diversity, the more we actually learn about it.

Just with this blog alone, we've learned just how important intersectionality is, so like our list featuring books with Black Queer main characters in spec fic, this one is especially important.

Disability is often the MOST neglected marginalization. Too many people are afraid of addressing disability, and it's often why many attempts at inclusion end up problematic.

Characters with disabilities are especially important to children. Children of color dont often have proper representation, so imagine being a child of color AND having a disability.

The Invisible Latino: Twinja Book Review's Top Ten List of Afro-Latin@s/Latinos in Speculative Fiction #BSFM

We @ Twinja Book Reviews' want to honor the diversity the Black community within Speculative Fiction. We just couldn't wait to reveal this once it was complete, so here goes!

This was by far the most difficult list to create. We went from wanting a list of three, because we assumed we wouldn't find any, to a list of definite five, that we had to dig deep to find. Paying close attention to our friends on Goodreads book labels took out the guess work for one or two, but we were actually able to find 10 books that featured Afro Latinos in Speculative Fiction.

Black, Queer and Awesome: Twinja Book Reviews Top Ten List of Black Queer protagonists in Speculative Ficiton

While it is Black Speculative Fiction Month, it's also LGBTQ Month too! Queer main characters are often the most difficult to find when looking for characters of color, that are also with the Speculative Fiction Club. For the most part these books highlight main characters whom are of African Descent who identify as queer. Unless stated otherwise, every book features a major character who is Black and Queer.

 We've complied a list of the coolest books in Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, Weird Fiction, Hybrids of many, or just Speculative Fiction as a whole! Hope you hop over to GoodReads to check these out! Side Notes: Some books have several cover versions. If they were too difficult to decide which cover was more awesome, both a listed. Our efforts to highlight black authors only were difficult, so there two authors whom are white, and one whom is mixed race(Asian and white).

Black Speculative Fiction Month Day 5, Author ValJeanne Jeffers #BSFM

So Im most familiar with the next author we interviewed through our mutual connections. ValJeanne Jeffers has written in multiple Speculative Fiction genres, such as Steampunk, Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy, so obviously she has her work cut our for her.

This is her first time on our blog, and what better time than Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 3: Author Thelonious Legend #BSFM

We're a few days into the month, with our month of educating audiences about Black Speculative Fiction authors, main characters of African diaspora, or just anything we deem uber cool to highlight this month.

One of the coolest things are connecting with authors. This month is especially cool, since Speculative Fiction reaches such wide audiences. It's awesome to get the incite of many awesome authors this month, and see how they look at the event to reflect.

Thelonious Legend, author of "Sins of The Father" joins us tonight. He talks about his love, and eventual journey to pen a series that empowered Black children, that were also girls. All children of color lack literary role models in books, but Black children typically are affected different ways, due to the negativity we receive in the media.

Black Speculative Fiction Month, Day 1: Author Balogun Ojetade #BSFM

It's his third time around on Twinja Book Reviews, but he's always full of great stuff! Black Speculative Fiction Month was created by Balogun Ojetade and his associate and fellow author Milton Davis. October is a month of celebrating Black Authors in the Speculative Fiction genre. It was created last year, but hopefully there are many more to come, the more awareness we give the month.

Hear how Balogun celebrates Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Debuting a new organized Review Page!

If you dont already know, it's Black Speculative Fiction Month!

Stay Tuned for a month full of features, interviews and awesome book lists to add to your book shelves, and support Black Speculative Fiction authors!