2nd Annual Diversity Month Day 30: Author Interview w/ Author Lamar Giles +Kindle Fire 6" and Book Giveaway!

 So our final guest today is someone we had the pleasure of meeting @ BookCon during the #weneeddiversebooks panel. There were a lot of amazing authors there, including

 the amazing Ellen Oh and Marieke Nijkamp from DiversifYA but it was this amazing man by the name of Lamar Giles who truly stood out with his musings on diverse books. If you have a chance to listen to the audio here, you'll know that this man means business!

*Guinevere with Lamar Giles @ BookCon*

Why we go so hard for Diverse Books! Giveaway alert!!!

My sister and I get asked this ALL the time! Why is this a big deal to you? 

Don't you just like cool stories?

 And our favorite, Why do you go so hard for Diverse Books? Books are books, readers will read the ones that they connect to.

Who cares if the main protagonist is Latino. Or Transgender, Disabled or even all three! 

You are what's wrong with the world because all you see are the differences in people!

We get asked these things on a regular basis. And not just from strangers. Close friends and family members add to the list of people that just don't get it!

Week Four of OUR Favorites, Day Two :Favorite Authors- Barry Lyga + Ellen Oh's Prophecy/Warrior & Sarwat Chadda's The Savage Fortress/The City of Death giveaway!

Has anyone had one of those series that resonated with you SO much that all you could do was punish yourself by reading more, even though you were , like, deadly afraid to finish???

That was totally the case with today's FAVORITE:

 Barry Lyga and his Jasper Dent Series.

Cover Reveal: Daughter of Zeus by Red Harvey + Starbucks giveaway!

So we don't do many cover reveals, but I was really excited about this book, so I(Guinevere) decided that if Im going to do one, I might as well let my first one of the year be this one!

I've gotten the opportunity to read a book from Red Harvey in the past, and I thought she was a really great sport. She was very patient, and I know everyone wants their books read when they send them, but sometimes life just gets in the way, and patience usually wins me over more than email after email asking did I get a chance to read a book yet.

Im really excited about Red Harvey's "Daughter of Zeus." Why you might ask? Because not only is it Young Adult and fantasy driven(two of my favorite things), the main protagonist is Latina! I think it goes without saying Latinos/as usually get the short end of the stick in fantasy, and sci fi. Im not sure why, but the exclusion is often overwhelming. So it's a pleasure to see authors whom are not only Latina, but writing Latina characters. Because why shouldn't everyone get to be a leading lady or man?

Still not convinced? Why don't you check out this awesome cover and blurb?!?

#WeNeedDiverseBooks! Help this hashtag go viral!

So we were approached recently by author Ellen Oh(Prophecy Series ,about a woman destined to save a fictional Korea)since she's been a guest on our sister blog Twinja Book Reviews. And of course, because she's our homegirl ;p

For anyone who's heard, which were sure you have, BookCon hosted an event to highlight who they thought were the biggest authors in Kid Lit. The only issue? There were all white, cis-gendered, straight, middle aged men. 

The issue isnt with their race. It's mainly due to the idea that these are the only powerhouses in Kid Lit, and they all represented the only demographic people seem to cater to in this country. White, middle aged men.

So there's a social media event going on May 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and we were invited to help spread the word. Our book review blog highlights books with main characters from marginalized groups. Mostly the only exception we'll make for a main character who isnt from a marginalized group, is if their love interest is, and plays just a big of part as the main character in the story(sometimes this is the case for dual protagonists, much like our future release of "The Mark of Noba").

The Campaign is called #WeNeedDiverseBooks. It is a visual social media campaign, and anyone interested, we need help to make this thing go viral.

Diversify Your Steampunk Day 1: Unvanishing Indians, Guest Post by Joseph Bruchac

So we were soooooo lucky enough to score some a guest post with our first guest, Joseph Bruchac. If you're not familiar with him, he's the writer to over 100+books featuring American Indian/Native American culture. He's been around for a while, my sister and I really started paying attention when he released his latest Steampunk influenced Novel, Killer of Enemies(also featuring a Native American girl as his main protagonist). So happy to have him with us today, It's always a pleasure featuring such an esteemed author as himself. So without boring you with our banter, We present to you......

UNVANISHING INDIANS

By Joseph Bruchac

Blogoversary Celebration Day 8: with Kelbian Noel of "Diverse Pages" + 15.00 Amazon Giftcard giveaway+Bonus 10.00 Amazon giftcard Giveaway!!!

There are so few book blogs that highlight main characters of color in books. This is why Diverse Pages stands out! While it is all run mainly by author Kelbian Noel, it is a collective effort of 5 author/writers hoping to give you more to choose from when it comes to diversity in your books! We always check back up with this page to check out new books!

Blogoversary Celebration Day 3: Are you Diversifying your YA? DiversifYA's Marieke Nijkamp + $15 Amazon giftcard giveaway

Since my sister and I started blogging, DiversifYa has become one of our go to blogs!We check in every new post and I'm pretty sure they were one of the first blogs we really started following religiously. DiversifYA features up and coming authors, aspiring writers and much needed discussions about all things diversity. So we're happy to invite the creator of the site, Marieke Nijkamp on our blog today!!!

1. Why don't spend the next moment describing yourself in 20 words or less :)

How about...  "Writer. Reader. Traveler. Dreamer. Geek. Lover of life." That's eight. Twenty if you include my humming and hawing.

2. No, we didn't forget we're talking blogs :) Why don't you talk a little about your blog and it's mission!