Living diversely isnt hard. Writing diversely shouldnt be either- Guest Post on A Writer's Tale

So I met this awesome blogger/author on LinkedIn. Her name is Scarlett Van Dijk, and she has some great content on her blog about being an author, a writer, and heading down that path. I was lucky enough to be on her blog A Writer's Tale- Guest Post. Since attending BookCon's #WeNeedDiverseBooks event, Im realizing diversity should not be seen as this idea that has to be forced fed. It shouldn't be seen a fad, because frankly, my life isn't a fad. You can check out her blog anytime at this link, or at A Writer's Tale.

Writing is one of the most creatively freeing activities a person can do. Writing can be beautiful, it can be ugly. At times it can be difficult, whilst many times words can just fly off the page. Writing can reflect on your experiences, what you see in the world, what you'd like to see in the world, and it is often the first exposure a person will get to entertainment.

But sometimes we have a little trouble using the "D" word. That's right. Diversity.

Dennis R.Upkins returns!My Steps to Worldbuliding and Character Creation, Guest Post by Denny Upkins

Our Favorite King of Geeks has returned for a very thought provoking Guest Post. One of the things my sister really like about this author is that he makes you see a different perspective on topics you wouldn't normally worry yourself about based on privilege. Before my sister and I started making ourselves aware of the lack of diversity in media, we're a little ashamed to admit we knew little about the challenges that are faced in the LGBTQ community. With Dennis's help, it's opened our eyes to the injustices of what it means to be LGBTQ and a Person of Color. So to the King who needs no Introduction....... 

Guest Post: My Steps to Worldbuliding and Character Creation by Dennis Upkins:

One of the questions I'm constantly asked (which admittedly I never get tired of answering) is what  my process in terms of world building and developing complex characters.

My approach to world-building and character development ultimately corresponds to my overall approach to storytelling. As a writer, I personally belong to the school of character = story. What truth do we discover along the character's journey? More than that, whether it's fiction, articles or blog posts, I generally have three mandates which I dub E-Cubed: Enlighten, entertain and empower.

Needless to say that E-Cubed has led to other techniques which has only enhanced my storytelling abilities over the years.

How we define diversity......

So looking back at our last post I see that we haven't posted in almost 3 weeks XD But there's a totally reasonable explanation for that........You see what happened was Guinevere and I were in the beautiful Los Angeles, California. For anyone curious, my sister I and are from the east coast. In a small little ole state called Connecticut. And no Connecticut isn't a part of NYC, lol. We get that a lot!

But anyways back to the reason for our hiatus. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to log on to a computer when you're surrounded by beautiful palm trees and beaches, colorful skate parks and breathtaking landscapes. To be honest I don't know how anyone works out there! Being there work free, stress free and boyfriend free(hehe)for nearly two and a half weeks made it so hard to come back, but I'm glad we did. We're in need of some much needed new content!!!


I think the most rewarding part of our trip was the mountain upon mountains of diversity in Los Angeles. Los Angeles showed both of us a different side to diversity. It had such a different vibe and energy from the East Coast. Not better just completely different than we're used to and that was such an amazing experience! i think we both envy anyone that has the opportunity to be born in California because it is just beautiful. We saw Brown people, Pale people, Dark Brown people all together as one and it was so bloody amazing! We even got a chance to meet two of Guinevere's snail mail penpals(yes we still snail mail. It's fun you should try it, especially when you're sick of getting just bills in the mail)who are studying overseas from Spain and Malaysia.See how cute they look!!!