tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354250.post8435662225332321876..comments2024-01-31T01:40:57.553-06:00Comments on Adventures in Reading: Mind of My Mind, by Octavia ButlerJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16094675116398769415noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354250.post-29818349191446613252007-04-15T10:08:00.000-05:002007-04-15T10:08:00.000-05:00Hello Joe,I noticed some of your comments over on ...Hello Joe,<BR/><BR/>I noticed some of your comments over on the Fantasybookspot website and got curious enough to drop by. I particularly appreciated your mentioning that you were enjoying Octavia Butler and interested in more titles by culturally diverse writers. I'm African-American, and I remember the first time somebody gave my mom an Octavia Butler book. We both thought it was sort of weird that a black writer was writing sci-fi. Strange, that, because as an adolescent I read tons of sci-fi and fantasy. Why did I not imagine writers of color producing it?<BR/><BR/>Fast forward a couple decades. I'm a novelist. My first three books (Gabriel's Story, Walk Through Darkness and Pride of Carthage) were historical. My fourth (Acacia: The War with the Mein) is epic fantasy. It's coming out this June and hopefully will be a publication of note. I've evolved a great deal in terms of what I think fantasy can mean for writers of color. Acacia is very much informed by being about a multicultural world. It's inclusive and complex in ways that much traditional fantasy hasn't been. Well, that's my hope, at least. <BR/><BR/>If you’re at all interested please look out for it. I keep a blog as well, and post reviews etc as they come in. (So far so good, by the way. A nice Library Journal and stars from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, sales to Italian and German publishers.) And if you do ever read it let me know what you think! Oh, and if you like it tell others about it. This shift to fantasy is a bit risky for an African-American literary historical novelist. I really want it work, though, and I welcome any help I can get.<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>David.David Anthony Durhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.com