I'll answer one more question about writing as a single woman—actually, as a single black woman—to wrap up the Writing when you're single series...
#3 How is being a black
woman writer different? You’re the one who said it was, so no chickening-out,
now.
So, some things are common to the human experience and to a
woman’s writing experience, of course: wishing you were published like any writer, concern
about being taken seriously within your genre (I think Anne McCaffrey is a good
example—a woman writing what folks realized was science fiction in the 70s), and so on. But, has anyone here ever tried to write a fantasy fiction story
for their favorite video game, did decently well, drummed up a good fanbase, and
then wondered whether your fans even knew if you were black? Wondered if that
would cause them to question what they’re reading, whether her characters in a fantasy universe (when these are predominantly white) really were so
well-informed, or wondered if it would just be safer to keep your racial identity
to yourself, or simply not bring it up so that you can keep focusing on enjoying the
story? Can you even call that enjoying the story?
