Might Be ...

...right up your alley.

"We are looking for original works of genre fiction (science fiction/fantasy/mystery/romance) that feature a person of color and/or LGBT as the central character."

...We are especially looking for your best young adult and independent reader submissions. Don't be afraid to be different. It doesn't have to be vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards, or about rich spoiled teens. In fact, we'd prefer it if you avoid those tropes unless you're doing something totally new with them. Don't be afraid to create new tropes or utilize ones that have no European connections. We're doing something totally new here, so don't be afraid to branch out and do something totally new in your writing."

Via Facebook, I heard of this call for YA subs, and I had to check out who was doing the calling. Verb Noire is a labor of love and an e-publishing company that will focus on works by (and about) underrepresented groups in genre fiction. Since "everybody has a story," writers and dreamers Mikki Kendall and Jamie Nesbitt Golden, working on a shoestring budget, have set out to find how those stories begin, and bring them to a larger audience.

In light of a lot of conversations I've been having lately, mainly my plaintive wish that we could do something more than talk about the underrepresented stories in genre fiction, this seems like a very exciting project where people can DO something. Kudos to Stephanie Denise Brown, one of our alums at Mills, for pointing this out.

X-Posted @ tanita's blog