Tiffany Reisz and Tiffany Ashley discuss diversity in romance (508 hits)
It's the invasion of the Tiffanys at HEA! Which is never a bad thing when they're these particular Tiffanys. Tiffany Reisz, author of The Saint (Original Sinners book five), and Tiffany Ashley, author of Beyond the Velvet Rope, answer some questions about diversity in romance novels, including their own.
Q: Diversity comes in so many forms. Can you talk about how diversity is represented in your recent book?
Tiffany R.: The book I'm current writing (The Virgin, Original Sinners book seven) has two dueling plotlines. One follows my heroine, Nora, as she hides out from her ex-lover in a convent and has an affair with a young nun. The other storyline concerns my hero, Kingsley, as he runs away to Haiti and falls in love with a beautiful Haitian woman. So in one plot, I have two women falling for each other. The other plot is an interracial romance between a rich white Frenchman and a beautiful black Haitian woman with a dark secret. So we have LGBT characters and a multicultural love story in one book.
Q: As an African-American writer, Tiffany A., do you feel more pressure to portray your characters in a certain way?:
Tiffany A.: I do not feel pressure to portray my characters a certain way. However, I do feel a certain obligation to reveal human relationships as realistic as I possibly can. Throughout my life, I've found the things that divide us are not as simple as skin color. Social class, upbringing, finances, and life experiences mold us into the individuals we are and define (if not strengthen) our stereotypes. The need to feel a part of a group is as strong as creating a sense of exclusivity. As a writer, my job is to uncover the good and bad in all my characters, expose their weaknesses and emphasize their strengths. Only by doing this, am I able to humanize my characters. And once humanized, the reader is able to connect (if not sympathize) with the character's situation. Allowing any character to easily fall into a general stereotype would be irresponsible, and to be quite honest, damn lazy.
