There’s been a bit of a rumble about POC characters and their portrayals on covers. I’ve heard it said that books with POC characters on the covers don’t sell. Mind you, I’ve seen no data to back that up so I can’t speak to its reality. I’ve had authors come to me and say, “I’ve been told this. This has happened to me.” And that makes it a very real problem.

Now, I can tell you from my experience I’ve never had a push back from my publisher, Dreamspinner Press, about have a POC character on the covers or in the books. If anything, I’ve not gotten so much as a blink from the company about the ethnic makeup of my characters and have only been encouraged to write well and go where the story takes me. I have had to educate a few of my editors on Hawaiian, Japanese and a few other things but that’s par for the course (and hey, they’re trying to be sensitive to cultural norms). I’ve also had to establish we say “the” in front of the freeway numbers in California and carne asada fries are actually a thing. So it’s a working cultural exploration sometimes for them… as well as my narrators who probably know more about bao and saimin than anyone really needs to.

I come from a multi-cultural background. I have Irish and Portuguese influences as much as I do Asian and Hawaiian. I do not choose to be one race because I am all of those combined. I have all of those cultural influences and a few others from growing up in a family with a diverse ethnic makeup. I write what is around me and what is around me is a full spectrum of white, peach, beige, brown and gold.

All of that being said, the very IDEA — much less PRACTICE — of suppressing the voices of a POC authors, POC characters and their portrayals on the book covers enrages me. I will stand with any author who gets that kind of dismissal from a publisher or a reader. It is not a “white-wash*” or even an erasure. It is a denial of existence. It is a shunning of people who exist outside of a small slice of the world’s vibrant landscape of people.

A rainbow cannot exist without all of the colours and neither can we.

* I dislike this phrase for a variety of reasons but I understand its common use. I imagine this goes hand in hand with brown-washing a character, writing a POC character without exploring or accurately depicting their cultural influences. But that’s all another discussion.

In other news, I’m having to go back and add a chapter to the book I’m writing because I sat on the maybe of it and then decided yes.

And the cat has decided it is LOVE HER day so I’m not getting a moment’s peace.

Once Upon A Wolf Blog Stop for today is: Joyfully Jay

Release date is Feb 16 and a few blogs are gracious enough to let me drop by. I’m bringing you… some werewolf facts and giveaways at every blog stop. A $25 USD gift certificate at every stop!

Follow the Once Upon A Wolf Blog Tour (Feb 13-17) and be sure to enter each blog’s gift certificate giveaway!
13        Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
14        Boy Meets Boy Reviews
15        The Novel Approach
16        It’s About the Book
17        Joyfully Jay

Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
February 16, 2018 • Published by Dreamspinner Press

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

Purchase OUAW at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, and other online book stores.

Once Upon A Wolf Blog Stop for today is: It’s About the Book

Release date is Feb 16 and a few blogs are gracious enough to let me drop by. I’m bringing you… some werewolf facts and giveaways at every blog stop. A $25 USD gift certificate at every stop!

Follow the Once Upon A Wolf Blog Tour (Feb 13-17) and be sure to enter each blog’s gift certificate giveaway!
13        Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
14        Boy Meets Boy Reviews
15        The Novel Approach
16        It’s About the Book
17        Joyfully Jay

Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
February 16, 2018 • Published by Dreamspinner Press

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

Purchase OUAW at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, and other online book stores.

Once Upon A Wolf Blog Stop for today is: The Novel Approach

Release date is Feb 16 and a few blogs are gracious enough to let me drop by. I’m bringing you… some werewolf facts and giveaways at every blog stop. A $25 USD gift certificate at every stop!

Follow the Once Upon A Wolf Blog Tour (Feb 13-17) and be sure to enter each blog’s gift certificate giveaway!
13        Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
14        Boy Meets Boy Reviews
15        The Novel Approach
16        It’s About the Book
17        Joyfully Jay

Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
February 16, 2018 • Published by Dreamspinner Press

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

Purchase OUAW at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, and other online book stores.

Once Upon A Wolf Blog Stop for today is: Boy Meets Boy Reviews

Release date is Feb 16 and a few blogs are gracious enough to let me drop by. I’m bringing you… some werewolf facts and giveaways at every blog stop. A $25 USD gift certificate at every stop!

Follow the Once Upon A Wolf Blog Tour (Feb 13-17) and be sure to enter each blog’s gift certificate giveaway!
13        Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
14        Boy Meets Boy Reviews
15        The Novel Approach
16        It’s About the Book
17        Joyfully Jay

Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
February 16, 2018 • Published by Dreamspinner Press

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

Purchase OUAW at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, and other online book stores.