Guest blog appearance on blackgirlnerds.com

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akaria

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Brooklyn represent!
I just learned about BGN a few weeks ago. It's a fun site! Great article too. I appreciate your struggle and how much thought you put into making each character different. It was kinda funny to see someone actually look up AAVE. I got visions of you rolling around the 'hood with an AAVE-->English dictionary asking for directions to Yankee Stadium. :)

The lesson you share is universal. If you're writing dialect, you need to make it authentic. It just doesn't go for POC, but for anyone from the area you want to write. It's not like all POC talk alike either.

The Bronx gets such little love from writers and I'm just as guilty as the rest of them. It's a great borough with a lot to offer a writer of the zombie apocalypse. Most importantly, it's the only borough attached to the mainland, so it's a reasonable exit route for anyone looking to get out of the city.
 

kevinwaynewilliams

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Actually, Akaria, I took more the position of "because it's the only borough attached to the mainland, it's the only completely indefensible position". I've been pleased by how many people from Mott Haven and Port Morris have responded positively to having a book about them published that isn't an urban gangster thing. Unfortunately, most of them are poor enough that the list price of my book is out of reach, they don't own e-readers, and there are no bookstores, anyway. I donated a pile of publicity copies to a local minimarket (Sami's, which is also a key location in the novel) and tried to help people install Kindle readers on their cell phones just to get some local exposure. The donation went great, but not many people have the patience to read entire novels on a cell phone.
 
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