Hidden Under Her Heart by Rachelle Ayala Guestpost and Giveaway!!

I am pleased to have Rachelle Ayala here today at Celticlady's                     Reviews! Welcome Rachelle!!!

Writing Multiracial Characters by Rachelle Ayala

The Multiracial Reality

The settings for my contemporary novels take place in California. If you’ve been to the San Francisco Bay area or Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, then you know that the local neighborhoods and schools are a true melting pot or salad bowl of people from many cultures and ethnic groups.

This is my reality growing up and living in the present. So when it comes to novel writing, I was surprised that there would be genre categories based on race. The Book Industry Study Group (www.bisg.org) includes distinct code numbers for Fiction categorized as African American, Asian American, Hispanic & Latino, Jewish, Native American & Aboriginal. The implication is that all other categories are White or European/non-Jewish stories, including all the popular categories of Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Literary Fiction, etc.

I write multiracial characters because I live in a multicultural environment. I also refuse to tag my novels with the ethnic BISAC code because I don’t want them segregated. I’m Asian American married to a Latino, but that should not limit me to writing only Asian American and Latino characters. As a writer, I am able to put myself in different situations and immerse myself to the cultural backgrounds of those around me. But most importantly, people are basically the same, and made to be one family, so writing characters across the spectrum of ethnicities is natural to me. Indeed, it would feel forced to homogenize my characters into a single type of background.

Are their any pitfalls to writing multiracial characters?

The number one area is in description. People in the United States are so sensitive to perceived racism that many authors are afraid to describe a person based on their ethnicity. You get coy references to almond shaped eyes, light tan skin tone, or maybe the wool-like hair. Wouldn’t it be neat if the characters could come out and be proud of their multiple identities and claim them? I was reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer, and I could picture the annoying Seeker being of Asian descent. Here is Ms. Meyer’s description:

“She was very small. If she had remained still, it would have taken me longer to notice her there beside the Healer. She didn’t draw the eye, a darkness in the bright room. She wore black from chin to wrists—a conservative suit with a silk turtleneck underneath. Her hair was black, too. It grew to her chin and was pushed back behind her ears. Her skin was darker than the Healer’s. Olive toned.” Meyer, Stephenie (2010-04-21). The Host: A Novel (Kindle Locations 455-458). Hachette Book Group. Kindle Edition.

In many stories, we are often left with a guessing game. If the author leaves out racial and ethnic tags, the assumption is the character is white. But if the author puts it in, some may object and say it shouldn’t make a difference. Well, that’s the point. It shouldn’t make a difference, but in order not to be invisible on the printed page, I believe the author should make it part of the description so that the reader gets the entire picture of the world the author is describing.

The second pitfall is stereotyping. There are certain stereotypes everyone holds, for better or for worse. There are also certain cultural traits, maybe an emphasis on family or food, that are real. The key is to create your character as a multi-faceted individual without regard to whether they fit the culture or buck the trend. Portray your character realistically and don’t worry about what others may say. Your character is unique with flaws and good points. If you try too hard to clean up a character because you’re afraid of stereotyping, you run the risk of cardboard perfection. Interesting characters, like people, come from all different backgrounds and have their own annoying peeves. The more multi-dimensional they are, the less likely they will come across as stereotypical.

That’s it for the pitfalls. The rest is all enrichment. Make your novel full of fun and interesting people with serious problems, high stakes, conflict and tension first. Then add the spice of multiracial characters to enhance the richness of your story and truly reflect the world around us.

Rachelle Ayala’s contemporary novels are include multiracial main characters. Jennifer Cruz Jones is Puerto-Rican and Cajun, Maryanne Torres is Ohlone, Mexican, Irish, French, and Chinese, and Lucas Knight is African-American/black and Caucasian/white.

Book Blurb:

Maryanne Torres is a compassionate nurse who fails at relationships. After a string of losers, she swears off premarital sex, hoping to land a marrying type of man.

Lucas Knight, a law-school dropout, moves to California to train for the Ironman Triathlon. He's smart, sweet, and everything Maryanne wants in a man, but their relationship suffers from his dedication to the sport. Seeking consolation in the arms of a handsome preacher's son, Maryanne attends a church party where she is raped.

Maryanne is pregnant from the rape and plans to abort. But the identity of her rapist is hidden in her baby's DNA. Lucas asks Maryanne to seek alternatives and pledges to support her through the pregnancy. When Lucas becomes the prime suspect, Maryanne must clear his name and make a life changing decision.

The rapist has other ideas. In order to destroy the evidence, he offers Maryanne an illegal offshore abortion. With Maryanne's life in danger, Lucas races to save her and her baby. However, Maryanne hides a secret that threatens to tear them apart forever.

READ AN EXCERPT

“That was some evening,” Maryanne thanked Lucas as he opened the car door and helped her out. He squeezed her hand. “It’s not over yet, is it?” She scrambled for something natural to say. Ordinarily, she’d ask him up, but the question of pregnancy had to be settled without him knowing. They walked to her door, and she paused before putting the key in the lock. “You want me to come in?” He looked hesitant, his palms turned face up. “I had a great time. I did.” She kissed his cheek. “It’s late and you should probably go home.” His brow furrowed. “Did I do something?” “No, you were great.” She leaned against his chest. “I need to be alone right now.” “Okay, I can respect that.” He held her for a moment and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Call me anytime.” She gave him a tiny wave and stepped into the apartment. Once inside, the jitters she’d suppressed hit full force. She waited the space of three heartbeats and peeked out the curtain. Lucas was nowhere in sight. Gotta do it. Oh, dear God let it be nothing. Sweat bloomed over her forehead, and she felt light headed. She opened the cabinet under her bathroom sink and extracted the leftover test from the double-pack she bought during her last scare. Her hands trembled so much she had to bite the wrapping off the stick. The test was still good with a single pink line, the control line, showing. She sat on the toilet. Please, please be negative. One, two, three, four, five. She wiped herself and stared at the toilet paper, willing it to turn pink, to show even the slightest tint of blood. The instructions said to wait three minutes. Maryanne placed the stick on the counter. She’d walk away. Should she set a timer? She glanced at the clock and paced. How could this have happened? Ryan wasn’t supposed to be dangerous. The singles’ class they attended recommended abstinence. Her head ached. But it’d been her fault to drink, to think it could numb the pain of Lucas’ rejection. Great, just great. Now Lucas would really reject her if she were pregnant with another man’s baby, as if seeing her have sex on the video wasn’t enough of a blow. Nausea bubbled to her throat. Her father was having the video analyzed. After he’d calmed down, he contacted a lawyer to trace the originator of the video and sue for defamation. Gil Torres, professional plaintiff. It was how he put her through college, bought her a car and designer clothes. She crossed to the dresser and stared in the mirror. Two minutes. It had been her fault. She should have stayed home that night. You, she pointed to her image, don’t need a man. You have to stand on your own before standing next to someone. She passed the bathroom door. One minute. Why did Lucas have to declare his love and make this harder? Hugging herself, she leaned against the wall and counted to sixty. Time was up. She marched into the bathroom and picked up the stick. Two angry pink lines pointed accusatory fingers at her. She threw it into the wastebasket and sank to her knees. Pregnant. It was still early. She had options.

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