Comments on: Underrepresented voices

By: V Lynn Burgess

V Lynn Burgess — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:20:01 +0000

Keep writing Dave! Enjoyed your response immensely, and I’m not a zombie reader but I might start if you write the stories!

By: Gary Ryan

Gary Ryan — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:50:02 +0000

How about ex-convicts? There’s an underrepresented segment for you! And they don’t stay “ex-convicts” for very long because with a seventy percent recidivism rate here in California, they quickly end up being “convicts” again. The situation is dismal all across the country.
America imprisons more of its citizens than any other place in the world. This is a very well kept secret that needs some light. My book, “Blessings in Disguise/A Tale of Redemption,” shows how one person was able to end the revolving door of jails and institutions. Check out my Author’s page on Amazon.com.

By: C.

C. — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:41:31 +0000

It’s always such a bummer when I don’t understand whether or not the query is supposed to be a joke. Querying in the comments section is a joke, surely, so that must make the query itself a joke, too – but it’s not funny enough for that.

I give up.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:25:27 +0000

By: Michael Di Gesu

Michael Di Gesu — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:10:44 +0000

Hi, Jim,

I might have something of interest for you. The Blinded Gardener is about an seventeen-year-old military brat who is abused by his alcoholic Marine Corp Captain father. The mc is pulled from his Southern California roots and moved to Beaufort, South Carolina. His life becomes more unbearable with each passing day. But then he is befriended by a blind student who has some major issues of his own. Throw in a sexy redhead to steam things up. She is the former girlfriend of the blind student and he wants her back, however she wants the mc.

Sound interesting? I would love to send you a full query and some pages if you are interested.

Thanks,

Michael

By: Dave Sosnowski

Dave Sosnowski — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:32:53 +0000

I don’t know, Jim. That last line sounds a little condescending, like saying “Some of my best friends are zombie thrillers.” I, for one, believe that decompositionally-challenged cranial-vores are grossly underrepresented among published authors, if for no other reason than the fact that their fingers tend to break off while typing and voice recognition software doesn’t get you very far when your entire vocabulary consists of the word, “brains,” usually rendered all but inaudible due to rotting vocal cords. That being the case, I really have to ask: Who will speak for the zombies, especially when they can’t speak (much) for themselves?

By: Aonghus Fallon

Aonghus Fallon — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:39:09 +0000

I guess the confusion might lie in the context. Underrepresented in society as a whole? – ie. a minority? Or underrepresented in literary terms? Quite often one is the inverse of the other, as there is a substantial body of writing that tries to address the experience of minorities.

By: DBurks

DBurks — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:57:07 +0000

I am a farmer. Who could possibly be more rare in the literary world? Maybe that is why I do not understand all the dystopic urban fantasy novels.

By: Anna Buttimore

Anna Buttimore — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:18:03 +0000

Sheesh, too bad I’m a white middle class British Mormon. I suppose I’m under-represented in that my fifth novel is being published next month and I don’t have an agent, but that kind of under-representation means I get to keep all my royalties…

My fantasy novel is about “disabled” people who have been bred that way for a particular purpose but I already sent that to Rachel Stout. Nice to have clarification like this, though.

By: Roxanne Skelly

Roxanne Skelly — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:22:24 +0000

Thanks for reaching out to those of us who don’t fall into the mainstream. I like to think folks who are on a different path have great stories and perspectives to offer to everyone.