Thursday, July 19, 2012

Why I Love Multicultural Romance

I write multicultural/interracial romance and I love it!

When I started writing romance, I primarily wrote Caucasian characters... well, I still do depending on the storyline...but that's the type of books I was exposed to. I'd believed there wasn't a market for multicultural characters because there were hardly any books featuring Asian heroes or heroines. I had longed to find some stories that I could relate to but they weren't available to me. I figured if I was in  search of these kinds of stories, maybe others were too, so I should write them. Easy solution, right?

Although I'm westernized, I suffered an identity crisis in my youth. I grew up in the US and it never occurred to me that I was any different from any other American. I suppose no one ever treated me as if I was a foreigner because kids didn't see color. When I was in middle school, I had a rude awakeningbut that story is for another dayI suppose I'd always been drawn to Caucasian men  because my very first boyfriend and childhood best friend was blond haired blue eyed. I could never forget him so maybe that was the reason why I didn't have an interest in Asian men.


However, when I started writing Asian characters I needed a bit of inspiration. I had watched a lot of romance dramas from Taiwan and Korea, and over the years, I discovered that these heroes were as attractive and brooding as the ones in my books. For a bit of inspiration I would research images for my "hero" board. Such hard work, I tell ya! LOL — One of my recent proposals sent to my agent was about a Korean rock star and I needed a vivid idea of how he'd look like, act, etc. The images I have on this post are of the inspiration for my "heroes". I thought I'd share with you these hotties to prove that Asian heroes aren't so hard on the eyes...


Reasons why I love writing them:

  • Guyliner
  • Polished sense of style
  • Romantic
  • Enigmatic
  • Hot bods—mostly Chocolate Abs aka Abs of Steel
  • Loyalty
  • Will do anything for their woman

Enjoy!


4 comments:

Naima Simone said...

Awesome post, Jax!!

I so relate! Like you, I write multicultural/interracial romance and I love it, too! Growing up, the books I read didn't have many characters from different cultures. Didn't stop me from enjoying the love story, but when authors like Linda Howard and Nora Roberts started including multicultural characters in their books, it was like, wow!! Nowadays, it seems more and more writers are celebrating our differences, and I adore it! Including bestselling authors like Nalini Singh and Lora Leigh. Every race--Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Persian, Native American--has their unique and beautiful characteristics that make sexy and awesome heroes and heroines.

I love your post!!

Jax Cassidy said...

I totally agree, Naima! I believe there is a need and a market and I think publishers are starting to see this. It's always nice to run into readers who tell me how happy I'm writing Asian characters. I feel like their encouragement only reaffirms my decision to write multicultural romances. :)

Wynter said...

I love this post. I write multicultural characters because I think there's just not enough of it. And I've had letters from readers thanking me for it. I truly believe in celebrating differences and I'm glad you are filling a need in the romance community.

Jax Cassidy said...

Wynter--that's awesome! Glad to hear there is a demand. That's all I can hope for.