Dragons of Cretala: Representation

I've said often that Dragonslayer (and all of my stories for that matter) are diverse. When I say this, I mostly talk about the neurodiversity within my characters.

I don't plan to make my characters neurodiverse, but they are because I am. I see the world through the brain that I have, and many of my characters end up the same because that's just how the world is for me. They don't have a name for it in Cretala, but so many of them are just naturally autistic.

The diversity that I don't talk about often is my LGBTQ rep. Many of my characters fit into that scope because the world is diverse and my characters are too. Some of my characters are gay and lesbian and bisexual, and some of them are straight. Some of them are trans and nonbinary and genderfluid, and some of them are CIS. Some of that shows up on my pages, and some of it just is. Perhaps it will show up one day, but so far it hasn't been relevant to the story.

I don't talk about that diversity within my books because I am a straight CIS woman. Do I write queer novels? I don't know. I have queer characters. Do I write sapphic novels? I don't know. Dragonkeeper could be (spoilers), but I'm not sure on the boundaries.

I know I'm probably overthinking this because I'm sure the Trump voters would gladly ban my book all the same, but that's how my brain works (see above)

I don't want to do a disservice to my readers by not talking about the diversity in my books. I don't want to stick my characters in the closet by not talking about them with the pride that I truly have for them. But, at the same time, I don't want to overstep and claim something that doesn't belong to me.

I didn't write them for the recognition or to fit into a category, after all. I wrote them because they are and because they deserve to be. As to what adjectives that adds to my book? No clue.

Dragonslayer releases March 11. It follows the story of Dri, a girl who can see dragons where nobody else can. They feed on the emotions and disease of her people, and she sets out on a quest to learn to slay her incorporeal foe. You can read the first two chapters and preorder on my website: https://emberwrites.com/dragonslayer.html