Desert Sleuths Chapter
of Sisters in Crime

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, Belonging

We’ve heard the term.
We’ve read it in the newsletters.
We’ve wondered what it means, and above all, what it means in our lives and for the fiction we write.

If you are writing characters who fall outside your own gender, nationality, class, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, dis/ability, religion, or cultural norm, this one-hour discussion is for you.

There has been a great deal of discussion in recent years about how authors incorporate diverse characters into fiction and how one does it with sensitivity. The bitter controversy surrounding American Dirt occupied thousands of readers and writers on Twitter and Goodreads. And what does it mean that Geraldine Brooks (a white woman) wrote a large section of her latest bestseller, Horse, from the perspective of a young, black, male slave in 1850s US?

When does storytelling become cultural appropriation? How do authors avoid stereotypes? Who should tell a story, and when is it okay to lean into the voice of someone whose identity is unlike the author’s?

José Bográn will discuss the best practices for incorporating diverse characters into fiction and for responsibly using sensitivity readers and other resources available to the writing community. He will answer questions and offer tips for implementation. It’s time we see what the buzz is about.

Preregister at: https://bit.ly/3WiA8AQ

José Bográn is an international author of novels, short stories and scripts for television and film, and a member of the Sisters in Crime DEIJB Committee. Born in Honduras, Bográn, the son of a journalist, ironically prefers to write fiction rather than facts. His genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw a twist of romance into the mix. As a freelance writer, he has several articles published in a wide range of topics in both English and Spanish.

He’s the Assistant Editor the The Big Thrill e-zine, writes book reviews for The Washington Independent Review of Books, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime, the International Thriller Writers, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. He signs his emails with the motto: “I never tell lies, I only write them.”

DARKSOUL, book #2 in the Dark Days novel – Sophie Keane is an assassin devoted to the criminal organization called The Hidden, but her loyalty is tested with an impossible mission: supply children to be used as test subjects for a new bio weapon.

Website: http://www.jhbogran.com/ | Facebook: @JHBogran0
| Instagram: @jhbogran | Twitter: @JHBogran