While writers are all deeply troubled individuals, we express that in different and dynamic ways. I am a white American Buddhist (Zen/folk) with Aspergers, OCD, and a fixation with the beauty and strength of Asian men. I even married one, a Chinese agnostic. Did you ever watch the show Dharma and Greg? We’re like that, only I don’t make me want to change the channel to anything else on the goddamn planet. 😉

There is a distinct shortage of Asian men in fiction. Especially gay fiction. In America, these men are seen as quiet, intelligent, passive, and relatively hairless. Being married to one, I can assure you this is not true. They are not an exotic species of animal brought to the States. They are people. Many of them (prepare yourself, bigots) were even born here. The ones with accents are hotter, but that’s just me and my imaginary penis talking. My husband doesn’t have an accent, but he does have an amazing ass. In marriage, you learn to make compromises.

It should come as no shock that I write exclusively about Asian men. By that, I mean as main characters. Diversity is wonderful, but, as I explained, I have a mental penis to think about. My supporting characters can be all the colors of the rainbow—literally, if I feel like it—but my lead men are golden gods. Some of my golden gods are skinny nerds or sulking naughty boys. If you’re wondering if my husband ever makes it into my stories, the answer is no. He’s not my characters’ type. I will never walk in on him with a man, he will never tie anyone up and shove a catheter up their dick. As with other idiosyncrasies, I have accepted this minor flaw.

I like flaws and issues in my characters. I mentioned my Aspergers (not a flaw, for the record) and OCD (which can fornicate itself). I don’t write about OCD because it’s no fun to have, much less force on a character, but I do have at least one character with Aspergers. We’re a weird bunch, and I’m always happy to see a new member pop up. I had no say in whether Piyabut had Aspergers or not; sometimes our characters end up diverse without our help. And by sometimes I mean all the time.

I have a butt-load of Buddhist characters, for the same reason Christians often have Christian characters. It’s not a key element, usually, just a fact of life. I do make a point to never portray Christians, or any religion, with a negative stamp. This is important to me, given my interest in extreme “Christians” (note the quotes). I’m not sure it makes my writing more diverse, but I would hate to contribute to the notion that all *insert group here* are bad/good. I have some terrible people in my writing that use religion as an excuse. That is because they are bad people.

While we’re on the subject, the worst thing I can think of is someone forcing themselves to be diverse. Have you ever watched after-school specials where they do that? Look, we have one of every race, and everyone is equal! Don’t do that. Don’t do it for the sake of doing it. Write the characters that speak to you. If you start to feel your writing is stale, go out and enrich your own soul. Your stories will reflect what you absorb. Do Latino men make you horny? Go out and learn the differences between Latin American and South American countries and see what inspires you. Don’t be the douche in the coffee shop who never does anything, and yet knows everything.

Not that you have to do a ton of stuff. Hell, I’m lazy. You can be lazy, too! But pick something and love it. Let it drag you down all sorts of roads, be wrong, and try again. Drink coffee. I can’t stress that last part enough.

And so I leave you, for my husband and visiting dad will be home from fishing soon. They spent the whole day alone in the woods, wet and dirty, and nothing sexual happened at all. I mean what the fuck? I can only assume porn has lied to me.

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This post is part of Storm Moon Press’ 4th Anniversary Celebration! Fox Lee has contributed to the Serve Me anthology, bringing some Asian flair to the theme of sexual slavery. Find Serve Me and other anthologies at Storm Moon Press and celebrate diversity in both fiction and life! Thank you for joining us, and please take a moment to enter Fox Lee’s Serve Me giveaway along with our blog-tour-wide giveaway! The prize is receiving an ebook each month from SMP for 12 months! We hope to see you around the Internet and at RainbowCon in 2014! Happy New Year!

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