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Unpopular opinion: grey spelled with an e is more aesthetically pleasing.

In honor and recognition of Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ+ community and Pride Month, all people of color, and women's rights. In honor and recognition of human rights. ...

Nova Starling, https://www.instagram.com/p/CBDjPeAgKYy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

writing romance...

Me: *gives person A a super tragic backstory*

Me: *gives person A a love interest, person B, who has no experiences to help them understand A*

Me: They're perfect! Their love will be one for the ages!

Me:

Me:

Me: *blinks*

Me: Okay, so maybe not.

Developing Diverse Characters...

...is hard. About a week ago, I started doing character development for a series I really want to write. The trouble with this is that I have been trying, with some difficulty, to invent a plethora of ethnically and sexually diverse characters. As a white, formerly sheltered, bisexual young woman, I've realized just how hard this is going to be for me. A few issues I've realised are:

I am white, which means I don't have a full grasp on what it's like to be a person of color in 21st century America, let alone a queer person of color in 21st century America.

I'm only halfway out of the closet. I've told some people about my sexuality (they were all, thankfully, very accepting) but I still hesitate to tell others. Because of this, I have not experienced the same criticism and hate that other members of the LGBTQ+ community have and therefore, I will likely get it all wrong.

I grew up in a very sheltered home and I mean sheltered as in, wasn't allowed to watch anything but Little Einsteins, Bob the Builder, and VeggieTales (bit of an exaggeration but you get the point). Despite the blinders having been removed in recent years, I'm still figuring some things out.

Then there's the issue of asking myself the question of if I'm including too much diversity. Nearly every character I've worked on so far is included somewhere among the LGBTQ+ community and while my aim is to cover a broad spectrum of sexual and romantic orientations, ethnicities, and lifestyles, the worry that I'm doing too much still creeps up on me.

And those among many others.

While it may stand to reason that, with enough research, it is possible to portray a mostly lifelike representation of everything I'd like to include, I always strive for the utmost accuracy in my writing. That, and I know I fall spectacularly short of the mark sometimes. All that being said, my goal would be to spread awareness while simultaneously not misrepresenting or offending any group or private individual. Of course, I do recognize that someone will get offended, no doubt. And I recognize that no one is perfect in any sense of the word.

Still, I hold to my claim: developing diverse characters is hard.

Reading moods be like...

Me, taking a "short" break: I'm just going to read one or two chapters of this new book and then I'll get back to writing.

Me, 279ish pages later: I'm over halfway through. I'll just finish it and then I'll keep writing.

Me, after finishing the book: Now ... where did I put the sequel?

So. Posting schedules. Funny things, right? Well, I was trying to stick to one for my social media and then I got a job. From today forward, I will be posting only on my days off which are inconsistent but should be twice a week. Thank you.

With love, Nova

René Descartes once made the profound statement "cogito ergo sum" which is latin for "I think therefore I am." I suppose he must have been having some type of existential crisis to have come up with that but it is still a favorite quote of mine.

When I first designed the aesthetic for the word "exist" I did it as a gag and included the words of René Descartes. Given that I made the original at a 16:9 ratio I had to change a few things and get it to 1:1 for Instagram (where I originally posted the aesthetic).

(original aesthetic pictured above)

I think the new quote is much more profound and gives the word a deeper meaning but the background image and knocked out text remain the same and offer a visual that is sometimes difficult to convey with words alone.

What does it mean to exist? Like, comment, reblog, or any combination of the three if you're now having an existential crisis like Mr. Descartes.

With love, Nova

So, funny story. I meant to post this two days ago but I was obligated by familial reasons to spend the whole day talking to people I would rather avoid since I'm *coughs into fist* antisocial. Therefore, even though I was off work two days ago, I didn't get to post.

But hey! You get two posts today instead and how awesome is that?

With love, Nova

Ps. The art in the background of the quote was done by Michael Manomivibul who illustrated the 25th anniversary edition of The Princess Bride novel.