Transgender brothers raised in Surrey have co-authored a debut fantasy novel that aims to challenge racism and transphobia.
Vincent Hunter is the pen name for Kise Vincent Hastings, 29, and Hunter Levi Hastings, 25, who self-published The Garnet Crown in August.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e co-authored the book as a duo, which is not too common for brothers,乌鸦传媒� Vincent said.
Graduates of Kwantlen Park Secondary in Surrey, the siblings say their book 乌鸦传媒渄elivers a thrilling high-level fantasy plot that features diverse characters and themes.乌鸦传媒�
Vincent said J. K. Rowling乌鸦传媒檚 recent 乌鸦传媒渁nti-transgender tweets乌鸦传媒� challenge diversity in the fantasy genre, and that the Surrey-based duo is determined to showcase transgender, LGBTQIIA+ and queer characters in their novel series.
乌鸦传媒淭ransgender people are being misrepresented in popular fiction and media, and we aim to change that,乌鸦传媒� the duo say in a news release. 乌鸦传媒淎s mixed-race transgender individuals, we grew up terribly underrepresented in all of the fandoms that we have loved. When we were represented, it did no justice. The characters that were portrayed as 乌鸦传媒榙iverse乌鸦传媒� or 乌鸦传媒榯ransgender乌鸦传媒� were written stereotypically, were usually antagonists, and did not occupy main roles in the story.乌鸦传媒�
Mixed-race individuals were rarely mentioned at all, the duo add.
乌鸦传媒淲henever we tried to challenge the representations of transgender and mixed-race characters in popular fiction, we were often discouraged by educators and told by other fans that our kind of person didn乌鸦传媒檛 belong in these series because they were not a part of the lore.乌鸦传媒�
The Garnet Crown, a 666-page book billed as 乌鸦传媒淏ook 1 in the Crimson Plumes series,乌鸦传媒� , in both soft-cover and e-book formats.
The book also aims to celebrates Canadian values, the brothers say.
乌鸦传媒淎s Canadians, we wanted to write a story that represented the diversity and inclusion that our country is known for,乌鸦传媒� the duo stated. 乌鸦传媒淲e are proud to be Canadian and we were determined to write an epic fantasy series that highlighted how important and wonderful our country乌鸦传媒檚 values are. We hope that our novel will inspire the world to be more like Canada and to celebrate multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion.乌鸦传媒�
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Vincent Hunter has also written an album of 乌鸦传媒渟hanties and tavern songs乌鸦传媒� to promote their love for the fantasy genre and the universe they乌鸦传媒檝e created. Some of the tunes, featured on the album 乌鸦传媒淪hanties & Songs of Aldrayon,乌鸦传媒� are posted to their .
They hope their novel series will inspire others who have felt marginalized and misrepresented to write and share their stories, and participate in the fandoms they love.
乌鸦传媒淥ur stories deserve to be told and we deserve to take up space. We乌鸦传媒檙e a part of this world too, and it乌鸦传媒檚 time people realized that,乌鸦传媒� the brothers stated.
Vincent Hunter is on , and , and also runs a page.
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