Best question answer at the Virginia book signing

[Dina]

Thanks, I remember the character (Lydia) now, I just had forgotten her name.

Also you forgot Kim Delaney (a white brunette, I believe)

[groinkick]

lol...  Can we just admit that by the wide variety of characters Jim has that he genuinely just writes the characters that pop into his head, and he doesn't attempt to fill any quota?  He just writes what comes to him, and that is how it should be.

[Slowpool]

lol...  Can we just admit that by the wide variety of characters Jim has that he genuinely just writes the characters that pop into his head, and he doesn't attempt to fill any quota?  He just writes what comes to him, and that is how it should be.

  Exactly this.  He's just focused on having a good time, which is a rare enough thing these days.  Soapboxes suck.

[Foxed]

At the same time, I can see how frustrating it is that very little of the *Chicago* cast is Black.

I think it's just Rawlins?

[Slowpool]

At the same time, I can see how frustrating it is that very little of the *Chicago* cast is Black.

I think it's just Rawlins?

  Rawlins and LaMar the paramedic are the only two I can think of at the moment.  Plus a number of side characters who I'd be interested in seeing more of, such as the Honorable Mavis Jefferson from Jury Duty.  She seems like she could be an ally or antagonist to Harry in equal measure.  Maybe Harry too, in the Will Smith alternate universe.

[groinkick]

At the same time, I can see how frustrating it is that very little of the *Chicago* cast is Black.

I think it's just Rawlins?

Stars and Stones....  It depends which part of Chicago you are from. 



If he's from any of those blue sections it's almost entirely non black.

[Quantus]

Stars and Stones....  It depends which part of Chicago you are from. 



If he's from any of those blue sections it's almost entirely non black.

Huh, interesting.  Do you happen to have those for whatever Chicago's other major ethnicities are?  Im curious where the rest of the percentages go

[Griffyn612]

I think Jim writes what he knows.  At the signing her was asked about Hindu deities appearing in the series.  He said they eventually would, but they hadn't yet because he was hesitent to do so because he didn't know enough about them to do them justice. 

I think the same can be said for other demographics and cultures as well.  But as groinkick points out, and it came up last time as well, Chicago neighborhoods vary. 

My only point was to show the demographics she was talking about.  The numbers alone don't take into account that a significant percentage of the women come from three families, all of whom share appearance, while also ignoring the fact that a portion stem from regional mythology that would dictate their appearance.

I think we can all agree that JB should write what he wants, and what he knows, and tell the story as he sees fit.  He'll incorporate more elements, be it cultural or demographical or mythological, when and if he's ready to do so in a respectful manner.

[Quantus]

I think Jim writes what he knows.  At the signing her was asked about Hindu deities appearing in the series.  He said they eventually would, but they hadn't yet because he was hesitant to do so because he didn't know enough about them to do them justice. 

True, said the same thing about the Hawaiian mythos, when talking about the eventual Short Story detailing Murphy and Kincaid's "vacation".

[Talby16]

Sure.  I'm not saying there isn't diversity either.  But for women, here's your cast:

White blonde, most with blue eyes: Karrin, Molly, Charity, Mab/Titania, Aurora, Ivy, Georgia, Luccio (post-swap), Gard, Lash (initially), Sarissa, Anna V, Hannah, Justine, Elaine, Kelly Hamilton, Abby, Monica S

White brunette: Lara, Inari, Tania, Natalia, Elisa, Madeline, Lacuna, Tess, Deirdre, Margaret, Maggie, Esmerelda (Eebs seem Spansih rather than Latino), Helen B, Lydia (Cassandra's tears), Kim D

White exotic hair: Molly (dyed), Maeve, Jenny G, Lily

White redheads: Lea, Andi

Not white: Susan, Martha, Ancient Mai, Tera, Bianca, Arianna, Olivia (?), Lydia S, Yoshimo

Am I missing anyone?  I'm sure there are some more, especially one-off characters. 

Anywho, of the not white selection, you've got five that appeared in one book each, one that appeared in two, another that appeared in three, and one that appeared in five. 

Combined, the same number of appearances as Murphy alone. 

I think that when discussing physical appearance all the vampires should be dismissed from the conversation. Reds create their own fleshy shell and while it is probably somewhat similar to their original appearance they definitely ramp up the sex appeal. Whites (specifically those that feed on lust) are also described as being unearthly beautiful or god-like. Remember that Harry saw a different un-demonized Thomas in the soul-gaze. With the vampires (except black) lean and beautiful seem to come with the territory.

[groinkick]

I think Jim writes what he knows.  At the signing her was asked about Hindu deities appearing in the series.  He said they eventually would, but they hadn't yet because he was hesitent to do so because he didn't know enough about them to do them justice. 

I think the same can be said for other demographics and cultures as well.  But as groinkick points out, and it came up last time as well, Chicago neighborhoods vary. 

My only point was to show the demographics she was talking about.  The numbers alone don't take into account that a significant percentage of the women come from three families, all of whom share appearance, while also ignoring the fact that a portion stem from regional mythology that would dictate their appearance.

I think we can all agree that JB should write what he wants, and what he knows, and tell the story as he sees fit.  He'll incorporate more elements, be it cultural or demographical or mythological, when and if he's ready to do so in a respectful manner.

Well put.  Hit the nail on the head.

[Griffyn612]

I think that when discussing physical appearance all the vampires should be dismissed from the conversation. Reds create their own fleshy shell and while it is probably somewhat similar to their original appearance they definitely ramp up the sex appeal. Whites (specifically those that feed on lust) are also described as being unearthly beautiful or god-like. Remember that Harry saw a different un-demonized Thomas in the soul-gaze. With the vampires (except black) lean and beautiful seem to come with the territory.

Sure.  For any supernatural creature, appearance is a weapon.  My list was more oriented toward the racial representation of the series rather than the attractiveness.  Because outside of maybe one or two of those I listed, they're all (human and monster alike) described as beautiful.

[Quantus]

Sure.  I'm not saying there isn't diversity either.  But for women, here's your cast:

White blonde, most with blue eyes: Karrin, Molly, Charity, Mab/Titania, Aurora, Ivy, Georgia, Luccio (post-swap), Gard, Lash (initially), Sarissa, Anna V, Hannah, Justine, Elaine, Kelly Hamilton, Abby, Monica S

White brunette: Lara, Inari, Tania, Natalia, Elisa, Madeline, Lacuna, Tess, Deirdre, Margaret, Maggie, Esmerelda (Eebs seem Spansih rather than Latino), Helen B, Lydia (Cassandra's tears), Kim D

White exotic hair: Molly (dyed), Maeve, Jenny G, Lily

White redheads: Lea, Andi

Not white: Susan, Martha, Ancient Mai, Tera, Bianca, Arianna, Olivia (?), Lydia S, Yoshimo

Am I missing anyone?  I'm sure there are some more, especially one-off characters. 

Anywho, of the not white selection, you've got five that appeared in one book each, one that appeared in two, another that appeared in three, and one that appeared in five. 

Combined, the same number of appearances as Murphy alone. 

Lucio's new body had Brown hair and dark eyes rather than blond, but it never actually says White girl that I can find. Id always pictured Asian myself, though I assume that has more to do with the Ghoul she ran with in DB.  I honestly think it might have more to do with a general audience-side assumption that a character is white unless there is something more specific mentioned. 


It's not all that different on the male side, though.  Aside from a pair of Knights, LTW, "Lucky" and maybe Mac (Ive tried and failed to find confirmation either way, I always pictured him black myself), there was a strong preponderance of generally white men (hair color not being a significant delineator on that side).  Of course, there was a strong preponderance of Catholics, racially pale Vampires, European mythological figures, and the overall Council membership that has always been noted as being overly skewed toward European.  The only groups that should actually /be/ represented by anything like the real regional ethnic distribution would be the Alphas as generic college kids, and Marcone's organization.  And maybe the KotC, which are already about as diverse as a 4-person sample size can be. 



PS I dont think I understand the distinction between the Eebs being counted as white but Susan not being.  Admittedly Ive always struggled with the fuzzy distinction between "White" and "European".  I mean, even old Luccio would have been 18th century Italian and a reasonably far cry from the nordic European in terms of coloring. 

[Griffyn612]

Lucio's new body had Brown hair and dark eyes rather than blond, but it never actually says White girl that I can find. Id always pictured Asian myself, though I assume that has more to do with the Ghoul she ran with in DB.  I honestly think it might have more to do with a general audience-side assumption that a character is white unless there is something more specific mentioned. 


It's not all that different on the male side, though.  Aside from a pair of Knights, LTW, "Lucky" and maybe Mac (Ive tried and failed to find confirmation either way, I always pictured him black myself), there was a strong preponderance of generally white men (hair color not being a significant delineator on that side).  Of course, there was a strong preponderance of Catholics, racially pale Vampires, European mythological figures, and the overall Council membership that has always been noted as being overly skewed toward European.  The only groups that should actually /be/ represented by anything like the real regional ethnic distribution would be the Alphas as generic college kids, and Marcone's organization.  And maybe the KotC, which are already about as diverse as a 4-person sample size can be. 



PS I dont think I understand the distinction between the Eebs being counted as white but Susan not being.  Admittedly Ive always struggled with the fuzzy distinction between "White" and "European".  I mean, even old Luccio would have been 18th century Italian and a reasonably far cry from the nordic European in terms of coloring.

I believe white is anything from Europe and even northern Africa, so Luccio would be white. Susan, however, seemed to be more Latino than European Spanish, which is what the Eeb's names are.

You're right, Alicia had brown hair and dark eyes.  So she could be anyone.

I'm sure there's some assumption on parts as they picture characters, but I'm not sure it's as simple as default to white.  I picture Stallings and Chandler as black, because Stallings made me think of Carl Winslow for some reason, and Chandler made me think of Salmon from James Bond.  Alicia made me think of the head mean girl from Mean Girls.  I'm sure it's the same for others.

[Dashkull]

My interpretation of Jim’s answer is basically “the moment I am writing and start thinking “oh no I don’t have enough of this type of person so who should I change?” Is the moment I am both not writing the story I see in my head, and I am inserting politics into the story. I don’t want to do either of those things, so I will keep writing the same way I always have”

That is a great answer to the question. For what it’s worth, my wife has always said she wouldn’t mind some different body types in the books, but his answer makes perfect sense.

As for his tone, I think he answered in a way to make it plain he had heard the question before, he understands where it is coming from, but it’s not something he intends to pay any attention to.