Differences in Fiction

I have heard this debated on all sides; characters with disabilities should be included in fiction, characters with disabilities should never be included in fiction unless they are the main character. People who are gay should not be included unless that is the audience we are writing for… what a bunch of hogwash.

People love to debate these things, acting as if the readers did not know that some people have intellectual challenges, as if the readers are unaware of industrial accidents that cause people to lose an arm or a leg. Do you think any reader in the modern world is unaware of differing sexual preferences, sexual needs, and sexual orientation?

Fiction, films, entertainment and art in general reflects our reality and our reality reflects our art. By not including aspects of the human experience, we are cheating ourselves, our time and our reality. People with certain challenges achieve some amazing things… should we pretend otherwise?

Different is not wrong, one of the many themes I include in each of my stories. This needs to be stressed and stressed again so people begin to understand. If one leg is longer than the other, it is not your fault, it is not the short legs fault. Chances are it is not the long legs fault and probably the doctor, your mother and her relationships are not to blame. It simply is… like so many things it simply is… we need to quit trying to place blame and accept.

If you look, I include reflections of the human experience in my writing, as well as the dragon experience. Let me know what reflections you see.