POC-authored Gothic crack?

[oyceter]

Hi! I am in the mood for Gothic shoujo manga crack, but I am also trying to do 50books_poc. Sadly, I am having a very difficult time finding non-manga, POC-authored Gothic crack, and since all knowledge is contained on LJ, I figured I would throw myself at your mercy.

By Gothic shoujo manga crack, I mean Yuki Kaori, Vampire Knight, Cantarella, and etc. Bonus points for POC protagonists, though I'm mostly looking for POC authors right now. Extra special bonus points for ice-cold heroines, thieves, assassins, courtesans, any combination of the above, clones, twins, twins who turn out to be clones, or people who have been disguised to appear as the dead come back to life and are actually undead in the final reveal.

Comments

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to seeing what people come up with!

It's not exactly Gothic, but Malorie Blackman wrote Trust Me (http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/bookshop/), a YA novel about vampires. The protagonist is a black British teenage girl, and the supporting characters are mostly black or white.

[oyceter]

I am looking forward to it too, though I am also scared people are just like: "Uh. Sorry, no idea."

Ooo, I hadn't realized Blackman wrote a vampire novel! I never finished the first Naughts and Crosses book, but I will have to see if my library has that.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

This is going to fall completely flat if you just don't like Malorie Blackman, but there's also 'Drop Dead Gorgeous', which I haven't read yet, but it's about a girl who lives in a hotel and befriends the ghost of a teenage boy?

And I know Malorie Blackman can bring the crack, because 'Operation Gadgetman' is about a twelve-year-old girl whose dad (nicknamed Gadgetman. And yes, she decides saving her dad from kidnappers requires an operation name. Which she writes on a big folder containing all their evidence and stuff) gets kidnapped because one of his crazy inventions can be used to steal money, and he wants to use his eccentric genius powers for good, not evil! If you were twelve, I'd rec that book.

(All her protagonists are young black British girls. And occasionally boys.)

[oyceter]

And now I am annoyed because my library only has two of her books! Grrrr. Now to check ILL...

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

Did you like Naughts and Crosses? It's been recommended to me.

[oyceter]

I felt it was a little anvilly at times, particularly because it was talking more about racism a la Civil Rights Movement era US (er, but, you know, for the UK), and when I had checked it out, I wanted more on aversive racism and making people see how detrimental that was. On the other hand, that may have just been my mood at the time. The prose was ok but not memorable.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I agree with oyce, it was a bit anvilly and depressing. But a cool idea, nonetheless.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

What about So Far From God by Ana Castillo? It's quite Yuki Kaori in a very Latina way. I loved it, though I haven't read it in years. People die and come back to life, lots of crazy things are literal, and magical things real, and real things only symbols. Wonderful stuff, although I wouldn't expect the safeness of some of the manga tropes. Beautiful prose.

[oyceter]

Ooooh, I will look that up, thanks!

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

Have to second this, anything by Ana Castillo, forever and ever. Peel My Love Like An Onion is my favorite.

[oyceter]

Oooh, I even have that on my bookshelves!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Classic Gothics (girl meets house) are an extremely white genre in my experience. Though maybe that's just my experience.

Hmm. Not really Gothic shoujo, but Louis Cha (Jin Yong)'s wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron has thieves, assassins, poisons, and eunuchs. Wuxia novels in general might satisfy some of the same cravings, though the overall feel is different.

I will ponder some more.

[oyceter]

That is my impression as well, though I am hoping I will be proved wrong...

Well, if I can't find any, I'm diving into Yuki Kaori's backlist, bwahaha.

don't know your referents

[(Anonymous)]

i do not know yuki kaori, or shoujo. and i have not read some these books yet, but ...

marta acosta does a sort of latina vampire chick lit series

tanarive due. apparently she's super scary, if that's what you're looking for.

nalo's "the salt roads" has courtesans

of course jewelle gomez's "gilda stories" is about an escaped slave turned vampire whorehouse owner. awesome. (and i HAVE read these).

lynda barry--yes, the awesome comics artist of "ernie pook's comeek"--is pinay hapa. apparently she's done a book called "one! hundred! demons!"

of course, of course, octavia's "fledgling"

-- claire

Re: don't know your referents

[oyceter]

Thanks for the names! I have to check those out.