Mulit-Ethnic Author Jax Cassidy

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! (It’s a perfect sunny one here in Cali – I may even go to the pool later. Don’t hate me Bullet Hole.) And, to make the weekend even more enjoyable, please help me welcome one of my very best friends in the whole world, Jax Cassidy! Her debut book, THE LOTUS BLOSSOM CHRONICLES is out this month and, let me tell you, it is on not to be missed. It. Rocks. In addition to being an almost annoyingly talented author, Jax is also one of the co-founders of Romance Divas, an award-winning romance writers' website and discussion forum that serves as my second home. Jax is currently in the midst of a coast-to-coast move while also battling a nasty cold, but was still awesome enough to stop by and chat with us. Jax, I lubs ya, girl. Cyber chicken soup coming your way!


Multi-ethnic, what’s that?

When I first set out to write romance, I had been inspired by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Barbara Cartland, Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood and Judith McNaught. In my mind I thought romances should be written with Caucasian heroes and heroines. It never occurred to me that beyond the conventional romances there lay ethnic and African American literature, yet these books were not shelved in the mainstream romance sections of the bookstore. In fact, the books either had their own African American section or were placed within the fiction shelves where it was difficult to locate.

I’m a voracious reader and devoured every romance books I could get my hands onto. Over time, I decided that I longed to read about heroines more like me. Well, that’s the bit that could be confusing. I grew up in a southern state in a neighborhood where my family was the only Asian one among a predominantly Caucasian community. Needless to say, I never saw any differences as my friends had always treated me as if there were no race barriers. It wasn’t until I hit middle school that I campaigned for Student Council when someone wrote obscenities on my banners. That’s when I discovered I wasn’t Caucasian, yet too ‘white’ to be Asian. I followed the beat of my own drum and I was perfectly content being different.

Fast forward to two years ago. I discovered that some of my writing friends had been picked up by the Kimani line and I realized the romance market was starting to open up for the ethnic market. At the same time, Amy Tan had a series of hits with her books The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. That’s when I decided I would write characters that I could relate to. My first writing endeavor was a paranormal called GHOSTHUNTER, in the vain of Xena and Buffy, about an immortal demi-goddess warrior with a flavor of Chinese mythology. I was so proud of the project and didn’t realize I still had a lot of learning and growing to do as a writer. Of course, this project is now sitting on my shelf waiting on a rewrite, but I’ve had a lot of practice since then.

Seven novellas and two books later, I did a book signing in Corona a year ago and life as I knew it changed. I had been approached by editors of Parker Publishing, a small press African American publisher. They had read my works as Cassidy Kent and felt that I could do well writing something for them. I couldn’t see how I would fit into their line because, for one, I was not African American. However, I could write an Asian hero and an African American heroine, thus a storyline developed and the LOTUS BLOSSOM CHRONICLES was born.

When I set out to write this story, I knew I wanted to have a distinct voice that went beyond the stereotypical ethnic voice. A good story is a good story without emphasizing so much on the color the skin. I want to put just enough flavor of the ethnicities of the characters yet my objective had always been to provide a storyline anyone would want to pick up and read. I wanted to reach a wider demographic other than just the niche market that Parker Publishing had been focusing on. I can’t begin to say how amazing this publisher is because they took my opinions and allowed me to run with it. They saw the need for a multi-ethnic market and now I can finally write stories that I’ve always wanted to read and hopefully bring a new readership to this type of literature. I’ll continue to write in a mainstream voice with the same sensuality and strong romantic storyline regardless of race. To me, it’s the story that counts.

Jax Cassidy
www.jaxcassidy.com