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ISWG Are Online Whisper Groups Bullying YA Authors Out of Publication? What's an Author to Do?

t's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Group hosted by the illustrious  Alex J. Cavanaugh . To learn more about this supportive group click on the host's name. I feel very strongly about what happened to this author, and I fear it could happen to the rest of us if we don't stick together.  Recenty, SCMP reported that after signing a seven figure book deal for the Fantasy, BLOOD HEIR, Chinese author Amelie Wen Zhao was forced to pull it from publication due to allegations of racism.   The premise of the highly anticipated Fantasy trilogy was a retelling of Anastasia, except Zhao's adaptation used blood magic. Critics felt the story had racist undertones because of the cover blurb's description of a "World where oppression is blind to skin color and good and evil exist in shades of gray." Many criticisms came from a whispers online group, which, from my understanding are sort of the gate-keepers to approving YA novels.  I&#
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ISWG Writing Myself Into a Corner

It's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Group hosted by the illustrious  Alex J. Cavanaugh . To learn more about this supportive group click on the host's name. First and foremost, happy New Year!!!! Now, onto the subject at hand, LOL. Currently, I'm writing a Young Adult Fantasy that transports the MC to ancient Carthage in 216 BCE.  The pacing is pretty fast throughout with a few rest spots for the readers. While I like what I've written so far, it wasn't until chapter 28 that I realized my MC hadn't spent enough time in Carthage. She walked through the city as a prisoner, was captured by the God Ba'al Hammon's guards, spent some time in the temple and was then set on her journey. While this is well and good, my heroine has to make a choice that will affect the fate of the Carthaginian people. To accomplish this, she needs to be invested in them, to care about them. Needless to say, I was pissed off that I left such an impo