"Observers can see a chess game more clearly than the players." -Chinese proverb A writer friend posed this question to me the other day: Is it okay to write material beyond your own culture? I think so. The point of fiction is to explore and imagine. We need to be able to capture new perspectives and lives unfamiliar to our own. Maybe observers can see the "chess game" more clearly; perhaps outsiders will depict different cultures well. Besides, we wouldn't have the neat novel that is … [Read more...]