Novelist N.K. Jemisin's books are noteworthy for many things: sprawling reads; compelling storylines; and tremendous queer characters of color. (Don't get me wrong, she writes good straight characters, too. But her series feature many interesting queer characters and storylines.)
A while ago I came across this quote from Jemisin about the job of a writer. It's very much the kind of thing to hang above your writing space as a reminder of what we're doing.
“My job is to help the world...That is what an artist's job is—to the degree that we can. That is nothing more than holding up a mirror and saying, ‘You're beautiful, baby.’ Or holding up a mirror and saying, ‘Look at the shit that you're doing to yourself. Maybe you should stop.’ It is an artist's job to speak truth to power. That is a maxim that I've always believed in.
