Transgender brothers raised in Surrey have co-authored a debut fantasy novel that aims to challenge racism and transphobia.

Vincent Hunter is the pen name for Kise Vincent Hastings, 29, and Hunter Levi Hastings, 25, who self-published The Garnet Crown in August.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e co-authored the book as a duo, which is not too common for brothers,sa国际传媒� Vincent said.

Graduates of Kwantlen Park Secondary in Surrey, the siblings say their book sa国际传媒渄elivers a thrilling high-level fantasy plot that features diverse characters and themes.sa国际传媒�

Vincent said J. K. Rowlingsa国际传媒檚 recent sa国际传媒渁nti-transgender tweetssa国际传媒� challenge diversity in the fantasy genre, and that the Surrey-based duo is determined to showcase transgender, LGBTQIIA+ and queer characters in their novel series.

sa国际传媒淭ransgender people are being misrepresented in popular fiction and media, and we aim to change that,sa国际传媒� the duo say in a news release. sa国际传媒淎s mixed-race transgender individuals, we grew up terribly underrepresented in all of the fandoms that we have loved. When we were represented, it did no justice. The characters that were portrayed as sa国际传媒榙iversesa国际传媒� or sa国际传媒榯ransgendersa国际传媒� were written stereotypically, were usually antagonists, and did not occupy main roles in the story.sa国际传媒�

Mixed-race individuals were rarely mentioned at all, the duo add.

sa国际传媒淲henever we tried to challenge the representations of transgender and mixed-race characters in popular fiction, we were often discouraged by educators and told by other fans that our kind of person didnsa国际传媒檛 belong in these series because they were not a part of the lore.sa国际传媒�

The Garnet Crown, a 666-page book billed as sa国际传媒淏ook 1 in the Crimson Plumes series,sa国际传媒� , in both soft-cover and e-book formats.

The book also aims to celebrates Canadian values, the brothers say.

sa国际传媒淎s Canadians, we wanted to write a story that represented the diversity and inclusion that our country is known for,sa国际传媒� the duo stated. sa国际传媒淲e are proud to be Canadian and we were determined to write an epic fantasy series that highlighted how important and wonderful our countrysa国际传媒檚 values are. We hope that our novel will inspire the world to be more like Canada and to celebrate multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion.sa国际传媒�

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Vincent Hunter has also written an album of sa国际传媒渟hanties and tavern songssa国际传媒� to promote their love for the fantasy genre and the universe theysa国际传媒檝e created. Some of the tunes, featured on the album sa国际传媒淪hanties & Songs of Aldrayon,sa国际传媒� are posted to their .

They hope their novel series will inspire others who have felt marginalized and misrepresented to write and share their stories, and participate in the fandoms they love.

sa国际传媒淥ur stories deserve to be told and we deserve to take up space. Wesa国际传媒檙e a part of this world too, and itsa国际传媒檚 time people realized that,sa国际传媒� the brothers stated.

Vincent Hunter is on , and , and also runs a page.

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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