00:12:18 Katherine Swarts: I’ll take any excess dark chocolate! 00:13:35 Martha Artyomenko: That is a calling! I homeschooled all four of mine and my youngest graduates this next year. 00:16:49 Classroom 2: Having trouble seeing everything? In ZOOM go to the upper right corner and select VIEW then try a different setting. Maybe Side-By-Side Speaker will work better for you! 00:17:00 Martha Artyomenko: If you have a question, please type Question: in front of it. Thank you. 00:36:50 Classroom 2: We love QUESTIONS. Really, we do. Please *DO* post QUESTIONS into the CHAT window to EVERYONE. Capitalize the word QUESTION. That will help the host not miss any questions and prioritize them for the instructor. Example: QUESTION -- Why is the sky blue? 00:37:13 Classroom 2: Please *DO NOT* post direct PRIVATE questions to the host. That messes up the chat screen. 00:37:56 Katherine Swarts: The “color-blindness” personal story was great! We all need the occasional reminder that “diversity” includes not only ethnicity/race and other much-discussed categories, but more subtle differences that often go completely ignored. (Speaking as a left-handed person who, had I been born a generation earlier, would likely have been forced to learn “right-handed writing” as part of standard school curricula.) 00:40:20 Classroom 2: 30 minutes remaining. THIRTY minutes. 00:40:52 Martha Artyomenko: It is so good to learn to tell from their perspective. I have really wanted to tell the story of the Asian Americans that helped build Montana, but since I am not from that ethnicity, I have been told not to, so I put it on hold, but in the meanwhile am doing a lot of research more on these incredible people. 00:41:08 Katherine Swarts: QUESTION—How does a Christian deal with that major hot button of *gender* diversity and the LGBTQIA community (which, judging from its constantly-growing-longer acronym, may have its own internal-diversity concerns)? 00:45:33 Martha Artyomenko: Question: What are some pitfalls that you see that are common mistakes made in ignorance by writers putting in characters that are diverse? 00:49:27 Janet Morris Grimes: Question - Do publishers choose to avoid some topics? I mean, they could love the story but aren't willing to go there at this time? 00:52:44 Classroom 2: 20 minutes remaining. TWENTY minutes. 00:53:28 Martha Artyomenko: I think of this as I have children that of Russian descent and they are almost always the bad guys in stories, and especially with the recent news, it is very cliche to see that. 00:54:44 Katherine Swarts: Martha, I can relate to some degree. I’ve seen quite a few mystery stories where the culprit was identified by left-handedness. 00:56:44 Martha Artyomenko: It is so sad, but also so important to have classes like this to avoid those issues. 00:58:43 Martha Artyomenko: Question: What are some of the Christian publishers that are publishing more diverse fiction right now that we can support? 00:59:03 Katherine Swarts: I guess that was long before everyone had quick dictionary access via smartphone. 00:59:58 Katherine Swarts: (I shouldn’t say “everyone.” Another area of diversity is people who lack income to cover what “we” consider “basic” technological gadgets.) 01:01:01 Classroom 2: 10 minutes remaining. TEN minutes. 01:01:07 Valorie: When writing historical fiction how do you handle diversity in the light of the era, or timeline, for your story setting? Tips? 01:01:22 Martha Artyomenko: Oh, good question, Valorie. 01:03:55 Classroom 2: 5 minutes remaining. FIVE minutes. 01:03:57 Valorie: Yes, that was very helpful 01:04:00 Angie Gaa: Thank you for a great class and for sharing your sweet spirit and heart! 01:04:06 Martha Artyomenko: That is really good! Thank you so much. 01:04:29 Janet Morris Grimes: Amazing session. 01:05:38 Johanna Janssen: Thank you. This was so helpful. 01:05:58 Martha Artyomenko: I love the idea of sponsoring a writer! 01:06:05 Valorie: This was a great session! 01:07:02 Edwina Perkins: harambeepress@gmail.com 01:08:25 Classroom 2: Please finish up and close out. Our time is up. 01:08:41 Valorie: Blessings