"Multicultural" Fantasy art

Having heard about the new publishing company Tu Publishing, I was so excited and was gearing up to send along a submission of my favorite fantasy artwork. Unfortunately, I was also working away at my latest book, and put the project aside. Now I've heard the news that Lee and Low acquired Tu and now it's called Tu Books! I was delighted, having worked with Lee and Low on NO MUSH TODAY and am still working on new art for a fantasy submission. They are looking for middle grade & YA right now, not picture books so I have time. Meanwhile, I've updated the fantasy page on my blog, here's the link: http://nicoletadgell.blogspot.com/2008/11/fantasy-art.html

I've always enjoyed fantasy. I loved to "pretend", I loved fairies and elves. I read voraciously when I was a kid, and when a teen I would lose myself in the worlds of McCaffery, Tolkien, Weiss & Hickman. I watched Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and so many more. And I didn't realize until much later how few of the characters looked like me, or how much it would hurt to have that unspoken "this isn't for you" message. Well, it's becoming more and more for you...for everyone. Imagination is not limited to ethnicity or skin color, wealth or poverty.