Writing from the point of view of an African American... when you're not

I've been wanting to write a romance idea that occurred to me. I think it would be amazing.

The problem? The main, POV character is African American.

I'm not.

At first I thought, "Okay, that'll work. I've written from a man's point of view, surely it wouldn't be any harder to write from another's woman's, even if she's African American and I'm not."

But then I started to wonder.

I don't want to do a rotten job or be cultural offensive. I'm not a genius, just a writer.

I always enjoy trying to write from under someone else's skin, imagine other people's experiences and viewpoints. But I can't know how well it will turn out, or even IF it will turn out.

Is writing this character something I shouldn't even attempt? Or should I try, and see how it goes?

Any advice for the process (or research I should do), if I do attempt this story?

I read 69 books in 2011. My disclaimer is that some were re-reads and some weren't very long!


Highlights:

Finished Emma, by Jane Austen. I read it on my Kindle and it was wonderful!

Discovered Jim Butcher's Storm Front and sequels. :D :D

Read The Lady and Her Tiger, by Pat Derby. Intense non-fiction about animal training and animals in film. Fortunately, many things have changed.

Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer. I just love reading this famous author of Regency romance! :D I don't know how she can keep surprising me.

Read two new Alexander McCall Smith books. They are like warm chocolate for me. :)

One of my favorite re-reads was a Young Adult book called Lucy the Giant, by Sherri L. Smith. Lucy, a very large-for-her-age Alaskan teenager who lives with her drunken father, finds a new sort of family when she goes to work on a crab fishing boat with people who think she's an adult. But her old life follows her, and to really grow up she has to find a way to face it instead of running again.

Also re-read both beloved Watership Down books, a couple of Diana Wynne Jones fantasies (bliss!), some Jim Kjelgaard dog stories, any number of A. A. Fair mysteries (old but excellent, and very fast-paced!), and Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome's incomparable comedy.

Recent stories:


Jackson Bluffs (space opera / sci fi / Mars related): http://www.raygunrevival.com/890/

He Gave Me Coal (a Christmas romance, very short): http://www.everydayfiction.com/he-gave-me-coal-by-alice-m-roelke/

For those interested, this is what I wrote in my email announcement for Jackson Bluffs:

My story, Jackson Bluffs, by Alice M. Roelke, is up at Ray Gun Revival. :)

I wrote this story ages ago to go with my other Mars stories, which
were published in the old RGR years ago. I had sent this one to
"Space Westerns," however. They sent me an acceptance after a long
time, but never published it, so eventually I asked for it back.
(They're supposed to be back to publishing sometime next year, but in
the meantime I'm very glad my story found a home at RGR!) :-)

My other Mars stories are:

"Message to Mars" http://www.raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0046_2008_09.pdf
"Evergreen and Always"
(a Christmas story)
http://www.raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0049_2008_12.pdf
"Sky Voices" http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0054_2009.pdf
(All three of these are a bit angsty! The current one isn't.)

When I was younger I had a whole Mars-related timeline/universe in my
head and I loved playing with it, though I never seemed to get the BIG
one written! Some of this universe still persists for me and
influences my writing. Though I still don't know if I'll ever write
"the big one!" :)

Anyway, I'm very grateful that my fourth Mars-related story has a home
now, even though it's taken a few years. :)

And, after I talked with my mom about my short Christmas romance, I realized that I might have enough that didn't come through in the story (but that I thought had!), to create a whole novel out of it. And that would be an excellent Christmas present (belated, of course).


In other news, I am REALLY getting frustrated with my S-L-O-W connection and old computer access. I'm about ready to swear off both until I can do better!

In other-other news, I'm really getting somewhere with my Regency romance, "Laurie's Painter." It's over 30,000 words now. I love Regency, never thought I would be able to write it, but am feeling hopeful for this story to work out.

Also, I still can't get Blogger to stop turning my tags and titles into sanskrit, so once again, this entry is without. >:(