Thoughts on drawing inspiration from other cultures for fantasy nations, like Leigh Bardugo's books?
Writers are told to avoid "just another European-style fantasy setting," as that's been done many times. For white writers that poses a new danger: cultural appropriation. 1/2

An alternative is gleaning ideas from other cultures (ancient or modern) while giving those elements plenty of unique, creative twists of your own. All while being careful not to take space from ownvoices/POC authors, and not to perpetuate stereotypes. A difficult balance. 2/2