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We sat down with NYT bestselling author Leigh Bardugo to talk about her most recent series, its depiction of disability, and more!

Six of Crows portrays disability with incredible nuance; it’s realistic, respectful, and perfectly integrated into the characters and story.

From a mythology buff’s perspective, I was delighted with Odd and the Frost Giants. From a disability perspective, though, I was confused.

A nuanced, natural depiction of disability, realistic in both its physical presentation and the character’s emotional reactions.

Stranger represents a case where verisimilitude — the appearance of plausibility — succeeds where a more realistic representation of disability might have failed.

An estimated 1 in 7 women suffer from chronic pelvic pain; it’s bizarre and disappointing that despite these statistics, there are distinctly zero characters with this condition.

If our contributors could tell an author writing a character with their disability one thing – besides “do your research” – what would it be?

For disabled characters, being cured is a common trope. What’s more, in most of these narratives, the characters are cured because they’re better than they were at the start of the book: kinder, gentler, braver. And finally, finally, they’re normal and whole.

The story suggests that Kira’s talents as a threader make up for her disability, justifying her continued survival — with the disturbing implication that without it, she would be worthless.

Here’s the thing no one tells you about people with a medical condition: The disease is always on their mind, but they don’t always want to think about it.