Links on Romance: Proud and Prejudiced

ETA: one more- from Wired Magazine’s Geek Dad!

Top Ten Geeky Things You Don’t Know About Romance Writers, written by Corrina Lawson, reveals the inner geek of many writers at RWA:

6. They Take Their Kids on Research Trips to the Spy Museum.

New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Day had her two children with her in D.C. Her ten-year-old son was so thrilled with the International Spy Museum that he not only told me how great it was inside but gave me memorized directions on how to get there.

7. Their editors Have Geeky Weddings.

A certain editor, who shall remain nameless, ended her wedding reception with a guitar hero duel. And during the weeks leading up to the duel, the husband and wife to be kept sneaking home to get in extra practice time before the big day.

From Angela James, Executive Editor at Samhain Publishing:

Book Cover When Passionate Ink asked me to speak to all of you about digital publishing, I didn’t know how I could possibly do justice to the topic in five to ten minutes. Where do I begin to explain why I think readers and authors continue to seek out digital publishers? How would it be possible to convey how amazing I think digital publishing is. How excited I am to work in a part of the publishing industry that gives me the freedom to publish books that I love, to push the envelope and allow authors the ability to get books that bend genres (and body parts) in new and unique ways.

 

Rose Fox and Publishers Weekly on the RWA National Conference:

Around 2,000 members of the Romance Writers of America descended on Washington, D.C. this weekend for RWA’s annual conference. Despite overall economic woes, romance is selling well in both trade and mass market, and the mood was quite upbeat.

 

Book Cover Ron Charles, recipient of the RWA Veritas Award for a blog article he wrote about his daughter reading Jill Shalvis’ Flashback:

But what surprised me was the scent of frustration that hung in the air at the conference attended by 2,000 romance professionals at the Marriott Wardman. Despite all their success, despite accounting for one out of every four books sold, despite weathering this devastating recession better than any other segment of the publishing industry, this is still a group in need of some serious self-esteem building. And that, more than all the other workshops and breakout sessions, may be the real purpose of their annual conference.

From Teresa Medeiros, responding to Ron Charles’ article:

People often ask me why I write romance.  I write romance because the ever expanding boundaries of the genre allow me to express my own heartfelt beliefs in optimism, faith, honor, chivalry and the timeless power of love to provoke a happy ending.  In a society gutted by cynicism, we have found the courage to stand up and proclaim that hope isn’t corny, love isn’t an antiquated fantasy, and dreams can come true for women still willing to strive for them.

Comments are Closed

  1. I read Teresa Mederios’ blog post.  It was beautiful.

  2. Have you missed out the link to the Geek Dad article, or am I just not seeing it? I found it via Google.

  3. SB Sarah says:

    OOPS-  thanks for the heads up. The code didn’t work.

  4. Tina C. says:

    Speaking of the Geek Dad article:

    And author Jacqui Jacoby gave a workshop at RWA National on the lessons writers can learn from Firefly. (More on this later in the week.)

    Would you post a link for that when it comes out?  (I want to see it and I’m sure I’ll probably forget to check later.)

  5. mingqi says:

    The Teresa Medeiros snippet—it was beautiful and inspiring!

  6. Ron Charles’s impression was interesting to see. It’s always instructive to find out how a relative outsider views the group.

  7. In the Wired “Geek” article it mentions “Hugs and Nebulas” at Worldcon.  Just for the record, while plenty of winners and runners-up get hugs, the award given out is the Hugo.  The Nebulas are awarded by SFWA.

    Signed, The Voice of Ghod at the Hugo Ceremonies, Worldcon 2008 and 2009 (scheduled).

  8. S.A. Hunter says:

    I’m sorry, but Ron Charles’ article won an award? Why? I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t be offended by what Chin says in the interview. Here’s the key snippet:

    “What women identify with,” Chin went on, “are weaknesses, not strength. The strongest woman in the world isn’t going to think she’s strong. Give me a woman who thinks her thighs are fat and you’ve got me. Men write a heroine who goes into a boardroom and wows them; no woman can identify with that. Romances are like the early Westerns: You become the person you need to be. You take the journey you need to take.”

    Is it just me or is she not saying women have inherently low self-esteem and we shouldn’t be confident and self-assured nad that MEN are the only ones who can imagine us that way because women know that we have no backbone?

  9. Alyssa Day says:

    My son (who is desperate for me to point out that he’s actually 12, not 10, LOL) told EVERYONE how to get to the Spy Museum and what they had to see there.  I think he should be on a TV commercial for the place!! Truly a highlight of our trip, especially when BFF and author Eileen Carr crawled through the overhead vents with my daughter so they could spy on the rest of us down below.  And then lovely BFF Smart Bitch Sarah (on whom my daughter now has a girl crush and says is “prettier than Anne Hathaway”) got the full run-down, complete with demonstrations of spy gear, in our hotel room. 
    Seriously. Spy Museum. Worth the trip!!

  10. Kalen Hughes says:

    Men write a heroine who goes into a boardroom and wows them; no woman can identify with that.

    WTF? Maybe I’m just a narcissistic bitch, but I identify with the woman who wows them a lot more than I do with the wilting flower with body issues (I think this is why “chicklit” rarely worked for me; too much whining). And I got far more fan mail about my confident heroine in LORD SIN than I did about my more insecure one in LORD SCANDAL. Clearly “identifying” with a sassy, confident heroine isn’t a problem for most readers/women. I mean, explain the appeal of Urban Fiction and the Kick-Ass Heroine if what women need out of a heroine is a display of weakness? Ugh.

  11. Calila says:

    TM’s blog post made me a little teary.

  12. azteclady says:

    Regarding the blog entry that won the Veritas, the one I’m offended by is Brenda Chin, not Mr Charles. After all, he was simply quoting what she told him, right?

    Now, I am bothered by the “uncomfortable honor” mentioned in his second blog entry, and even more by this snippet in his link to Nora Roberts day at the WP before RWA National (emphasis mine):

    About 550 women (and four hen-pecked men)…

    Excuse me, but isn’t it insulting to assume that men would attend a chat by one of the world’s best seller novelists only if forced to it by their wives? I call utter bullshit there, whether he was aiming for funny or what have you, or not.

  13. Lori says:

    Seriously. Spy Museum. Worth the trip!!

    Alyssa Day speaks the truth. I don’t think of the Spy Museum as a geek thing because most people seem to find it fun. I’ve definitely never known a kid who didn’t enjoy it.

  14. Corrina says:

    Tell your son to accept my apologies!! I somehow got him mixed up in my head with my geek son. Let’s see if I can fix that, Alyssa.

    You know, I left out the part about the wedding where the bride and groom excited the church to the Star Wars theme. But I didn’t get time to sort out if it was the same wedding or a different editor geek wedding. 🙂

    I missed the Spy Museum myself. ARGH.

  15. Corrina says:

    Oh, I hope to have the workshop about Firefly up by Saturday at the very latest.

    Various minions throwing up in the middle of dinner have put me behind schedule. Bleach.

  16. Wendy says:

    From the Teresa Medeiros article:

    “I want each of you to honestly ask yourselves if the marvelous J.K. Rowling would have been such an international success if her first book had been titled, HARRIET POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE.”

    Thank you! I’ve long held that Hermione is the hero of that series, especially in the first book when Harry actually doesn’t do a thing but tag along while she works everything out…

  17. Suze says:

    TM’s blog post made me a little teary.

    Me, too.  Sniffle.

  18. S.A. Hunter says:

    Medeiros deserves the Veritas award far more than Charles. I wonder if the award was an ‘uncomfortable honor’ because he knows that his article did not show romance in a positive light. I also wonder if the judges misread how the article starts. He tells how his daughter and her friends stay up late reading a Blaze novel aloud to each other with much laughter and ice cream. He doesn’t use adverbs, but I got the feeling that the girls were reading the book derisively. Then being told his article put the most positive light on the genre had to make the industry seem pretty pathetic for him.

  19. S.A. Hunter says:

    *to him* not for him. Apologies.

  20. gail says:

    PEOPLE F’ING MAGAZINE!!  PEOPLE F’ING MAGAZINE!!

    i know it’s rude to shout but, what better reason than to celebrate Sarah and Candy’s Beyond Heaving Bosoms getting included in the aug 3 issue of People’s book review section! 

    Congratulations, Ladies!

  21. I like to read books. I think I’ll use some of this blog’s advices and read some books You are advertising. Nice blog by the way.

  22. Corrina says:

    Just wanted to pop back in and tell anyone who’s looking for the Firefly workshop article, it’s up now. Great workshop.

    http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/firefly-shines-brightly-for-writers/#comments

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