While we are not an RWA site solely, we had a lot of response to the discussion regarding the awards ceremony, and the direction RWA should move in from this point forward.
I thought, since permission to forward was granted, y’all who had a great deal to say on the topic would like to see the response of Gayle Wilson, President-Elect and one classy lady in my opinion for reasons separate to this issue, and what appears to be much of the board.
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Permission to forward granted:
The following members of the RWA Board of Directors wish to apologize for the disappointing direction of the Awards Ceremony during the 2005 conference. What should have been a celebration, not only of our finalists and award winners, but also of the growth and success of RWA, was not. Members of the board were repeatedly assured by the Awards Ceremony Board Liaison that the planning of the program was progressing appropriately. It was not until it was too late that we discovered that the focus of the ceremony had strayed from the theme we’d been given.
We thank those members who stepped in at the last moment to try to fix the script. We also apologize sincerely to our award winners, our finalists, and our members that the program was not appropriate to celebrate RWA’s success, as well as theirs. We apologize especially to Nora Roberts, who was not only put in an untenable position, but whose statement as to her reasons for not appearing was not read.
We pledge to move forward from this and to make the Awards Ceremony in Atlanta exactly what it should always be—a night on which we embrace the joys of romance writing and recognize the finalists and winners of our most cherished awards.
Gayle Wilson President-Elect
Kathy Carmichael Secretary
Connie Newman Treasurer
Nicole Burnham Region 1 Director
Lisa Kamps Region 1 Director
Dorien Kelly Region 2 Director
Peggy Emard Region 2 Director
Linda Howard Region 3 Director
Linda Winstead Jones Region 3 Director
Karen Fox Region 4 Director
Sherry Lewis Region 4 Director
Geralyn Dawson Region 5 Director
Jill Limber Region 6 Director
Jennifer Crump PRO Liaison
Teresa Carpenter Chapter Liaison
Here is the first of three posts from Nora herself on her fansite, ADWOFF.
I want to say that on Fri night when I learned of the 9/11, OK City and Challenger footage, I spoke with Tara Quinn and expressed outrage, and insisted they come out. Not only those images, but ANY images of, ANY reference to tragedy, death, destruction, politics. (I didn’t know the full content of the videos as it wasn’t in the script.) That was my line. No images, no commentary of this nature or I was gone. And I was very clear on how horrible, how inappropriate this was, and what I—and I believed the rest of the membership expected from an award’s ceremony. FUN, excitement, entertainment, a shining light on the nominees, and this year on RWA Silver Anniversary.
I was informed later that night, the script was being rewritten, was MUCH better, much lighter, the images of 9/11, OK City and Challenger had been removed, and I would have the new script in the morning. The new one was completely inappropriate and unacceptible. I worked with friends for about two hours, cutting every reference to death, tragedy, politics and so on, adding in bits and pieces of women’s accomplishments. I would have done more, but this had to get back to Tara Quinn so at least these changes could be made, and we could—I thought—polish it all up. And to make my rescheduled one o’clock rehearsal.
At the theater I met with two members of the production team. There was, at that point, nothing for me to rehearse, but they informed me they couldn’t take bits and pieces out of the videos, but they COULD delete the videos entirely. But only with Ms. Quinn’s permission. I told them that’s what I wanted. Toss the vids out. I would not be a part of the event with them included.
An hour later, I was informed by Ms. Quinn, Ms. Hayden and Ms. Pershing that the videos had to remain, and none of the changes I’d made to the script could be implemented. All too late, in their opinion. Nothing could be done—and, of course, I disagreed strongly. Ms. Pershing also claimed she felt the program very balanced. As I couldn’t have disagreed more, I told them they had a disaster on their hands, that it was appalling and offensive on every level, and I would not emcee or even attend. And I told them they should be ashamed. I was, frankly, furious at what they’d decided to present to the audience on such a happy, celebrational evening.
I was asked what I wanted said regarding my absence, and made an angry, pithy remark. Then wrote the statement that has now made the rounds. Ms. Quinn agreed it would be read. It was not. It was given to her a second time just before the ceremony where she stated it would be read after the event. It was not. Instead, it was simply announced at the beginning of the ceremony that Nora Roberts was unable to emcee. I was not unable, I was unwilling. There’s a big difference.
Many people assumed I was ill—I was, but only of the content of the program and those who found it appropriate to present.
I still believe had the video been cut, had my changes been made—and had I been given the opportunity to continue to work on the script (Jenny Crusie offered to help—and informed Ms. Quinn of her willingness) we would have given the audience a reasonable entertaining evening. Shorter, to be sure, but God knows it should have been.
None of the reasons or excuses I was given for not making the changes hold water with me. Not one. The idea that the presenters had already rehearsed and couldn’t be asked to do so again? They had a single run-through, and some (take the delightful Eileen Dryer who’d already decided she would NOT read off the litany of disasters) were planning to edit their own dialogue. All, I have no doubt, would have been willing to receive and read a couple of new lines. In fact, I’m sure of it, as several presenters spoke with me.
The music wouldn’t fit the new format I demanded. So cut the music. Who cares? I think we’d have been happier without music than with the images and commentary of war and death and tragedy.
I believe Linda Howard finally received her much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award more than THREE hours after the scheduled start of the program. By that point, I imagine some had left, and some who remained only wanted it over so they could hit the bathroom or the bar or their bed. What a disservice to an icon of our industry. What a disservice to RWA, to the nominees, to everyone in the audience.
Nora
Another:
One more thing.
When I was asked by Tara Quinn some months ago to emcee the awards, I was delighted. When she told me the theme of the evening would be a retrospective of RWA’s 25 years, I was delighted again.
And this was the theme—a retrospective of RWA on its 25th anniversary—that was passed by the board. Tara Quinn was ceremony liaison, and as such held responsibility for working with the production company and writers on content. This is how it’s always been done. The board, as a whole, does NOT work on the event or read the script or vet the videos. They have always trusted the liaison and volunteers assigned to produce the program.
I don’t think it will continue to be done this way.
Nora
Yet another:
Here’s what I’d like to know. If no one saw the video before Reno, how was the script written to coordinate with it? How can you have commentary written about 9/11, John Lennon, Diana’s funeral, Lorenna Bobbit, etc, that is assigned to presenters during the segment those particular images have been shown?
Just can’t, unless you KNOW the content of the video.
I was told by Tara Quinn on Fri when I first raised objections that the script hadn’t been finished until the day before, and she had not seen it herself until an hour before me.
She has since written that she received the script two weeks prior to Reno.
First, which is it?
Second, if it’s the second, as she now says, surely others saw it. Where where the red flags. Why are people involved with the content saying they didn’t know what was in the video until Fri or Sat of the conference if indeed the script was turned in two weeks before that?
And if it was, why wasn’t I, as emcee, provided with one at that time?
Can’t have it all ways. The script was written to match the video montages, so those who wrote the script knew the content and the direction the program had taken. If the script was turned in two weeks prior to Reno, why isn’t anyone taking responsibility for what happened? Why was it left until Fri, and my strong objections to make an attempt—and not much of one, imo—to fix it. Then why was I told, on Sat, that it was too late to change anything?
If those responsible would, quite simply, stand up and tell the truth, most of this anger and contention would ease off, I think. But if those responsible remain silent, or try to spin it, or cast the blame on others, it’s not going to go away any time soon.
And it shouldn’t.
Nora
Another…
This is the final text submitted to RWA for an ad in their Oct issue. It may be forwarded.
Since Tara Taylor Quinn refused to read the following brief statement either prior to or following the awards ceremony in Reno as she had agreed, I am compelled to write it here.
“Nora Roberts declines to host tonight’s awards ceremony as she feels the content is inappropriate and believes the focus should be on the nominees and the organization.”
I wasn’t given a script by Ms. Quinn several weeks prior to the ceremony as has been the custom. One finally was provided by a member of the production team when I requested it on Friday afternoon in Reno—the day before the event. The only significant change I was able to implement, though I argued and debated with Ms. Quinn, Laura Hayden and Diana Pershing, was the deletion of the video containing the fall of the Twin Towers and the Oklahoma City bombing. How painful those images would have been to the many editors, agents and members from New York in attendance who lived though 9/11. How devastating for members in attendance from Oklahoma, especially those who lost friends and family in that national tragedy.
Instead of a celebration, a night of fun and anticipation for the nominees, and an entertaining and sparkling event, the audience was treated to a three-plus hour world history lesson, heavy on disaster, death, politics, war and tragedy—in one incomprehensible moment, Don’t Worry, Be Happy was played over those some of those images.
How do such tragic events and images have a place at a ceremony meant to showcase the nominees and twenty-five years of our organization? How was it thought proper to juxtapose those with presenters being driven on stage in a limo, walking to the podium to Joan Riveresque commentary in a format that gave more play to the presenters—through no fault of their own—than those who were privileged to take home a Golden Heart or a Rita? The emcee’s place in all this seemed to be to recite endless dry facts and figures of RWA dues, conference fees and sites over the last quarter of a century, instead of relating the heart of our organization.
It was tempting to resign my membership—the first time I’ve been so tempted in 25 years. But it wasn’t RWA that pushed this agenda. It was a handful of individuals. RWA has, as always, my respect, affection and gratitude. The current president has none of those.
Nora Roberts
This last one is HUGE….so, I’ll post a link.
Methinks Nora doesn’t much like this TTQ person. *snerk*
http://adwoff.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001466;p=9
it’s post #12 on this page.
Enjoy!
That was a truly classy letter. Bravo to the women on the BoD who signed it.
I do notice a name is quite conspicuously missing.
Anyway, thanks for the info and links, Michelle. And again, I applaud all who signed the apology and pledged to make sure next year’s awards don’t repeat the same mistakes.
(Edited to actually FINISH MY GODDAMN SENTENCE.)
Ha! I was searching for that name too. Looked twice. Thought my glasses weren’t working.
I’m so glad they apologised. Hopefully this will be dealt with constructively, and some of the results will be positive in the long-term. Definitely classy.
You can’t see something that simply ain’t there, girls.
No matter what you think of her books, love ‘em or hate ‘em, Nora Roberts is the real deal and a class act. And she doesn’t take any shit, which is just about my favorite thing about her.
I hope TTQ finds her nice big rock soon and crawls back under it.
Some people in charge of things should be abandoned on a remote island so the rest of the world can live Happily Ever After. :cheese:
There are a couple of people missing from that list of board members, as far as I can tell—one of the regional directors, the current president (big surprise there), and one of the liaisons.
I’ll be interested to see how many other shoes drop next week.
“This last one is HUGE….so, I’ll post a link.”
Of all the things TTQ wrote in her statement, intriguingly (tho’ probably only to me), the most disturbin was this: “Immediately
following the conference in Reno I had a flight to the midwest to
visit with my newborn Down Syndrome nephew . . . .”
Baby as both shield and sword—yowza.
Thank you Robin, exactly my thoughts. Was it really germane to the letter or the situation under discussion for us to know the relatives she was visiting included a nephew with Down Syndrome? That one remark, in my opinion, went far in discrediting her sincerity. I want to give TQQ the big ole LOSER sign. That was just wrong.
And I think it’s amazing that my husband, who knows nothing of romance, the RWA, or any of the controversy of the past year can listen to my synopsis of the ceremony and say “WTF does any of that have to do with celebrating romance and authors?” while the RWA president couldn’t.
“Was it really germane to the letter or the situation under discussion for us to know the relatives she was visiting included a nephew with Down Syndrome?”
It’s clear to both of us, and I’m sure many others, why she made the reference and what purpose it was supposed to serve. I’ll admit it engendered my sympathy for her family, but NOT in the way TTQ intended, I’m sure.
It’s interesting, really, because this whole hoopla has made me aware of certain authors I wasn’t before, only because they’ve been commenting on all of the controversy. I’ve read some comments that have been so thoughtful and well-spoken—and this includes folks who do not share the outrage or necessarily my political bent—that I’ve been moved to check out the authors. I’m sure this isn’t how the RWA intends to promote its authors, but hey, it’s introduced me to some of the membership where I might not have taken notice otherwise. And, once again, it’s broadened my awareness of the online Romance reading community.
I think that any mother of a special needs child (or relative, friend, teacher, etc) who read that statement is going to be offended like hell. I know I certainly was—actually, I was going to be offended, but since I had to rush off and attend to my Autistic son, I just didn’t have time. I’d like to delegate that to Candy—will you be offended for me? I’m simply too, too busy. Snort.
Of course, by this point, I’m pretty used to TTQ pushing all the right buttons to send me into a raging, cussing, violent fury. That woman… oh, you don’t want to get me started. I’ve already bitched about her comments at the Annual General Meeting where she mentioned the evils of our current society—wars, childhood sexual abuse, and divorce—oh yeah, all those are on the same level of evil. Yup. Amazing how I manage to be a divorced woman without raping kids—which is lucky for my Autistic son, whose disability, I’m certain, is God’s Just Punishment on me for being so evilly divorced. Damn me to hell.
Honest to shit, people, can we impeach her? Does she not see that the best method of ending this would be to say “I’m sorry, I fucked up ginormously, so I’m stepping down as RWA President”?
Man, y’all are some uptight Bitches.
Does no one see the painful comedy that is Ms. Quinn’s presidency? Now, in her “Apology” letter, the Downs Syndrome mention was a good start at (once again) turning off her audience, but she had me at “untenuous.” That got a startled, disbelieving laugh.
A PUBLISHED author wrote that? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I for one embrace TTQ in all her horrifying, bile-inducing, cringe-worthy, wtf-is-coming-out-of-her-mouth awesomesity (see, I can make up words too).
November will come too soon for me. Oh Ms. Quinn, we hardly knew you.
Amy, you’re dreamin’, honey. Ain’t gonna happen.
Let’s look forward to autumn and the first of November, shall we? I think the new president will be awesome.
Oh, I wish so bad I had the nuts to say what I’d really like to say.
But my mama raised a wienie.
Stef
P.S. – Amy, I just looked at your website – I love the Barbies!
Stef
I think is was real classy of the president elect and some of the board members for stepping up and apologizing for what happened. I don’t know how much they were involved but, I think the ones that my have been involved were not listed in this letter.
I so feel bad that it fell to the president elect to step up and apologize. From the links provided above TTQ definitely spins her case and in no way did I see an apology. Just a bunch of excuses as to why the awards ceremony was as it was. Pitiful.
I am reader who didn’t much care about the problems the RWA have been having but now, I can see where there is smoke, there is fire. It will be refreshing to see the organization turn back towards the uplifting of romance as the wonderful genre it is.
CindyS
What’s most amazing and ironic is that Linda Howard apologized to the members on one of the RWA loops, and she did it again.
But it was supposed to be HER night to shine—as the lifetime achievement award winner! But someone (who shall remain nameless) hijacked her night. Yet this person has yet to come forward and say “I’m so sorry. It was my fault.”
The injustice of it all makes me want to impeach someone! *angry*
FYI TTQ’s message board is back up and running.
http://cybermessageboard.ehost.com/taratayl/index.php
I thought the ‘see young lesbians play with each other’ topics was scary. But that’s all that seems to be the board.
And about thoughts of impeachment, Paperback Writer gives a great suggestion that if members don’t want to wait until October to kick out the president of RWA, consider filing a code of ethics complaint against her.
http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2005/08/thought.html#comments
My synopsis of TTQ’s statement:
TTQ: Pity me! Pity me! IT’S NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO! NO ONE TOLD ME ANYTHING!!!
Poor TTQ, she really should put the RWA members out of their misery, and resign. I too raised my eyebrows at the down syndrome nephew mention.
In my country, she would have found her bags packed and waiting for her as she stepped off the podium on the night.
I read TTQ’s remarks. The part concerning the Down Syndrome nephew left a very bad taste in my mouth. What an obvious and tasteless ploy. As tasteless as the awards ceremony was purported to be. I have an autistic child but would never consider using him or any other child I knew as a shield to excuse a fuck up like that or elicit sympathy from people. Reading that made me want to walk to the bathroom and wash out my eyes with a bleach solution.
FYI TTQ’s message board is back up and running.
She apparently doesn’t visit it often. As owner and moderator of the board, she should be able to delete the spam, but there’s some stuff from February.
What’s most amazing and ironic is that Linda Howard apologized to the members on one of the RWA loops, and she did it again.
But it was supposed to be HER night to shine—as the lifetime achievement award winner!
I thought this, too.
I left when TTQ was to get her whatever-it-was award, and only later realized that meant I wasn’t there to support Linda Howard. I think one of the few bright spots to the whole thing were the first lines they read from LH’s books through the years. Very lighthearted and focused on what we SHOULD have focused on all night—romance writing and romance authors.
And I second, or third, or seventy-sixth the motion to boot TTQ. She’s really dragged this organization down, and the excuses and excuses just make me want to barf.
there are a number of authors who signed the appology letter that I’d never read. I’m going through the list and actually buyig at least one book by each author, to support the class acts.
Someone pointed out Lori Foster’s posts on the TTQ letter, and I had to share them, since my belly is a’roiling after reading them: http://www.lorifoster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1353
It’s so interesting how some comments by authors have made me want to buy and read their books, and others have confirmed for me why I can’t read their books.
Ooooh, thanks for the link, Robin. Weird that Foster posted the link to TTQ’s letter but not Nora’s response to TTQ.
And nobody commented on TTQ’s strategic use of the Down’s Syndrome nephew. We’re just a buncha heartless bitches, I guess.
“And nobody commented on TTQ’s strategic use of the Down’s Syndrome nephew. We’re just a buncha heartless bitches, I guess.”
Oh, check out AAR. Some of us bitches have been making the same argument over there.
As for Foster’s initial post, I HATE scolding to begin with, but I HATE MORE violating the terms of your own scold within the scold itself (don’t take sides if you weren’t there—unless you’re me, that is).
I have this whole theory that one of the reasons Foster’s “erotic” Romance is so popular is that the guys are really girls in alpha clothing (or skin, whatever the case may be)—they cook gourmet for the heroine, run her bubble baths, fall in love at first sight, are the first to demand commitment, and say “I love you” first. And of course, the relationships are pretty traditional, as are the HEA’s. So despite the more explicit sensuality, I’ve always seen her work as pretty conservative (the books of hers I’ve tried to read, that is).
Did I miss something, or have the women at squawkradio.com been absolutely mum on this? One of them decloaked a few weeks ago as being against Ellora’s Cave being recognized by RWA, so it’s not like they avoid getting involved with RWA politics. I don’t think it’s fair to say that silence on the awards controversy necessarily equals agreement with the content, but I’m wondering why they haven’t weighed in.
I’m still away after attending the World SF Convention (Interaction), and I was shocked and disappointed when I logged on and read about the RITA debacle. I’m especially disappointed because I’ve just come from Worldcon, the annual SF convention where the Hugos are awarded. Completely organized by volunteers, and the Hugo ceremony remains the high point of the con for the fans and pros in attendance.
Some years back we did a 25 year retrospective of the Hugos at the beginning of the ceremony. It was done by showing slides of award willing books from the appropriate period, interspersed with slides of Hugo winners and people having fun at the past Worldcons. _People applauded the books_ as they appeared. It’s sad that RWA couldn’t have put together a retrospective along the same lines, since I think it would have been as wonderfully received as the Worldcon presentation.
*Sigh* I’m not looking forward to having to plow through all my emails on this when I return to the States, so I think I’ll head over to the bar for another fortifying shot of Auchentoshen to prepare me for the trip home.
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Nice thought, but they aren’t all published.