Renovating the RITA

If you’re a member of the Romance Writers of America, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding the RITA Award. The lack of representation of minorities and LGBTQ authors and stories has been a problem for years. Now it seems that RWA’s leadership is making the move to institute some much-needed changes in the judging procedures, and “other issues in the contest.” They are currently looking for input from their membership.

Here’s what I think: If we’re going to do a proper remodel, then we need to gut the kitchen to the studs. Yes, inclusiveness of marginalized groups is without a doubt our top priority. I’m one hundred percent behind that mission, and have stated so to the board.

But there’s another issue I’d love to see resolved, and that is the lumping of Sci-fi Romance, Fantasy Romance, etc. under the Paranormal category umbrella.

SFR is not Paranormal. Fantasy Romance is not Paranormal. These genres have different readerships, and very little cross over. A reader who digs werewolves and vampires isn’t very likely to pick up a book about aliens in space…unless those aliens happen to be werewolf or vampire aliens.

So why is SFR and Fantasy still being tossed into an arena where there’s next to no traction for them? And shouldn’t PNR books be judged against other PNR, especially in their own category?

Recently, another SFR author and I got our heads together and drafted a letter to the RWA. We decided to make a template available to other PNR, SFR, Fantasy, UF, etc. authors who are members of RWA and in favor of this change. You are welcome to copy and paste this letter in whole or in part, make any changes to reflect your own thoughts and ideas on how to proceed, and send it to the RWA board as soon as possible.

Now is the time speak up on any issues you’d like to see changed with the RITA Awards. We hope by posting this letter, you are inspired to also speak out, because the board is listening now.

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Dear RWA,

I whole-heartedly support changes within the RWA RITA Awards that will level the playing field for authors and characters of color and LGBTQ+ authors and characters. In addition to that, since RWA is looking at a revamp of the entire awards program, I suggest an additional change to make the competition fairer for ALL authors.

In my humble opinion, RWA has an overall challenge with diversity. For many years, as a science fiction romance author, I've felt I was an outlier within the organization. From my perspective, RWA seems to view its membership in three groups--those who write Contemporary Romance, those who write Historical Romance, and those who write "Everything Else." In discussions with my peers, the consensus is that we "EE" authors would also like to receive more equal representation within the organization.

Please consider the structure of the RITA Awards Paranormal category. While Contemporary has three distinct categories based on length, and Historical Romance has two, the Paranormal category is a “conglomerate” of many different subgenres. This category forces paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and science fiction romance (et al) authors to compete against each other in a category that covers a very broad spectrum, with very little cross-over readership between them.

Splitting this enormous generic category into smaller, more subgenre-friendly categories will encourage a greater number of authors to submit knowing their books will be judged against similar works. This would help level the playing field for “EE” authors of diverse romance subgenres. 

I'm aware this situation has been broached with RWA by many members over several years, and the answer from RWA has always been that there aren't enough entries to support a divided category. Please reconsider this in comparison to the number of entries received for other small categories, such as Religious/Spiritual Elements and Young Adult. To my knowledge, the conglomerate Paranormal category has always received substantially more entries.

Since the overall structure of the RITA is being examined, I propose breaking the Paranormal category into three distinct subcategories:

·        Fantasy Romance (e.g. sorcerers, wizards, faeries, elves, fantasy world building, etc.) 

·        Paranormal Romance (e.g. vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, angels, demons, mermaids, shapeshifters, etc.) 

·        Science Fiction Romance (e.g. aliens, space opera, steampunk, futuristic, time travel, dystopian elements, etc.)

And then, if there aren't enough entries to justify one of these as an individual category, combine it with the most appropriate alternate division.

Thank you for your careful attention and consideration of this matter, which affects a large number of "EE" authors within your membership.

Sincerely,

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USA Today Bestselling Author, Lea Kirk, loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her sci-fi romances. When she’s not busy writing about the blue and green aliens of her Prophecy series, she’s hanging out with her hubby, five kids (the nerd herd), and spoiled Dobie mix puppy.

She is currently working on two short stories and the fourth book in her series.

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The Language of Love by Jane Kindred

Every genre has its own style of language. Romance is generally intimate in its voice—following the inner thoughts of the protagonists, related to the characters’ feelings—and also a bit angsty, reflecting the war within the protagonists’ own minds between their heads and their hearts. If the subgenre is romantic suspense, there will be an additional element of fear and tension in the language of the story, and it will be told in a more rapid pace than, say, a humorous contemporary. There’s slightly more at stake for the protagonists, because they have a mystery to solve or a killer to escape even as they’re falling for each other.

And when you look at something like historical romance and romantic science fiction, there’s a whole secondary language of world-building that brings the reader into the right era.

I grew up reading the great gothic romances of Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney, and at the same time, I was gobbling up fantasies by Piers Anthony and Anne McCaffrey. Mary Stewart bridged both of those worlds for me with her gothic romantic mysteries and her Arthurian Merlin novels. And each of those genres had their own unique language. A reader who picked up one of Piers Anthony’s Xanth novels would expect the language of fantasy, somewhat archaic and elevated language, but also the wry, tongue-in-cheek humor Anthony is known for. If instead, the reader found contemporary, intimate first-person with a preponderance of internal monologue and anxiety, it would be jarring.

For a writer, switching between such genres can be equally discombobulating. My first novels were fantasy with romantic elements (with some erotic fantasy romance mixed in), followed by a series of contemporary paranormal romances. The switch in language from fantasy to contemporary required a little getting used to, but over the past few years of writing my Sisters in Sin series, I had almost forgotten my “native” language of fantasy. When I decided my latest book would be a return to that genre, it was like going back to basics for a language refresher.

My protagonists are also from different sides of the mote, so to speak: one raised as royalty and the other a commoner. For the two characters’ points of view, I chose to switch between first person and third person as a way of distinguishing their voices, but I also used different kinds of language for both of them. Aoife, the daughter of a queen, uses few contractions and a lot of longer, more flowery words to get around saying what she really means—even to herself, while Ygraine, my little rebel thief, sounds more modern and blunt, and usually says exactly what she’s thinking.

Aoife, for example, spends a lot of time pondering how her surroundings reflect her inner world:

Below me, Yliastr’s streets were as still and lifeless as their enchanted inhabitants. I whispered to myself what I remembered. “I am the daughter of a queen.” I could not recall her name, or even my own, but I remembered her face. Full of lines, heavy with the burden of rule but kind. “The Sylph are my sworn enemies.” The melancholy symphony of crickets and river frogs ought to offer a soft accompaniment to my words, carried on a saline breeze, but they were absent. If I remembered rightly, this land ought to be situated on the coast of a vast ocean, surrounded on three sides by water, but I could not smell the sea.

My Undine soul yearned for our element. This temporary lifting of the spell could not tell me the name of my realm—or whether this town in which I stood unsleeping was even a part of it, or if we had been taken far away—but my blood knew its source.

While Ygraine tends to be a bit more pragmatic, noting the basic facts of the world around her:

Ygraine shivered and pulled her collar closer against a gust of wind howling down from the mountain. Here on the edge of the centers of commerce, among the rows of comfortable stone houses flanked with abundant gardens, lawmakers and patrons of the arts had once mingled with Yliastr’s intelligentsia. But those to whom such terms might have applied no longer served a purpose under the sovereignty of the reigning monarch. Instead of warm and welcoming light spilling into the gardens and through their gates after dusk, dark holes now looked out upon the quiet streets. Inside the walled gardens, the bushes and flowerbeds, like the stately trees that lined the avenues, were skeletons painted in rime frost.

“Move along. Loitering is forbidden by the Ruling Hand.”

It was a sentence Ygraine had heard many times since the Ruling Hand had come to power. But this was the first time she’d heard it from a woman’s tongue. She had, in fact, encountered precious little from a woman’s tongue in any capacity for more months than she cared to count.

She turned her back to the lock she was picking and studied the owner of this unexpected voice. The woman was an officer of the highest rank, as evidenced by the gold braiding on the deep indigo blue of her dolman and pelisse and on the stiff indigo breeches. Silver-damasked hair, severely drawn back, accentuated an angular face from which a pair of eyes that could not settle on a truth between chestnut and olive regarded Ygraine with cool indifference. She belonged to the Undine.

When Ygraine didn’t move, the Undine’s hand did—on the hilt of her long knife. Ygraine’s gaze lingered on the exquisite fingers. What was an Undine woman of leisure, as evidenced by those well-kept hands, doing in the service of the Righteous Guard of the Ruling Hand?

“I said, move along.” The order was louder but with no more passion in it than in the ambiguous eyes. The Undine soldier had the mien and affect of a wind-up doll. A lovely, authoritarian wind-up doll. No, no. Scratch “lovely.” For fire’s sake. What in the name of Salamand’s flame was wrong with her?

“I have business here.” Ygraine nodded toward the gate as if her business were with it, an early evening meeting with a miniature portcullis of wrought iron.

Somehow, the two do eventually learn to speak the same language. And in the midst of all their court intrigue, rebellion, and layers of deception, they also have to find the right words to fall in love.

I’m still deep in revisions, trying to get it right. It’s a delicate balance trying to tie it all together—without showing the seams. But hopefully, by the time I’m done, I’ll be fluent in multiple languages.

Writing in Different Genres by Diane Burton

This blog is devoted to those who enjoy reading and writing paranormal romance. Paranormal is one of those genres that can include so much. Futuristic romance (now called science fiction romance) is a part of paranormal. So are vampires, ghosts, shifters, angels, demons, reapers, dragons, and many more. The paranormal world encompasses so much.

I’ve made no bones about how much I love science fiction romance. It’s a far-reaching glimpse into the future. It gives me hope for humankind. We will get to other planets, we will reach stars (and their planets) that are only specks in our sky. Maybe not in my lifetime, possibly in my grandchildren’s.

Science fiction romance give me so much flexibility as an author. I can devise my own worlds. My characters don’t have to be human or come from Earth. Faster-than-lightspeed (FTL) is possible. Wormholes allow us to skip over the universe.

As much as I love reading and writing science fiction romance, my reading tastes are eclectic. I love the here and now, too. Mysteries, romantic suspense, military adventures, along with the usual paranormal romances. My mind is a catchall for varied ideas. If I enjoy reading other genres, why not write them?

When I first started writing, I wrote romances. With each attempt, I discovered that I included a mystery, action, an adventure, something more than a romance. The more I wrote, the more I stretched my creativity. And that was exciting. Stories with a contemporary setting meant not having to make up a whole new world. I could take certain things for granted—like not having to let the reader know what cell phones and cars are. Even more fun is setting stories where I live (or have lived).

I love reading books set in places I’ve visited or where I’ve lived. Instead of imagining scenes, I can recall the last time I saw that beach, mountain, shop. Since my husband’s job took us around the Midwest and we love to travel, I can easily visualize stories in set in Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, Colorado, Missouri, Florida . . . I think you get the picture. 😊

My mystery series (the Alex O’Hara Novels) take place in a fictional resort town similar to where I live along the Lake Michigan shoreline. It’s been fun including the things I love most about living near a beach, and also including those less than desirable reasons (like extra traffic and long waits at restaurants.

Years ago, I wrote a romantic suspense, One Red Shoe, starts in Iowa, goes to New York City, and returns to Iowa via Michigan. That was quite a road trip. LOL My upcoming release takes place in and around Grand Rapids (Michigan’s second largest city). Numbers Never Lie is a romantic suspense with action and adventure, what I include in every story I write. And, of course, a romance.

I love exploring different genres, setting stories in the present as well as the future, in places I’ve been or wish I could travel to. My stories will all include action, adventure, and some romance. I will always return to space and science fiction romance.

Do you read different genres? Do you write in different genres?

Cloud Atlas - How Genre is Ultimately Irrelevant

I'm utterly thrilled beyond belief that RT Book Reviews gave the second book in my Twelve Kingdoms series, The Tears of the Rose, their highest possible review rating of a Top Pick GOLD.

Still in shock, frankly.

Especially since the first book, The Mark of the Tala, received their Seal of Excellence earlier this year for a compelling book that pushes genre boundaries. It's a neurotic writer thing, but when great things like that happen, we always figure the next book will fail to measure up. Alas.

The question of genre has long interested me, not only because my books "push genre boundaries" - a nice way of saying people are sometimes unsure how to categorize them- but because genre categories have such a profound influence on writers, readers, booksellers, librarians and so on.

Quite remarkable for what is essentially a false construct.

Something ably demonstrated by the movie Cloud Atlas. I finally got around to streaming this movie the other night and found it utterly brilliant. It's a complex movie requiring close attention, that tells six interweaving stories from different time periods. The spoiler-filled full synopsis is here. The shorter, vaguer one is:

Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his lover; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.

What's fascinating is to break these six stories into genre categories. I checked the genre classifications for the movies each story thread most reminded me of. They'd come out as:

1. an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific - Action, Adventure
2. letters from a composer to his lover - Historical, Romance
3. thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant - Thriller, Mystery
4. a farce about a publisher in a nursing home - Comedy, Drama
5. a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea - Science Fiction, Action
6. the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future - Post-Apocalyptic, Adventure

So what genre is this movie? Well, they settled on the very neutral "Drama" and threw in a "Science Fiction" secondary genre. Likely as a warning. The book is categorized on Amazon as Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction and Fantasy. Quite the hodgepodge.

Of course, not every story is this complex or difficult to define. However, I think it provides an interesting case study that shows genre really is a semi-arbitrary classification system. I'm particularly fascinated that the genre drifted so much from book to movie.

Any other examples you can think of where that's happened?

Writing and Reading out of Love

Each month the RT editors select one book that is not only compelling, but pushes the boundaries of genre fiction. This book stands out from all the others reviewed that month, in the magazine issue and on the website. June 2014's RT Seal of Excellence — the editors' pick for best book of the month — is awarded to Jeffe Kennedy's fantasy romance, The Mark of the Tala.

July started off with a bang for me, with this amazing choice by RT Book Reviews to select The Mark of the Tala for their June Seal of Excellence. It's particularly gratifying to me, that this book was picked because it pushes genre boundaries.

All of us here at Paranormal Romantics have experienced the ups and downs of the paranormal marketplace. These days we're told that paranormal romance is a dead genre and don't even think the word "vampire." And yet, we know readers are still hungry for it. Hell - WE are hungry for it.

The problem is nobody's entirely sure what they're hungry for.

When a genre becomes "hot," like paranormal romance and urban fantasy did, you can watch a very predictable curve in the marketplace. A book or several books hit big - like Twilight - and create tremendous interest. We read those books and want more like that. The editors buy them up, because the editors are buying - and because they're inspired by the books they're reading - writers write more like that. The shelves get flooded and, like a hit song overplayed on the radio, soon we're sick of the whole thing. We'll turn off the radio before we have to hear that song one more time.

Except, we still want music. Even that kind of music.

I think this is why it's important to remember to write what we want to, not for the market. I got really lucky with this Twelve Kingdoms trilogy, because the books just happen to be coming out at a time where there's an upsurge of interest in fantasy. To some extent, I thought this could happen. I had already written the book that became The Mark of the Tala when I attended a conference two years ago. At the TOR/Forge spotlight, I asked the panel of editors if they thought Game of Thrones being on HBO would create interest in more fantasy of that type. The gals exchanged bemused glances and said, well, maybe? And one explained that, to them and anyone else in SFF publishing, George RR Martin's series was old news. It was a funny moment, watching them process that this would not be true for all those TV watchers discovering this kind of story for the first time.

However, if I'd decided then and there to write my book, I would have missed this particular moment. My agent sold it a few months later and it just came out. That's where the luck comes in.

But I wrote in the first place out of love - and that's the key.

Take a Chance! Try something new...

Hello! I hope you are managing to stay cool (or warm, depending on what part of the world you live in). Will three releases in the part two months, I have been visiting a lot of blogs, and participating in multiple giveaways and other events. I write mostly science fiction romance, and one of the things I often hear from readers is that they've never heard of the genre before, or they've never read anything from the genre.

Now, I understand that the tag "science fiction" generally scares a lot of romance readers, as "romance" scares many sci-fi readers. But, I promise you that not all sci-fi romances are extremely technical and full of descriptions of technology and other worlds. In fact, most aren't, focusing on the romance and other relationships.

Now, science fiction romance isn't the only genre out there. There are hundreds of others, many that I haven't yet read. Growing up, I read a LOT of contemporary romance, some fantasy, and some sci-fi. Not a wide variety. But when I connected with other authors through various author memes and events, I widened my reading experiences.

The first paranormal romance I read was by Nora Roberts.

The first BDSM story by Sara Brookes.

The first Historical Romance by Cassandra Dean.

The first MM  and menage by Stacey Kennedy.

The first FF by Kate Richards.

I've read plenty more in those genres since then. And I've found stories that I will love forever.

So, take a chance! This summer, try a new genre. Read a new author. You may be surprised by the story you get swept into. Happy reading!


SALE!! Never Gonna Let You Go and Sudden Breakaway are only 99 cents at Amazon until the end of June.

Bio:

Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to erotica. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

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