RWA censorship?

[erastes]

Thanks to EREC for bringing this to my attention.  Apparently Affaire de Coeur had much promotional material removed from the "goody room" at the Romance Writers of America conference. It turns out that many other people also had promotional stuff removed completely and no-one knew where it had vanished to.  And, surprise, surprise, this is what AdC say about the people whose material was missing "Among this group were the alternative lifestyle authors as well as some of the other groups who might not walk the traditional path."

Hmmmm.   Perhaps one or two instances of purloined (hell, lets call a spade a spade shall we?) STOLEN material could be put down to catty behaviour of one author who dislikes another (and yes, amazing as it is to hear, this sort of thing goes on!!*gasp*) but on this scale?  I don't think so.  I am therefore swayed to AdC's supposition that RWA were censoring the displays because heaven forbid that the Romance industry gets to find out the insidious lie that Romance is not limited to WASP heterosexuals.  "I'm convinced it is done by parties who feel that they have the right to edit and control what all participants see."

AdC reports that action had been taken in their case the next day, but it's not good enough, imo.

I'm sure we all remember Laura Baumbach's experience at the Romantic Times convention last year when her promotional poster and all of her promo was "confiscated" (sorry, STOLEN) by the Hyatt or Romantic Times because it "offended the public" (where the public should not have been anyway.)  The poster of a half clad man (on his own) was no more offensive (less so, in my eyes) than the biceps bulging half naked men on most hetero authors' covers.

So we are one year on and it looks like nothing much has changed, in fact it's got worse, as it appears that it's not just gay literature that's being targeted here.

I was going to blog yesterday about the RWA award results because once again - not only is there still no category for GBLTQ Romance (or heaven forbid the revolting phrase "alternative lifestyles" - because one chooses to be gay. Or black) but there are still no writers getting into the finals. Is this because people aren't entering?  It's hard to tell; I know that Laura Baumbach attended and someone from my flist, but can't remember who?  I'm told that some of the finalists (and perhaps the winners) had some ménage-a-trois aspects but.. well, don't get me started. Please. I've nothing against MaT, believe me, but - well. Just don't get me started.

I admit that I haven't joined the RWA. Partly because of obvious reasons - I don't live in America for a start and I haven't been on holiday for more than 10 years, let alone have the spare cash to be able to jaunt to the States once a year.  But I (and I know this is a concern of several of my peers) think that if I WERE to join, I would likely be completely ignored? I'm not saying for one minute that my books would win any awards on their merit, but would they even be given a chance or would they immediately be discarded, unread, unjudged simply because of their subject material?  Probably.

But then again - how can we raise the profile within the very organisation that should be opening its mind to more than WASP het sex, if we DON'T join en masse, and if we don't start pushing ourselves forward in large numbers?  It's a real dilemma (for me, at any rate).  I feel a little impotent being over here in Blighty (where we have nothing at ALL along the lines of these conferences, our "literary festivals" are generally invite only and only big writers get invited.  There aren't even many literary festivals where you can rent a table for promo). I admire Laura greatly because she continues to pay her own money on expensive adverts in Romantic Times despite the fact they refuse to review her books, and she continues to go to these conferences despite that m/m is considered beyond the pale and impossible anyway because - as a wit said earlier - "a human and tiger can have a romance but two men can't."

Perhaps, then as The Macaronis and The Brit Writers have discussed, it's time for US to organise something in Britain.  Some kind of authors' conference where ANYONE was welcome, no matter what genre they write. Something along the lines of the American template - a room with writers to sign and giveaway goodies, and a bit of a knees up in the evening.  Hell, we we could even have some awards, although who the hell would want to judge them, I don't know.

It would be scary to do - but a lot of these conferences start very small - I read recently that one had started up and the first year it had 20 people arrive and now it takes 100's of applications every year.

Comments?

Comments

[reddwarfer.livejournal.com]

I'm continually disgusted by censorship. And it's always under the guise of "in the public's interest" when it's really "eliminating a seemingly undesirable element." I think if you organised something, it would be great. Lots of times the only reason things change is because people force them to.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

The Hay Festival started small in a tent in a field and now you can't get accommodation in Herefordshire or Gwent for that week!

I think it would be worth doing - maybe just a day where the authors can get together and plot and plan and decide whether they want to campaign or not.

But then I'm a lazy reader who would just love to be able to wander into Waterstones in my lunch hour and buy whatever I wanted. I'm not the one who'd have to man the barricades even in the unlikely event I plucked up the courage to submit one of my stories for publication.

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

I have long said that Britain sadly seems to be the lapdog of the US and in far more areas than one might think.

I'd be happy to provide my expertise in running a conference (albeit little time, but alas at least experience) if folks actually want to go ahead. Granted, I've only ever organised academic conferences, but it can't be that diffrent to herd a gaggle of writers & readers compared to a gaggle of scholars & researchers, aye? ;-)

Britain has WONDERFUL writers, why oh why do they have to publish in the US where their Britishness is being grated away and where they are changed into clones? And why indeed not be all-inclusive?

Brits are difficule to motivate for any kind of conference or convention -I have to warn you, the UK costume con in one victim of that - but it is worth a try if a committee is willing enough.

(edited coz I really can't type, it seems)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm encouraged by Sectus, actually. It was a fan run event, by people with little experience in doing anything like that and it was a huge event which got national publicity. Sadly the 2009 event has had to be cancelled, but it sold out before it folded.

Your expertise would be very welcome! I'll keep you posted!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think that's right. Things have to start small - but they have to START - that's the most important thing!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It would be fun just to have a get together - even if it's just for authors!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely up for that. I have no expertise in organizing anything but I'm more than willing to try.

What I did do yesterday was go into one of the bookshops in Cambridge which has a 'crime writers' night once a year and say 'would you be interested in a 'romance writers' night to go with that? They gave me a contact number to call, which I was going to do once I'd put the idea to the Britwriters.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Hooo! That would be good. is only 60 miles from here!!

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

The menages you mentioned (and I believe you are referring to our little conversation) are not books in the "official" RITA awards (the awards of RWA), but among the titles for the Passione Plume Awards, the contest helds by Passionate Ink. Passionate Ink is a Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America for erotic romance writers. It's an online chapter with members from all over the world. Sometime a writer from Passionate Ink arrives to the main award, like Angela Knight or Sylvia Day in the past. From what I understood, Passionate Ink doesn't divide heterosexual romance from gay romance, and so, for example, in 2005 A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach was in the Contemporary category; last year, The Courage to Love by Samantha Kane was in the Historical category and Enthralled by Laura Baumbach in the Paranormal; this year Nothing To Lose by Mechele Armstrong (menages M/M/F) was in the Contemporary, At Love’s Command by Samantha Kane (menages M/M/F) in the Historical, Tailspin by Denise Rossetti and The Lovers by Mechele Armstrong (menages M/M/F) in the Futuristic. Elisa

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

it's a way for me but my darling H lives in cambridge and I could visit with her at the same time
i'm more than happy to attend,

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I just noticed that you'd volunteered to be a reviewer for AdC. I volunteered for the same thing about six months ago and have yet to be given a single book to review. I think they must have forgotten about me.

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

It's disgusting utterly and totally disgusting
I agree with you, even if i could rush to america once a year for a convention I wouldn't for that, I could hit yaoicon instead

there's no reason we can't set one up ourselves, hire a hall, share the cost between a few of us or have a small entrance free to cover costs and then have everyone hit a bar afterwards, there are plenty of cheap hotels, we fangirls have often done that, hired some cheap holiday accomodation in the ass of wales off season and had a conference all by ourselves.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! Even if it's just a room above a pub, I think it could be fun.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I nagged 'em.

:)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That sounds good - and I'm sure it would grow in popularity as we went on.

It's good that people are interested! Halls are pretty cheap to hire and gawd knows there are ton of them around!

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

I live within walking distance of Elvaston Castle, a beautiful cotillion hall within driving distance of Staunton Harald, and Calke Abbey, a fair drive will take you to chatsworth and it has a restaurant, the one problem is that it is in the ass of nowhere and it has no bar, but.... the local hotels are plentiful and cheap, the trainstation is about as local to everyone as you can get without being crewe (most trains stop in derby) and there is a bus you can catch although it does involve traipsing through a field
for drivers it's perfect, for non drivers, not so much

the grounds almost make it worthwhile, it's got fountains and follies and forests and the original gates from versailles....
but there are plenty of them about it would just be a matter of finding one willing to put up with a bevy of squealing authors - in packs we're loud and scary
we could have our own little awards,

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

That disgusts and angers me, but it hardly surprises me.

I don't think it hasn't occurred to a lot of the men running the publishing companies and thus having pull in events like this that there are plenty of people who enjoy gay romance-- it's just that it goes well against the status quo. Women's (and minorities') reading (and sexual) material is still determined by the straight rich white men at the of of things. They don't want gayness (or blackness, or anything-else-ness) represented, so they act like it doesn't exist, and then shuffle it into "alternative lifestyles" as though it's somewhat *gasp* odd, and there's something "not normal" about the people who enjoy it. We're not your average public like the people who like het porn or the straight men who watch Girls Gone Wild, we're some specialty group that's a bit strange. And there aren't even that many of us so we're easy to ignore or not market anything to. (Excuse the sarcasm here, I'm seething.)

I don't find heterosexual porn (or faux-lesbian porn created for straight men) at all interesting. Already, the whole world is a big straight lovefest and IMHO, we've seen everything because it's in every movie, every sitcom, every book and every commercial. (Maybe this is why I'm fine with gay or otherwise "unconventional" romances yet straight romance is really off-putting-- though I'm fine with messed up straight-couple love stories which don't end happily...)

Fuck: it's just mindblowing and it akes me furious. It's not like they're just ignorant or old-fashioned-- that seems extremely aggressive. :/


As for the conference, I'd be up for that if i was actually a writer. *sighs*

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I must do that too!

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I haven't joined RWA because I don't give money to homophobic organizations.
I don't believe in "change them from within." The membership of any organization is just a source of income to those at the top.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Bravo, Angela!

I don't think anyone who writes gay romance should support RWA or go to their damned conventions--what's the point, if they're just going to away all the materials so that they can pretend that gay romance doesn't exist? Romantic Writers of America doesn't deserve anything except a hell of a lot of bad publicity...and undying contempt.

The writers of gay romances should found other, more accepting conventions. Raise the standards in the industry--God knows it could use that!

ETA: Corrected because, in my fury, I got the name of the organization wrong.

[joyful-molly.livejournal.com]

Again?! Just how dense are these RWA people? I already blew my top about the "Baumbach-Affair" last year. As far as I'm concerned, we can all do well without "associations" like the RWA. I also heard from other authors how shabbily they've been treated; there's a pattern.

The term "alternative lifestyle" gives the mindset behind such organisations and events away. Mind you, if they don't want to have any GBLT literature, fine. But they should be honest about it then and deal with the fact that people might form an opinion about them based on that statement. But nooo, they feel it's perfectly fine to cash in on the authors they seem to dislike so much. Up theirs, I say.

I'm all for "doing our own thing", and I'd definitely support it. Unless it's "British only, please", which I find just as annoying as "only Americans, please". There are so many people writing books in English who don't have the required passport.

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

That's really outrageous. :(

What I'd love to know, and I hope someone who's there finds out and tells us, is whether the removal of the material was an official action, as it was in Laura Baumbach's case, or whether it was some individual or private group who took it upon themselves to play thought police on behalf of everyone else. It'd still be outrageous either way, but institutionalized outrageousness has a much longer reach. [scowl]

Angie

[girluknow.livejournal.com]

I would think starting up a new and inclusive organization, which would eventually be MUCH larger and a lot more fun than RWA and other cliquish groups run by closed-minded, faint-hearted, bigoted neanderthals who have apparently altogether lost the idea of what romance is all about, would be more satisfying and productive in the long run.
And that is my convoluted sentence for the day.*g*

[haydenthorne.livejournal.com]

Huh. I'm half-tempted to organize a GLBT-only romance writers conference and blatantly exclude het romance writers. Then we'll see how some of their contingent feel about being shoved off, the prissy hypocrites.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

"We have checked your back catalogue and one of your characters has sex with a person of the opposite sex. I'm sorry, but I think you will not fit into the demographic of our convention. YOU PERVERT."

:)