Jun
28
Posted by wilderwriter on
June 28, 2005
You will never hear me say that I write literature, or Lit-ra-choor as I prefer to phrase it. Seeing that most people don’t read literature unless they are in college and Faulkner is force-fed to them in order to graduate, I don’t feel any burning desire to write dreary tomes contemplating what life is all about.
I don’t claim to write the Great American Novel, Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee already did that. That’s not to say that it can’t be done again as CIDER HOUSE RULES by John Irving is pretty darn close. Seeing that this novel deals with abortion, an orphanage, and societies close-minded ideas regarding sex, that doesn’t intrigue me to write about that either.
I’ll leave the high-brow topics to those better suited than I.
I don’t write books that will change the world, I write books that come from my heart. I write about real people with real problems as they stumble through life and hopefully, find that one love that awaits them. I endeavor to catapult the reader into a world of romance and intrigue that they can relate to but that is completely unlike their day-to-day life.
I write escapism fiction.
I’ve lost count of the times that romance novels have saved my sanity. At some of the worst moments of my life I have picked up a book and allowed myself to be whisked away by the exploits of the hero and heroine. Sometimes, we just need that breathing space and that is what I try to provide.
Recently I received an email from a reader that stated, ‘thank you for saving my Christmas.’ According to this letter, the writer had lost her fiancé at Christmas time several years before and her way of coping was to keep her head down and muscle her way through the holidays. She’d entered a contest and won a copy of LAST KISS, a novella about a vampire hero who looked for his one true love (a mortal) as she’d lived out her various lives. This writer said to me, ‘thank you for making me believe that my fiancé and I will be reunited some day.’
It just doesn’t get any better than that.
I’m grateful every day of my life that I’m a writer – that I have been gifted with the ability to tell an engaging tale and to change the world, one life at a time, starting with my own. To those who would poo-poo romance novels, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Reading anything – romance novels, literature or cereal boxes is one of the best things a person can do to expand their mind and better their life.
Like I said – It just doesn’t get any better….
Jun
07
Posted by wilderwriter on
June 7, 2005
I can’t say that I got much writing done today. (Gee, I hope my editor doesn’t see this ) I’ve spent most of the early afternoon hopping from blog to blog to see what everyone had to say. Being a big fan of conversation, I’m very pleased to report that I’ve found some pretty smart cookies out there.
There are a lot of topics up for debate in the world of blogs and the current controversy among the writer-ly set is RWA’s new, so-called, Graphical Standards. Said standards are a ‘guideline’ (and I’m using the term very loosely) of less than desirable images / words that if found on a book cover will not be ‘accepted’ by RWA. Meaning, if you have any of these items on a cover, you cannot post it on an RWA sanctioned website or sign them at an RWA sanctioned event.
Hmm… I guess I can’t get my panties into too much of a twist over this only because I’ve been a member of RWA since 95 and I’ve seen them make outlandish statements then be forced to eat their words so fast that I’m surprised the BoD doesn’t have perpetual indigestion. With each new officer that comes to the board they receive a Policy & Procedures manual along with a gallon-sized bottle of TUMS.
I knew I should’ve bought stock in TUMS.
RWA fails to take into account that authors have very little, if any at all – input into their covers. One of the ‘guidelines’ is no naked butts on book covers. It just so happens that BLOOD LAW does sport a naked butt (and a very nice one at that). Did I have any say in how this book cover was created?
Nope.
But now RWA says that my book cover falls outside their guidelines and I a) cannot post it on an RWA sanctioned website and b) cannot sign it at the literacy signing at the National convention. Hmm…aren’t the books for the signing DONATED for the cause of stamping out ILLITERACY? I guess RWA doesn’t want my helping hand in their noble cause.
It bothers me that RWA is impugning my right to Freedom of Speech in that rather than standing up for the authors it has chosen to side with the fundies and be EX-clusive rather than IN-clusive. What next? No oral sex in romance novels? Only under the sheets, in the dark sexual encounters can be depicted?
Where does the madness end?
A few years ago I had a conversation with then RWA President Harold Lowery regarding the ‘standards’ for admitting epublishers into the hallowed halls of RWA Recognition. I told him that .50 and RWA Recognition wouldn’t buy me a cup of coffee and I stand by that statement today. RWA is totally out of touch with the needs of a working author as policing my covers is the last thing I want them to do. How about working on getting fair and equitable contracts, health insurance (that is affordable) as well as a pension or retirement plan?
Nope, RWA is more worried about the word ‘tit’ or a naked butt appearing on a cover.
Oh well – I guess I’ll just take my naked butt cover and go on my way.
