Alison Kent

I am apparently the lone dissenter, but I’m just not getting all the uproar over the mixed panels rather than categories of RITA books. I don’t buy the complaints that the judging won’t be fair when authors are forced to judge books in a subgenre they don’t read or necessarily like. (Note: Authors. The judges are authors, not readers, not fans.) This “like” business is not the same as morally objecting to a book’s content. This is personal taste and preference at work. And, imo? The complaints make no sense when you consider that judging is all about the application of craft to story.

First of all, this is ROMANCE. All the books entered are ROMANCES. They may be long contemporary or long historical, but at the heart they are ALL stories of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. Yes, that’s simplified to the most basic formula or equation. But that’s what it is. ROMANCE authors judging ROMANCES. How can anyone not think they can judge or “get” the very thing they do for a living? Boggles this mind, anyway!

We are judging the best ROMANCE. What does it matter if it’s a subgenre we don’t read for pleasure. Why would that stop an author from being able to tell what works and what doesn’t, what’s missing, what’s overdone? After all, this is what the author does. This is her career, her calling, her craft - the very endeavor in which she spends HOURS of her time. And to say she can’t judge what she doesn’t read? Nope. Don’t buy it.

It’s the equivalent of an accountant moving from one firm to another and adjusting to a new accounting software. How the financial statements are generated doesn’t matter. You’ve still got your debits, credits, capital gains, fixed assets, etc. The core accounting principles are still at work. For the RITAs, we are dealing with core writing principles, as it were, no matter the packaging. Instead of debits and credits, we have dialogue, characterization, motivation, plot, etc.

Does the book have compelling characters? Does the reader root for them, care about them? Do they have a goal they are striving to reach? Are there external obstacles keeping them from getting there? Are their internal battles raging? Does the plot move forward with each scene? Is the dialogue stilted? Is there too much exposition or author intrusion when the characters should be the ones “showing” the story?

What does it matter if the setting is the Regency, future earth, or Soho? Because I don’t know anything about writing a long historical and don’t read them for pleasure, does that mean I can’t see the craft at work - or the absence of the same? The judging guidelines say, “Judging fiction is an inherently subjective task. All any judge can do is try to leave behind her prejudices about subject matter and report how well the story worked for her.” If as authors we can’t do that, if we can’t see through the setting or the time period to the story beneath, there is something fundamentally wrong here.

This is supposed to be a peer award. Peer: a person who is equal in ability, standing, age, rank or value. If we cannot critically analyze the work of our peers, whether the subgenre is one we read for pleasure or in which we write, then we’ve reduced the award to one that’s about favorites. Reader favorites. Fan favorites. And I’m pretty sure we’ve already got enough of those around!

Thanks to Saskia for this link to an article (and an excerpt - not for the faint at heart) about Harlequin’s upcoming imprint, Spice. I knew they had contracted Kayla Perrin, but wasn’t aware of Suzanne Forster (this should be good!) or M.J. Rose.

That said, even though I love her to death and she still holds a place in my heart as one of my best editors ever, *gg* I’m going to take exception with this quote:

�They�re highly sexual and sensual stories directed at modern women, who want something really sexy, really, really graphic in nature, but with much more of story,� says Spice editor Susan Pezzack. �If you took all the sex out of the story, the story would stand alone.�

I disagree. 100%. And here’s why. If you are writing erotica, the sex MUST BE inseparable from the plot. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say the sex IS the plot, or at least is a huge driving force behind it. Otherwise, why have the sex ramped up to that level at all? I understand wanting to impress that the books DO have an external plot and are not just a series of sex scenes, but if such scenes are removable there is no reason for them to be there in the first place.

Erotica, as Sasha White said, is all about emotions. Emotions come from character. Emotions drive internal journeys. How can something that crucial to characterization and development be removed without affecting the whole of the story? IMO, it can’t. It has to be so tightly woven into the fabric of the whole, that pulling one loose thread unravels what is a beautifully compelling canvas.

And now that I’ve metaphorically outdone myself for the day, I’ll return to the closet and try to be as creative on the WIP! I’d better have a LOT of discussion when I get back to check, LOL! Otherwise, what’s the point of my life? *gggg*

Since I spent the entire day yesterday with headphones on, I took time to jot down what I was listening to for Emma & Maili. I’m not sure these are my all time favorites, but these are twenty albums on my Jukebox Zen MP3 player that I play repeatedly while writing - and my favorite song from each - in no particular order!

Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way - Universally Speaking
Elton John - Captain Fantastic - Bitter Fingers
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run - Jungleland
John Mayer - Heavier Things - Bigger Than My Body
Joan Osborne - Relish - Man in the Long Black Coat
Lucinda Williams - Essence - Essence
Neko Case - Blacklisted - Outre With Bees
Alanis Morissette - Feast on Scraps - Fear of Bliss
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head - Warning Sign
Santana - Supernatural - Primavera
The Strokes - Is This It? - Someday
Smashing Pumpkins - Adore - Daphne Descends
Queensryche - Empire - Is There Anybody Listening?
Dave Matthews - Some Devil - Gravedigger
Sade - Lovers Rock - King of Sorrow
Jewel - This Way - Till We Run Out of Road
Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance - Be Be Your Love
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn - On The Bound
Doyle Bramhall II - Doyle Bramhall II - Song From the Grave
Counting Crows - This Desert Life - Amy Hit the Atmosphere

Anyhow, after the breakdown of the day before, yesterday’s writing was awesome. It helped that I did a truncated version of my morning blog-hopping and emailing after sleeping ELEVEN hours and then got right to work! (It also didn’t hurt that I had a cool ego-stroking email from my agent which sent my mind racing into all sorts of creative directions!)

One thing I’ve found this week that proves how tired my mind is? I’m having to use my dictionary a LOT more than usual, looking up this morning, for example, inverse, reverse, converse to make sure I was using the right word! Ack, but the mind is a terrible thing to waste!

I was also reminded at this point in my book as to WHY I write linearly and don’t skip ahead to write future scenes when stuck. I hit a spot with my secondary couple that came out of nowhere and required I make a few adjustments to what I had planned. If I’d moved ahead and written a scene using my original arc, I’d be throwing away all those pages!

Throwing away pages is painful! Painful, I tell you! I rarely do it because of the linear writing thing and now because of the plotting board. And I’d like to keep it that way!

This morning I managed to complete a couple of tasks related to Access Romance. I also did updates to three of my Dream Forge Media clients. (I have to say that DFM is doing SO well that we are now taking on only a very few select new clients!) Only Wednesday, and this has been a terribly trying week. (I knew how much I needed to get done today so was up before 5:00 when usually I sleep from about 12:00 to 9:00! LOL!)

I am busy beyond belief, and I wonder daily if I wouldn’t be doing myself a big favor to quit writing and web design and go back to the nine to five grind of accounting. Pick it up once inside the door, leave it there on the way out. So much of a simpler life than living and breathing one’s work twenty-four seven. I honestly do need to get out of the house more. And not to head to the park or the mall to write, but to head out for me. Thing is, it’s hard to remember to schedule personal time. Movies. Walks. Lunch with friends. On one uplifting note, I did register to go to the Emily Luncheon at my RWA chapter’s February meeting. It’ll be good to get out and meet so many of the chapter members I don’t know.

I was reading Laurell K. Hamilton’s political blog this morning - which I don’t find overly political at all - and she talked about being immersed in the writing zone, about the need to shut out all else while she creates. It really got me to thinking about how many things that distract me. This snippet really hit me.

The tsunami disaster. For days after it happened, I didn’t know about it. When the book is going well and the deadline is very close, Darla protects Jon and I from some news. When I am working like this I don’t watch the news, or read newspapers, or even go near a magazine rack. I avoid anything that may ruin my train of thought, or interfere too much with the mind set I need to do what I do. Darla used to give bits of the news to Jon, but if it was bad enough I’d pick up on it, so she stopped sharing with either of us. At my request, because of if it was horrible enough it would take me days to be able to write again, or write any amount of pages. So, in a way, I live in a bit of a bubble. I have to say that it is one of the few parts of the whole artist mind-set that I can’t deny. You need a little bit of an ivory tower, or the world becomes too heavy.

I also loved reading in her regular blog a mention of going out to dinner with her husband after several long days of writing. Still immersed and wanting nothing to draw her out of that, no television, no movies, etc.

Jon and I went to a nice restaurant, and had a nice meal. I was so tired that staring off into space felt restful. But at the restaurant when Jon got his notebook out making notes on his stuff, I found my head clawing at some of the questions that still need decided before I can finish A STROKE OF MIDNIGHT. So out came my notebook, and I thought a little on paper.

I love knowing that the dh and I are not the only ones who end up spending dinners out talking nothing but plot - or taking notes or whatever. We can get really animated and I think draw more attention than we mean to! What I really loved, and have seen before, are the pics of her office. Only the thumbnails are online, but you can see how she uses HER sticky notes!

Anyhow, all that to say that if I’m not around for a day or so, it’s because I’m in my hobbit hermit hole shutting out the world and trying to get a handle on the remainder of this book! Try not to have too much fun without me!