Welcome to Romance Writers of America’s Women’s Fiction Chapter!

I hope you take some time to wander around the website, and find the great information we’ve complied for you here. Then please take a moment to introduce yourself on our Yahoo loop. We hope you’ll find the chapter as inspiring and helpful as I have.

We owe a large debt of thanks to Therese Walsh, who envisioned a home for Women’s Fiction writers within RWA and set about creating it. Both Therese and her founding board left big shoes to fill.

We have many ideas for the coming year, and new projects on the drawing board. Our first order of business is our WF Mini Conference, which will be held Wednesday, July 25 at the Anaheim Marriott. Margie Lawson, psychologist and creator of the Deep Edits System will be our craft speaker. Social Networking Goddess, Kristen Lamb, will be our Keynote Speaker. We’ll also have two WF panels of Authors, Editors, and Agents, so mark the date, and make your plans . . . you won’t want to miss it!

Your Board can’t lead in a vacuum. Please let us know of any suggestions you may have to make our chapter even better. And consider volunteering in some way to the chapter – you may find you receive more than you give!

Here’s to a prolific, successful, and peaceful 2012.

Laura Drake
President

Getting Respect

One of the things that always strikes me when talking to writers groups is the Rodney Dangerfield-ism of “I don’t get no respect.” The unpublished feel dissed by the published. E-writers feel dissed by print. Those in the romance genre think they’re looked down on by women’s fiction. Mystery authors argue they get eclipsed by romance. YA complain they’re not taken seriously. And picture book creators whine that some people act like they aren’t writers at all. Non-fiction yeomen and literary geniuses both rail against the masses who prefer to spend their book dollars on lesser lights. Even screenwriters, with their high pay and glamorous life, sigh that people see them as lesser, because what they do is not a book.

The writer, laboring in obscurity and disrespect, is almost a cultural stereotype. And all of us, at least on a bad day or two, have wallowed in it.

I consider myself an extremely lucky person. I grew up in fairly straightened working class circumstances, but I had an advantage that money can’t buy. I had a father who believed in me. He thought that I was brilliant and funny, hardworking and cute. I recall childhood afternoons sitting with him on the front steps. He would still be dressed in his grease-covered khakis, his hardhat “airing out” on the grass. He’d ask my opinion on politics, religion, history, hunting dogs or the neighbors. And he listened to my answers with the same attention and respect the he would have afforded any other human on the planet.

Of course, school and life quickly taught me that I was not particularly brilliant, funny, hardworking or cute. And the other folks on this planet occasionally treat me with a general lack of respect based on who I am, what I do, where I live or how much money I make.

This truth does not make me sigh at the unrealistic expectations that my father instilled in me. Because his lesson was not meant as an introduction to the big world. It was his method of teaching me how to respect myself, to have confidence in my own thoughts and abilities, and to inoculate me from the habit of measuring my accomplishments with other people’s yardsticks.

Authorship is a very competitive vocation. We have contests upon contests, trophies, medals, pendants and certificates. Every reader in the world is urged to publicly judge us, one to five stars. And those elements of the writing life don’t even touch the financial market realities of ever increasing reading options and chasing limited book buying dollars.

Like most in the entertainment business, you’re only as good as your last work. And the term “good” isn’t limited to the quality of the writing. Bad cover, bad reviews, bad luck and bad weather can all contribute to the lackluster performance of a novel. Any hiccup in an upward trajectory and a hundred talented people are scrambling to step into place. Even those at the very top have no place to go but down.

Is it any wonder that we are insecure?

The quote from Eleanor Roosevelt–“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”–is a true one. But sometimes it’s hard for us to get our heads around it. We write something and immediately we ask someone nearby to read it.

“What do you think?”

There is, inherently, in the nature of criticism the task to find fault. It shows that the reader is paying attention, has discriminate tastes and is not afraid to tell you to your face that they don’t like something.

I really hate that.

But I digress from my point, which is, Does it really matter what someone else thinks?

I believe in the snowflake theory. Every writer comes to his or her work with a specific set of skills and strengths. They also bring their own unique perspective and life experience. For these reasons, it is rare that two writers will produce the same work, even if they are trying.

This fact was aptly demonstrated last year in a small historical anthology called It Happened One Season. Veteran authors, Balogh, Laurens, D’Alessandro and Hern were given exactly the same characters and premise for a novella. Without any coordination, each tale was different in tone, style, storyline and theme.

I mention this because I think it is vitally important to all of us to remember that our work, what we write, cannot now, nor ever, be written by somebody else. Our vision cannot be duplicated.

But what if our vision is one that no one has an interest in reading? What if my story sits on the self or in the cloud, only stirring the meager interest of a few supportive family members?

Ah yes, there is the rub.

We all want to be loved. To paraphrase Harry Truman, “then get a dog.”

And we all want to make a living, which has never been easy. I do believe that there is more opportunity in publishing venues, as least on some level, than there has been for a long while.

Adoring fans are wonderful. And the gleam of bright lights makes us feel even more fascinating than we are. However, making big money, small money, or any money changes nothing when it comes to respect. If you’re expecting commercial success to increase anything but your financial worth, you will be disappointed. People love to hate writers who make money. Just the fact that you’re making it runs counter to the sufferer stereotype, and guarantees that your work will be dismissed as unworthy and you will be almost universally proclaimed as a talentless hack.

Can’t you just give me my happily-ever-after?

Being a writer is such an unlikely privilege that whether we’re doing it in a Paris garret, a mini-mansion, or a mobile home, we should be incredibly proud. So many people want to be us. Even WE want to be us.

The buying and selling and bestselling, that’s all craziness that we can’t control. What we do have some say in is the quality of our own work and our own respect for the task that we do.

Or as my daddy once said in cautioning about the local hometown swains, “If you don’t respect yourself, none of those numbskulls are going to do it for you.”

I am so happy to be here among the members of the RWA-WF. I want our chapter to be one that oozes mutual respect. That we will be courageous and diligent and supportive of one another. And that we will write the books that we were meant to write. I believe that begins by taking the trouble to respect ourselves.

With our chapter growing at an astonishing rate, we thought it would be good to list all the opportunities and benefits our members enjoy in a new post.

You would have all received this information when you joined, but it never hurts to have a handy reminder or a place where you can check back to make sure of something.

First of all, the list rules. There aren’t many of them, and sticking to them will help keep our loop the focused and friendly place that it is.

Keep it professional.

• Please refrain from flaming or personal attacks. Give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to tone.

• Please respect the confidentiality of our loop and do not forward information from the loop to those outside of RWA-WF.

• Please trim posts when replying to others on the loop, so it’s easier for everyone to follow the conversation without wading through unnecessary text.

• Please do not gather emails from the loop to use for personal marketing. This is a part of our bylaws.

Use both of our loops to your best advantage.

• The main RWA-WF loop will now be used exclusively for conversation about all things women’s fiction, including women’s fiction manuscripts and novels, business developments in women’s fiction, agents representing women’s fiction, announcements and links related to women’s fiction, and question-and-answer threads regarding women’s fiction. Bottom line: If it isn’t women’s fiction then it may not be right for our main loop, but it may work for promo/social.

• The new RWA-WF Social and Promotions loop will be for daily *off-topic* conversations, for promoting blog posts unrelated to women’s fiction, and for asking for help promoting a new release. When posting on this loop, include BLOG in your title if it’s a blog post, PROMO if you’re asking for help promoting a book or contest (etc…), and SOCIAL if your post is off-topic.

Understand that there is a time and place for news and promotions.

• Please do include the url to your website beneath your name when you post.

• Please do ask for promotional help on our Social and Promotions loop.

• Please do post to the main loop if you have news of a sale, a release date, a fresh website, etc… But please take care not treat your fellow list members as sales marks.

• Please do share your good news with our website staff, who would love to post about it on the well-trafficked RWA-WF website. Guidelines and instructions for this can be found below.

• Please do not announce chapter contests, workshops or conferences on the loop; this information is instead gathered and posted on the RWA-WF website, in a section called Writers’ Corner. This helps to maintain a loop focused on relevant conversation. (Contest information can be mailed to our VP-C, Michelle Diener.)

Our online community is just one of the rewards of your RWA-WF membership. Below you’ll find some of the other perks available to you:

• a discounted women’s fiction mini-conference to be put on by the chapter in conjunction with National’s main conference. Though we’ve only hosted one such conference so far–to tremendous success, with Michael Hauge as our featured presenter–it is our hope that the mini-conference will become an annual event.

• a newsletter published every other month with information on new member releases, craft articles, industry news, and more

• our annual event/meeting at National, including meet-and-greet and presentation(s)

• critique group opportunities following critique group training, led by our Vice President of Programs, Maggie Marr (contact her at Margaret Marr for information on when the next round of crit group training will be)

• online workshops to be held on all aspects of the writing life (discounted for members)

• our website, full of industry news, craft articles, and files accessible only to members, to be frequently rotated; includes links to members’ websites, advertising opportunities for our members’ latest women’s fiction releases, and more

• our RWA-WF blog, where you’ll find a constantly rotating variety of articles, member interviews, sales news, and more; participation is encouraged

• our RWA-WF Facebook page, where you can share pictures and links, and generally let your hair down

• scheduled writing sprints, announced on the main RWA-WF Yahoo loop

• our brainstorming loop for anyone to bounce ideas around a group of writers who are all working on women’s fiction (If you’re interested in joining, please send an email to Kimberly Samsin and she’ll send you an invite.)

• opportunities aplenty to share your talents via our blog, website, and newsletter by contributing articles (Contact Michelle Diener for details.)

• website button to show your affiliation to the RWA-WF Chapter – click here to find out how to get the button.

• we also have a beautiful RWA-WF t-shirt which you can purchase on the RWA-WF site to show the world you are a proud member of RWA-WF, as well as an RWA-WF pin for conferences and our annual chapter meetings. The pin is available at Cafe Press.

Since this is a new chapter, several ideas are yet in the development stage, including:

• a one-of-a-kind contest for unpublished authors of women’s fiction

• mentoring opportunities

• an annual member “gift”–a top-shelf workshop that will be presented free of charge to chapter members

Next, let’s look at the various ways you can use the website, and how you can get the most out of it.

The Queries That Worked Page

Some of our published members, or members who are represented by agents, have made the query letters that landed them their agents or editors available on the website to fellow RWA-WF members looking for examples of strong women’s fiction query letters. In many cases, the author has included commentary from their agent, and notes of their own. The general page with the list of queries can be found here, but all links require an RWA-WF login (explained below) to be viewed. Published members who would like to offer their query letters for the list can contact Kerry Lonsdale.

Members Page on the Website

As a member of RWA-WF, your name will appear on the Members Page of the website. If you want your name as a click-through to your website or blog, please contact the VP-Communications, Michelle Diener, with your preferred name for the list and your URL.

Members’ Book Covers on the Website

As per the new RWA National rules, we can no longer have members’ covers on the home page, and we are obliged to charge a fee (which goes into the coffers for the benefit of all members) for having any members covers on the site. However, we are proud of our members’ accomplishments in the Women’s Fiction genre, and want the world to see the amazing WF books they are writing. The compromise is the Members’ Monthly Releases page on the website. It does not feed into the home page, but is clearly marked from the home page. We are able to have 8 Women’s Fiction covers up each month, at a cost of $10 a cover, and the covers on the MMR page will also go into the newsletter.

To book a cover place on the MMR page, you need to go here, read the criteria for placement and book a place in the comments section. When you request a slot, the volunteer for that part of the site will contact you for the information she needs to load your cover and link it to your website (we can’t link to online bookstores, as per RWA National rules). You will also get the payment details and so forth.

Members’ Announcements on the Website

We would like to give members the opportunity to let the rest of the chapter (and the world!) know about their contest wins and finals, their sales and contract news and any giveaways and contests they are running. To that end, we have created a Members’ Announcements category on the website.

To add an announcement, go here, read the post and then add your announcement in the comments section. The volunteer responsible for this part of the site will make sure your announcement is included the following Monday. The contract, sales and writing contest wins news will also go into our newsletter, so please remember to add your news so we can all share in your success. The news will be posted every Monday on the website and all news must be added by the Friday before.

We also have a weekly Writers’ Corner section on the website. This is a summary of the workshop, contest and conference announcements that come through from other RWA chapters through the week. If you belong to another RWA Chapter and know their announcements are not forwarded to the ChapLink or Chapterevents loop, you can send an email to the VP-Communications to have a particular announcement included in the Writers’ Corner roundup. If the announcement has been forwarded to ChapLink or Chapterevents, rest assured it will be included, and you don’t need to send a duplicate through.

Accessing the RWA-WF Newsletter and other members’ only information on the website

If you want to read the newsletter and weren’t a member when the latest issue was released, you can go back and see the old issues under RWA-WF Newsletter on the website. Your login is your name (including spaces and capital letters), and your email address is your password. This goes for accessing the past Board Meeting Minutes, the audio files of our first chapter meeting at Orlando Florida and Donald Maass’ speech at that meeting. Please contact Michelle Diener if you have trouble accessing any protected information on the site.

Please also note, the little Login link at the bottom right-hand corner of the site is for website committee members to access the site’s backend to add articles and do maintenance, you can’t use your login information to access anything there. You need to click on the article you want to read and fill in the login fields that come up to access the members’ only articles.

We invite you to make suggestions to your RWA-WF Board of Directors if you have any thoughts on how we can help you in your career as a women’s fiction author. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the RWA-RW membership, welcome!

A list of our Board Members and their contact details

Chapter President: Laura Drake (laura_drake1123 [at] yahoo [dot] com)
Wise Woman: Pamela Morsi (pammorsi [at] grandecom [dot] net)
VP-Communications: Kecia Adams Dilday (kadilday [at] gmail [dot] com)
VP-Programs: Christina Lorenzen (carp119 [at] aol [dot] com)
Secretary: Amy Sue Nathan (amysuenathan [at] gmail [dot] com)
Treasurer: Barbara Burnham (burnham_barbara [at] yahoo [dot] com)
PAN Liaison: Sharla Lovelace (sharlals [at] yahoo [dot] com)
PRO Liaison: Orly Konig-Lopez (orly [at] oklopez [dot] com)

We owe much to the architects of this website, and this chapter, for that matter! As the (new) person who tries keep our web presence running smoothly, I am grateful for the support and assistance of all of the volunteers who post in the various parts of the site, keeping it alive and vital with all sorts of information. This place is truly a goldmine, so I urge all members to click through both current and past posts for truly interesting and often uplifting information about Women’s Fiction, as well as writing, reading, and RWA. My predecessor, Michelle Diener, put it best: “If you stumble upon the RWA-WF website with no idea of what women’s fiction means as a genre, you won’t be in the dark for long.”

We have embarked on a new year, and our chapter has grown significantly since its creation in 2009. That’s exciting enough. But when you take into account the massive talent of the members of this chapter, the calibre of writers in our little community, it is more exciting still. It bodes well for the year to come.

As we continue to grow and develop as a group, it is my hope that RWA-WF will remain a real source of inspiration, information and support. So, welcome to RWA-WF! Here’s to an amazing 2012 for us all.

Kecia Adams
VP-Commnincations

Welcome to the Women’s Fiction Chapter of Romance Writers of America! We are so pleased to finally be creating this networking and support group for writers who are fascinated by the various ways a romantic novel can explore the issues, challenges, and stages of a woman’s life. We are all romantics at heart, and as such, many of us are or have long been romance readers and writers. It’s safe to say that without RWA and the explosion in popularity of romance novels that gave so many, many, many women a chance to write commercial novels about the things we care about, women’s fiction as a genre would not exist.

Admittedly, there is confusion about where the line is between the two genres–in the press and review community, among publishers and editors, and among ourselves. It took quite a lot of discussion for us to agree on a definition that would be inclusive, but also allow us a chance to clearly define the kind of books we love to read and write.

As a romance writer who began writing women’s fiction nine years ago, I’m often pressed to define the difference for reporters or bloggers or book clubs. It is not as complicated as you might imagine. Romance novels are always, always, always about a woman finding and forming a bond with her mate. Women’s fiction is often also partially about forming a bond, but there is a larger question she must solve, too. It is the resolution of that question that will bring about her happy ending. In younger women’s fiction, that quest might be to find her place in the world, or to find a balance between work and family. In midlife books, there is often a loss–children growing up, a marriage breaking down, or the death of a friend–that forces a reckoning with redefining identity. In books about older women, there might be issues of reconciliation. There are usually relationship issues with children, siblings, parents, even animals, and those need to be resolved for the protagonist to take the next healthy steps in her life.

Roughly. The truth is, women’s fiction is often more easily defined by what it isn’t. These are not easily books–which, for most of us, is a huge part of the appeal. There is freedom to play more with styles or themes or voice. We might tackle social issues or character history or any number of other things that would overwhelm the basic promise of a romance novel, which is that it will be a safe place to escape, even if the world around you is falling apart. Women’s fiction doesn’t make that promise. Sometimes, we know, children do not survive an illness. Sometimes, a marriage cannot be healed. Sometimes, people make terrible decisions and then have to live with the consequences.

After writing 27 contemporary and historical romances, I migrated to women’s fiction for several reasons. I needed a bigger canvas for the cultural and social questions that fascinate me. I wanted to write more about how work matters to women’s lives. And frankly, I needed to write about people with a little more wear and tear than a classic romance structure would allow–to write about women who didn’t skate through their youths without having an encounter with tequila shots or a really bad relationship or too many lovers.

But I also knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want to give up the exploration of love and sex and the power of finding a partner, a witness to make our lives better. It’s big stuff–and it’s fun to write about. I also had no desire to false tragedy, ala Nicholas Sparks. As a spiritual person, I believe an uplifting ending has the power to offer a person a chance to keep going for another day.

In women’s fiction, I can have my cake and eat it, too. And although we come to women’s fiction from many directions, we share this vision. The promise we offer in romantic women’s fiction, as opposed to mainstream women’s fiction, is the possibility of healing. Hope. The promise that people can triumph over even very challenging odds. We promise an upbeat ending, a chance (or a second chance, or even a third chance) at love with a true partner. Sarah Addison Allen’s work is magic realism with happy endings (she is the happy version of Alice Hoffman). That makes her one of us. Kristin Hannah, on the other hand, wrote many titles of women’s fiction (and in fact won a RITA for Best Novel With Romantic Elements), but crossed into mainstream fiction with her more recent books, beginning with Firefly Lane. Jodi Picoult is mainsteam women’s fiction all the way, and there are never any happy endings guaranteed there.

I don’t pretend to have all of the answers. Ours is an exciting arena, one that is expanding and changing in form as we each bring out own particular voices and talents to it. One thing our chapter will do is give us a chance to talk among ourselves, offer insights and experiences and a helping hand, and help find and recruit every single reader who is looking for what we write. We can define for ourselves what we’re doing here.

Welcome!
Barbara Samuel O’Neal