RT Recap Day 4 - Military Tribute, Avon Romance, and Margaret Mitchell

How about a cowboy to start off the day?  I attended the Librarians/Booksellers' special program - In Conversation with BJ Daniels, Lorelei James, and Lorraine Heath:

Cowboy books have never been more desirable--Meet some of the genre’s biggest stars - they will share personal anecdotes, the history of the genre, where they think it’s headed and how they started out.

I moseyed on over to the annual SOS Military Tribute:

Our military is the backbone of our country. They pay the price for our freedom through all of their sacrifices. This military tribute is a multi-author-sponsored event to pay a moving tribute to our military and all they have done for our country. This event is open to all. Tables will be decorated by authors representing Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, etc.

Hosts included KaLyn Cooper, Cristin Harber, Elle James, Cat Johnson, Kim Lowe, JM Madden, Trish McCallan, Donna Michaels, Megan Mitcham, Caitlyn O'Leary, Ella Quinn, Julie Rowe, Susan Stoker, Natasza Waters, and Sabrina York.

It amazes me each year how much readers appreciate our military. Thanks to the authors who made this an emotional event.

I reported for duty at the Avon Romance Reader Party - Clinch It:

How daring are you? Find out at this fun game-show style event, which will pair readers with Avon authors in a series of fun challenges, with participation judged by a panel of judges. Earn points for participation! Winners take all ... the books, that is! The winning team will win totes generously stuffed with books and swag, compliments of Avon.

Authors included Lenora Bell, Viola Carr, HelenKay Dimon, Megan Frampton, Lorraine Heath, Beverly Jenkins, Cathy Maxwell, Charis Michaels, Alisha Rai, and Lia Riley.

I was honored to be asked by Pamela Spengler-Jaffee, Senior Director of Publicity for Avon Romance, to serve as a judge along with historical author Beverly Jenkins and editorial director Erika Tsang.  I put my math skills to use as the scorekeeper, too.  Let me tell you this was the best reader party, second only to the SOS Military Tribute. Readers were laughing, singing, posing, and conspiring with the author at their table to win the big prize - a tote bag stuffed with romance books and a bottle of wine! Charis Michaels belted out THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA to lead her team to victory!

Clearly Avon was on my mind as I followed the historical authors to the Margaret Mitchell House for a special Q&A with Lenora Bell, Megan Frampton, Lorraine Heath, Beverly Jenkins, Cathy Maxwell, and Julia Quinn.  Charis Michaels moderated this lively discussion of historical romance in one of Atlanta's sacred homes.  Thanks, Avon Romance, for a fabulous day!

Margaret Mitchell House 

For this week of recaps, I am giving away a sampling of books and swag from RT. To enter the giveaway,

1. From the authors I have listed in today's blog, who would you like to meet? 

2. Comments are open through Monday, May 15, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Tuesday, May 16.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Margaret Mitchell House

Aloha to Beverly Jenkins and BREATHLESS (Old West Book 2) - with Giveaway!

Beverly Jenkins is celebrating the release of BREATHLESS, Old West Book 2, from Avon Books:

As manager of one of the finest hotels in Arizona Territory, Portia Carmichael has respect and stability-qualities sorely missing from her harsh childhood. She refuses to jeopardize that by hitching herself to the wrong man. Suitors are plentiful, but none of them has ever looked quite as tempting as the family friend who just rode into town…and none have looked at her with such intensity and heat.

Duchess. That’s the nickname Kent Randolph gave Portia when she was a young girl. Now she’s a stunning, intelligent woman-and Kent has learned his share of hard lessons. After drifting through the West, he’s learned the value of a place to settle down, and in Portia’s arms he’s found that and more. But convincing her to trust him with her heart, not just her passion, will be the greatest challenge he’s known-and one he intends to win…

 

Buy Link

BEVERLY JENKINS has received numerous awards, including five Waldenbooks/Borders Group Best Sellers Awards, two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine, and a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild. Ms Jenkins was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation’s largest on-line African-American book club. She was recently nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature. To read more about Beverly, please visit her website at beverlyjenkins.net.

Avon is hosting a giveaway at this link.

Old West Book 1 

Survey says ... Multicultural Romance

Hawaii taught me diversity ...

I discovered Buzzr TV during Winter Storm Jonas. The cable station replays game shows from the 80s - Match Game, Super Password, Card Sharks, and Family Feud with Richard Dawson. During Family Feud's Fast Money, Dawson asked, "Name an occupation that makes people feel good."  

My answer, of course, was romance writer.  Romance creates hope. Romance sparks love. Romance delivers the Happily Ever After.  I intended to write more about this topic ... but a family feud has erupted in Romanceland.  A feud that needs to be addressed. 

Freelance writer Bobbi Dumas posted an article on Kirkus Reviews, New Year, New Reading Resolution, at this link.   Bobbi introduced her month long promotion of Celebrating Diversity in Romance at this link.

Scroll to the second comment to read the questions posted by historical author Courtney Milan. 

Bobbi responded to Courtney in a second post at this link.

Courtney posted a summary of the issues on her own blog, Speaking up against systemic racism in the publishing industry, at this link.  She wrote, If you care about romance and the future of the romance genre, why aren’t you angry with me?

Wendy the Super Librarian adds her thoughts, The One Where Wendy Talks About Diversity, at this link.

I understand Courtney's anger.  I've seen injustice in the military, as an officer and a spouse.  I have witnessed officers and their spouses, who had the means and opportunity to address injustice, simply ignore it.  I have reported unethical behavior to commanders, only to find myself the target of retribution.  I know my actions made a difference, but it was painful to be isolated by my own community.  This happened during my family's last year in Hawaii when my husband was away in Korea.  Two other military spouses kept me sane - NL Gassert, author of Gay Fiction, and D. Renee Bagby, author of Interracial Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. 

Nadja and the Laie Sea Arch

Nadja, Renee, and I met on a weekly basis to tour the island. We would chat about books, TV, and movies. I would share my adventures at conventions. I think they would have enjoyed the 2014 RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans, especially the Welcome Party (link). RT sponsored the delicious crepe breakfast along with a salute to romance trailblazers, including:

- Lindsay McKenna as the pioneer of Military Romances (she is a Vietnam era Navy veteran)

- Heather Graham for her efforts to revitalize New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

- Brenda Jackson, Sandra Kitt, and Beverly Jenkins for pioneering multicultural romance.

Sadly, the audience talked through Lindsay's comments. Then, most of the audience walked out after they finished their crepes just as Kathryn Falk took to the stage to introduce the multicultural pioneers.  They missed hearing how these women overcame challenges to bring their stories to life in romance novels.  I was embarrassed that many attendees did not take the time to hear these legends. From this experience, I understand why multicultural writers feel dismissed by the romance industry.

(I will ask RT if they recorded the Welcome Party.  If the staff did, I will encourage RT to post it on YouTube ... it is worth watching!)

Barse's Romance in the Library of Congress
Public Domain (link)

In February 2015, I attended a special symposium, What Is Love? Romance in the Digital Age, at the Library of Congress (link, link, link, and link).  The first panel, Romance Canon, featured multicultural pioneer Beverly Jenkins.  As I wrote on my blog,

I borrowed a pen from the lovely lady next to me - a fan of Beverly Jenkins - so I could take notes. I uncapped the pen just in time to hear Beverly discuss that African American romance has been absent from romance canon. She added that it took Terry McMillan's WAITING TO EXHALE to hit the best seller for the publishing industry to realize black women actually read books (Beverly was very funny in her delivery).

I skipped the second panel to watch the documentary Love Between the Covers (link).  The film spotlighted the everyday lives of several authors, including Beverly Jenkins.  She spoke to the camera (paraphrase), "If readers can accept vampires fall in love, why can't they accept African Americans in a relationship?"  Beverly's comments still resonate with me.

One year later, Beverly's question has been answered with her latest release, FORBIDDEN.  It landed on Sarah MacLean's recommend reads for February in the Washington Post (link),

Jenkins does not shy away from the challenges that Eddy and Rhine and all black Americans face in the 1870s, and the truth of their journey makes this romance even more powerful when Rhine must reveal the truth to be worthy of Eddy’s love. This is historical romance at its very best.

Military friends at RT in Dallas
Tamara Argyle, Sharon Hamilton, Jackson Young,
 Siera London, and Kathy Crouch.

Back to Family Feud.  Dawson asked, "Name an occupation that makes people feel good."  The number one answer, "Nurse."  I immediately thought of Siera London.

I met Siera, a retired Navy nurse, during the 2014 RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans.  She introduced herself to me as a fellow RomVet at the SOS America promo table. The following year, we bumped into each other at the Library of Congress.  She also attended RT in Dallas, where I invited her to be a guest on my blog (link).  

Thank you, Siera, for your service!

In celebration of nurses and authors, who make people feel good, I am giving away Siera's latest release, A DOCTOR FOR CHRISTMAS: A Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Novella, to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Siera currently lives in the Florida Keys - what do you know about the keys?  I grew up in Miami, so the Keys were a weekend escape where we enjoyed Key Lime Pie!

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 6, 10 pm in Baltimore.  

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 7.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

More books from Siera London

RWA in NYC ... Authors About Town

The Lions of NYC's Public Library are ready to welcome the Romance Writers of America (RWA) for its annual conference at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square from July 22 - 26, 2015.  Authors will be out and about at events open to the public.  Mahalo to Pamela Jaffee at Avon Romance for the press release detailing these events ... 

Why Are We Just Now Discovering Romance?

Tuesday, July 21, 2015
7:00pm 8:00pm
Fueled Collective, 568 Broadway, NY, NY 10012

For hundreds of years, romance novels have been derided as fluff, degraded as 'light reading' and ignored as a literary genre. Yet they're among the biggest revenue drivers for publishers from print to Kindle. And they're almost every woman's guilty pleasure, starring women making choices for themselves, their lovers, their children and their future

We explore power of the female protagonist over time, the multi-billion dollar romance novel industry and ever so much more in conversation between moderator (and author) Maya Rodale (Dangerous Books for Girls), Sarah MacLean (The Washington Post), Carla Neggers, and more.

Romance Authors. Hosted by Joyce Lamb, Happy Ever After Curator & Blogger, USA Today
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
12:30pm – 1:45pm

Bryant Park Reading Room

Robyn Carr, Never Too Late
Kristan Higgins, If You Only Knew
Elizabeth Hoyt, Dearest Rogue
Beverly Jenkins, For Your Love, Destiny’s Captive
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Heroes Are My Weakness
Meredith Wild, Hardwired

Gotta love it! Harlequin, Avon, and Forever authors dish on their best-selling romance novels.

RWA's Readers for Life Literacy Autographing

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

5:30pm - 7:30 pm
Marriott Marquis, Westside Ballroom

At the "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing, hundreds of romance authors meet with and sign books for fans in this two-hour event, with the proceeds from book sales going to literacy organizations. This year's beneficiaries are ProLiteracy Worldwide, Literacy Partners, and Literacy Assistance Center.

In 2014, Romance Writers of America raised more than $53,000 to benefit literacy organizations. Since 1990, RWA has raised more than $878,000 to fight illiteracy.

The stars will be shining bright in the Big Apple!  If you could attend the literacy signing, which author would you visit?   Here's the link to the participating authors.  One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash.  Comments are open through Saturday, July 18, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 19.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City 

Aloha to the Library of Congress - What Is Love? Romance in the Digital Age (Part 1)

Barse's Romance in the Library of Congress
Public Domain (link)

On Wednesday, February 11, I rode the Metro into Washington, DC for a special one day conference at the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress - What is Love?  Romance in the Digital Age (link):

"This two-day gathering will unite authors, scholars and fans to explore the changing dynamics of the genre, its relevance in popular culture and how digital technology is shaping the future of romance fiction," said John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book.

"Our conference will include business and social interests and influences, romance literature scholarship and public engagement with people who love the genre," he said.

The conference kicked off with Panel 1 - What Belongs in the Romance Canon:

Pam Regis, Professor of Englis, McDonald College and President, International Assocation for the Study of Popular Romance

Len Barot/Radclyffe, President/Author, Bold Strokes books

Beverly Jenkins, Author, Avon Books

Nicole Peeler, Associatoin Professor of English, Seton Hall University

Eric Selinger, Professor of English, DePaul University

Susan Ostrov Weisser, Professor of English, Adelphi University

I borrowed a pen from the lovely lady next to me - a fan of Beverly Jenkins - so I could take notes.  I uncapped the pen just in time to hear Beverlydiscuss that African American romance has been absent from romance canon.  She added that it took Terry McMillan's WAITING TO EXHALE to hit the best seller for the publishing industry to realize black women actually read books (Beverly was very funny in her delivery).

The panel referred to E.D.E.N. Southworth's THE HIDDEN HAND as one of the first books written by a woman for women. From Goodreads (link),

E.D.E.N. Southworth was one of the most popular and prolific writers of the nineteenth century and her Capitola Black, or Black Cap - a cross-dressing, adventure-seeking girl-woman - was so well-loved that the book was serialized three times between 1859 and 1888 and was dramatized in forty different versions. When we first meet sharp and witty Capitola she is living among beggars and street urchins, and dressed as a boy because a boy can get work and be safe, whereas a girl is left to starve for want of "proper" employment. Unknown to her, Capitola has a very rich elderly guardian who finds her at a providential moment and takes her back to his palatial mansion where she finds herself "decomposing above ground for want of having my blood stirred." But not to fear. There are bandits, true-loves, evil men, long-lost mothers, and sweet women friends in Capitola's future - not to mention thunder storms, kidnap attempts, and duels. The pace is fast, the action wonderfully unbelievable. This is escape literature at its nineteenth-century best, with a woman at its center who makes you feel strong, daring, and reckless.

The panel agreed that canon is not like the Highlander - there cannot only be one.  

Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches tweeted her musings from the conference and storied them at this link.   She took better notes via her tweets than my chicken scratch on the program.

Let's chat about canon.  From Dictionary.com,

a fundamental principle or general rule

a standard; criterion

any officially recognized set of sacred books

Many "academics" refer to Loretta Chase's LORD OF SCOUNDRELS and Jennifer Crusie's BET ME as must haves in romance canon.  What would be in your canon?   Mine would include the first romance book I read ... Cathy Maxwell's THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT.  It has a Highlander!

One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 28, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 1.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City