Friday Links: Happy Valentine’s Day Edition

Valentine’s Day puts me in a quandry. In my heart I consider it a retail holiday, designed to sell chocolates, flowers, cards, and fancy dinners. But I also represent quite a few romance writers, and I love a good love story. So there you have it. Whichever way your belief system lands, wishing you a lovely day. And hopefully some good chocolate and an even better book.

In light of the holiday, I did find some suitably romantic links. And a bunch of other stuff, too, for those of you frowning at me. I think it’s a good roundup with something for everyone, so I hope you get inspired to write something great. If you’re more in the mood to curl up with a good read this weekend, I’ve got you covered, as well.

Happy writing, happy reading, and a very happy Valentine’s Day to all. Enjoy!

This Week’s Links:

Celebrating Valentines with Our Favorite SFF Ships. – The folks at Tor/Forge share a few romances from SFF land.

17 Books that Will Make You Believe in Love. – BuzzFeed has you covered.

23 YA Romance Novels that Are Better than a Candlelit Dinner. – BuzzFeed again, but for the young adult crowd (and those who like to read about them).

Quiz: Find the Perfect Shakespeare Quote for Your Valentine. – What it says on the box. Fun for those of you who like to handwrite your cards.

Voices of Change. – A talk with authors Tomi Adeyemi, Akwaeke Emezi, Elizabeth Acevedo, Angie Thomas, and Nic Stone about the (slowly) diversifying landscape of young adult fiction.

RWA 2020: No Ending in Sight, Just Hollow Women. – A thorough update from the folks at Smart Bitches about the mess at Romance Writers of America.

Season of the Witch: The Rise of Queer Magic in YA SFF. – A look at how more diverse young adult fiction is queer without relying on coming-stories, particularly in the SFF realm.

How Obama’s Reading Shaped His Writing. – A bookseller looks at President Obama’s relationship to bookstores and writing.

Shelf Life: Anne Enright on the Five Books that Made Her. – The Booker Prize-winning author talks about the books she believes helped make her a writer.

Friday Links: The Ups and Downs of Publishing Culture

Publishing appears to be in the middle of a cultural revolution. It makes sense. As goes the world, so go the books it produces. The Romance Writers of America are in the midst of a clash between the old, stodgy, racist past, and what we hope will be a bright, brilliant, diverse future. The fact is, there’s room for everyone at the table.

In light of all the strife going on–not just in publishing circles–I’m offering up links that highlight a variety of reading material, and the varied people producing them. I hope they inspire you to try something new, and to be accepting of other people’s culture and history. Part of what I love about what I do is how different my job can be every single day. That’s the beauty of books; there’s always something fresh to discover.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Happy writing!

This Week’s Links:

WTF, RWA. – Another great history of the events surrounding the Courtney Milan banning and the insanity at Romance Writers of America.

Has African Migration to the U.S. Led to a Literary Renaissance? – A wonderful look at some of the African writers now living and working in the U.S.

Ursula K. LeGuin’s Revolutions. – Addressing the author’s work from not just a political perspective, but with an eye on how she envisioned the future.

The Sound and the Story: Exploring the World of Paradise Lost. – Philip Pullman writes about the epic work and how it influenced his own writing.

Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2020 Book Preview. – The Millions takes their annual look at the most anticipated titles due out in the first half of the year. A hugely diverse assortment.

10 Collections from Latinx Poets You Might Have Missed in 2019. – I’m always on the lookout for new poetry because poems fit so easily into my hectic reading schedule and give me a wonderful break. A nice assortment here to check out.

Writing Characters of Different Races and Ethnicities. – A great resource. I probably linked to it previously, but it’s worth another mention.

Book Releases: LGBT YA Books of January-June, 2020. – Pretty much as described. A terrific roundup of upcoming titles.

Romance Writers of America and Their Racism Problem

I joined RWA as an associate member (typical for a literary agent) in 2005, and over the last fifteen years have participated in a number of conferences–both local and national–providing content and taking pitches. I could see the benefits offered by the organization to their members, but I also became aware of the downsides of the group. RWA leadership has always felt entrenched in their ways. Reluctant to change, slow to catch up with major shifts in the publishing industry. It took considerable time for the shiny new e-book format to count as a published book, whether members were looking to upgrade their membership status or enter the RITA Awards. When self-published authors sought recognition on par with their traditionally published peers, there was more deliberation over eligibility. But throughout all of these slow-moving changes, one issue has been consistent: RWA remained far too white.

As with other concerns, RWA has been addressing their racism problem. Very slowly. There have been discussions regarding the RITA Awards, the nomination and judging processes. Experts have been called upon to help determine ways to improve the system. To make it more fair, diverse, welcoming. There’s been a lot of talk. For years. And yet. And yet, here we are, with this enormous mess that began, unbeknownst to most, last August, and became very public just days before Christmas.

A brief recap, for those unfamiliar with the situation. Author Courtney Milan, who speaks out frequently against racism and stands up for the rights of all marginalized writers, was accused of breaking the RWA Code of Ethics when she criticized a work by author Kathryn Lynn Davis as being racist in its descriptions of a Chinese character. (Note: Milan herself is half Chinese.) RWA announced they were suspending her membership for a year and banning her from holding future office. Author Alyssa Cole shared the censure announcement on Twitter. She included links to the Code of Ethics and the original Twitter conversation that supposedly spured the complaint against Milan. Over the next few days, a sea of complaints were lodged in reaction to RWA’s handling of the situation and treatment of Milan, united under the hashtag #IStandWithCourtney. News articles began appearing in major outlets. RWA backed off their judgment, but only so far as to state they would turn the situation over for legal advice. Davis herself appeared to backtrack somewhat in an article in The Guardian.

For a thorough and regularly updated timeline of these events, including information about the initial complaint against Milan, I will link to author Claire Ryan’s detailed post: The Implosion of RWA. Huge kudos to her for keeping all of this straight. Also, for a recap that includes the most recent fallout–the cancellation of this year’s RITA Awards–I offer this Entertainment Weekly article.

So, what does all this mean? The reality is that there’s a world of difference between making policy adjustments to keep up with shifts in the industry, and getting to the root of how you treat actual people. Where RWA’s leadership could possibly afford to take their time determining the place e-books held in the world, there should be no such dithering regarding the rights of their membership–all of them–to be treated fairly, equally, and with respect. That means all ethics complaints are reviewed, and that evidence should be included before judgments are passed. It means you maintain transparency. And it certainly means you don’t drop a bombshell of censure right before Christmas and then close up shop for the holidays. RWA’s very handling of the initial complaint suggests that they themselves were aware that they were not behaving in an acceptable fashion.

This situation goes far beyond the need to diversify nominees for a book award; RWA has demonstrated that they need a complete overhaul of staff and culture to address racism at every level of the organization.

I could go on and on about all the things wrong with this situation, but many people, more articulate on the subject than I, have already done an excellent job. I can only comment on my own commitment to continue pushing for diversity and fair treatment in the publishing industry. I joined with a number of other agents to send a letter calling for the resignation of the full RWA leadership, and I will not be participating in any RWA events–providing presentations, taking pitches, etc.–until such time as they have cleaned house from the top and recommitted the organization to fairly representing all of its membership. I don’t know if it’s possible, and I reserve the right to walk away completely if they fail in the task.

 

Friday Links 2020: Kicking Off the New Year

Welcome to the first Friday Links for the new year! I’m still in vacation mode, so this week’s mostly a collection of book recs and some bookish culture, and one unfortunate mess. Plenty of time for more meaty content starting next week.

I hope you’re all enjoying the start of 2020, and that you’ve planned out some great reading and writing goals. I’ve put together a pretty ambitious to-do list, and I look forward to getting things going. More details as the year progresses. But it’s good to have positive things to focus on, especially when the world around us continues to resemble a dumpster fire. Time to create a wonderful new year with each new day.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and an energetic, productive January. Happy writing!

This Week’s Links:

The Disappearance of John M. Ford. – An interesting look at the history of a once-popular science fiction author who fell into obscurity.

The Lives They Lived: Remembering Some of the Artists, Innovators, and Thinkers We Lost in the Past Year. – Obviously a mix of writers and other well-known individuals, but notable for the fact that it’s probably the only time you’ll find Harold Bloom, Toni Morrison, and Judith Krantz discussed on the same page.

The Romance Writers of America Racism Row Matters Because the Gatekeepers Are Watching. – One small piece of a huge, unfolding puzzle that officially exploded over the holidays. More on this separately once I’ve had a chance to actually assemble my thoughts into something coherent.

20 Books We’re Watching for in 2020. – A brief list but there are some excellent sounding titles here. Starting filling up that new year’s TBR list.

56 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020. – Another great list of upcoming works to be on the lookout for.

2020 Preview: What Our Fiction Editor Will Be Reading This Year. – One last bunch of suggestions for your TBR list, this time from Kirkus Reviews.

Conference Bound

Tomorrow I head out for the Romance Writers of America national conference, an annual event that rotates locations. Last year we were in New York City. This year, we’re in Anaheim, CA. This means I do not have to fight with luggage limits or TSA. For once I can just pack my bags, throw them in the trunk of my car, and head on down to meet my fellow agents. I’m less than an hour’s drive from the land of the Mouse, and I’ll admit I’m pretty excited about it. I love traveling, but sometimes, you just want to go, do your thing, and leave.

So what do agents do at conferences? Obviously I have no need to sit in on the various workshops on creating kick-ass heroines or mastering the blog tour. How, precisely, do we fill our days?

One word for you: Meetings. Not just meetings, of course, but sometimes it feels like it. When I attend a conference of this size, I’ll meet with all of my clients who are present, to catch up, chat about business, discuss new story ideas, etc. And then I’ll meet with their editors who are attending the conference. I’ll also meet with other editors, both those I know but have yet to work with, and those I have not previously met.

The rest of the time is filled in with various conference events. I’ll take pitches — in this case for two hours on Friday afternoon. In some cases I present a workshop or two, though that’s not the case at this particular conference. Evenings are filled with client and co-worker dinners, plus cocktail parties thrown by the various publishers that allow you the chance to chat with any editors you didn’t pin down for a one-on-one. The RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony wraps up the conference Saturday night, and I’m thrilled to have clients nominated in several categories.

What do agents do at conferences? We talk. Constantly. But then, we’re talking about books, and what better way to spend a conference?

Wishing you all a wonderful week. If you’re at the conference, be sure to wave.