Here's the thing, as my new BFF Dakota would say.
I've been surfing about, reading posts and comments here and there about the "wildness" and the "tackiness" and the lack of "professionalism" here at RT. And you know what?
~If you go to a Romantic Times convention looking to hold onto your dignity with both hands? You're gonna have a shitty time.
~If you go with the intention of turning up your nose at behavior of others? You'll find PLENTY of opportunity.
~And if you sit at home and troll the Romancelandia blogs to find evidence of Authors and Readers Behaving In A Manner Not Befitting A Lady so that you'll have something to post about or comment on? You're an asshat with too much time on your hands. Get a hobby why don'tcha?
RT isn't RWA. This isn't news. RT doesn't want to be RWA, and I can't tell you how many authors I've heard say, "...and thank God for that..." in the four days I've been here.
RT is a readers' convention with a sideline of workshops for writers and booksellers. It's not all that different from DragonCon or some of the other fan conventions that also hold a few workshops for artists in various media. So I'm asking... please... pretty-goddamn-fucking-PLEASE...
...could we quit with the comparisons? I'd really hate to have to break out the fruity analogies again.
For the record, I've never attended an RWA national conference and likely never will. As I age, I'm finding myself more and more allergic to the snobbery and the categorization and the asswipery inherent in organizations like RWA. (Are you PAN? Are you Pro? Should I pucker up to kiss your ass or turn around and bend over?)
I'm having a good time in Pittsburgh. I've met people I like - authors, readers, booksellers, cover models, waitresses, chambermaids and hotel desk clerks (in no particular order) - and I've never once worried that my dignity is suffering as a result of the fact that the chick next to me is dressed as a Domme vampire with bat wings and a quirt, and the hunk o' beefcake on the other side of the piano bar is leering at my cleavage. I've done very little "professional networking," but I've sold some books, given others away (major highlight of my week: the waitress that squealed like a schoolgirl when I autographed a free copy of SIN STREET for her, and then put down her pad and tray to hug me), gotten solid info from editors, visited with old friends and made a batch of new ones. I'm satisfied. If that makes me "unprofessional," then bless my own tacky heart. They say water finds its own level. Mine appears to be the one without the stick up its ass.
Yeah, I know, my metaphors are big with the mixy. Bite me. But not too hard, as I understand my brand of "tacky" may be contagious.
SelahMarch.com - Romance of Dubious Virtue
8Comments:
Amen to that! :-)
God, I love you. And every time I consider joining RWA, you remind me of the few things I really hate in this world. Snobbery.
*sigh*
And never the twain shall meet. As I sit here reading the reports and seeing the costumes and thinking "Thank God, I opted out of RT and I'm more than likely never going to go to another one again." Guess that puts me in the snob corner even if I don't begrudge anyone their fun at RT. And still maintain that Helen Rosburg's "workshop" was the height of tackiness.
Okay, and here's the thing, too, since it's now bugging me. I hate generalizations. Not everyone in RWA is a snob. I'm sorry, I know there are people who are absolutely intent on believing that, but it's simply not true. Nor is everyone who goes to RT a tacky, licentious 'ho. Even though there are people absolutely intent on believing that. Selah's absolutely right in pointing out that RT is a reader's convention. For me, it's not a convention where my readers are likely to go. I got that lesson in full, glorious Technicolor last year.
Hopefully, if you go to RT, you know what you're getting into and you dig it and enjoy what it has to offer and ditto for RWA national.
Crap. Now I'm really in a mood and I'm not at all sure why.
Re Helen's workshop - are you talking about the synopsis one? because I actually got a lot out of that.
Re RT vs RWA - I don't think the two should be juxtaposed against one another. they have nothing in common. RWA is a business suit, working convention. RT is a carnival celebrating romance novels of all shapes and sizes for the people who love them.
Romancelandia NEEDS BOTH.
If I were writing for an actual living, I would probably suck it up, don the professional clothes and attend an RWA gathering. I would not go expecting to have much fun. ;-)
The workshop in question was a reader-oriented one about picking the worst of the slush pile, holding it up for ridicule, and voting on the worst of the worst.
Romancelandia NEEDS BOTH.
Amen to that, sister. Amen.
If I were writing for an actual living, I would probably suck it up, don the professional clothes and attend an RWA gathering. I would not go expecting to have much fun. ;-)
Heh. I have sort of the same feelings about RT, if I were writing erotic romance or paranormal. And fun's a subjective thing, of course. I have a great time at RWA, but then again, I hang at the bar a lot. ;-)
I don't do any of them any more and feel sorry for myself for missing them all.
Does that count as looking at the big picture?
I know I should probably respond to everything here individually, but since you all seem to have politely agreed on the truth of the matter - "fun" and "tacky" are subjective, Romance needs both cons - I do believe I'll just move on down, move on down the ro-hoad.
That was a reference to the title of my first RT post. Get it? Huh? Huh?
Yeah, my work is done here.
Post a Comment
<< Home