Romance Writers of America controversy

[susquehanna]

Is anyone else following the controversy with the Romance Writers of America?

I have read and enjoyed several books by Courtney Milan, a member and former leader in RWA. The RWA suspended Milan's membership after she called out racism and racist books by other members. 

Here's a Vox article about the current situation:


www.vox.com/2020/1/10/21055125/rwa-what-happened-resignations-courtney-milan-damon-suede-backstory-2020-ritas-conference

[smock]

YES. My sister is a member of RWA and dropped her membership because of the way they handled the ethics complaint.

RWA and the broader romance genre are dominated by white women, so it's not surprising that they mishandled an author of color pointing out racism in a white author's book.

[eclaires]

I saw some of it play out on twitter. I go in spells of reading a lot of romance novels but I wasn’t familiar with any of the names I saw mentioned (outside of seeing people glad to see a statement from Julia Quinn and maybe Tessa Dare). So I bought all of Courtney Milan’s books.

[susquehanna]

So, the url for the official website is www.rwa.org.

HOWEVER: Apparently they didn't scoop up www.romancewritersofamerica.com

So, somebody else scooped it up and turned it into a parody website.

[AJL]

Well I think Courtney Milan books are going to see a dramatic uptick in sales! (I'm about to go put her books on my to-be-read list now.)

[wambam]

I am an avid romance reader. This whole thing is a shit show and the guilty parties just keep doubling down. Many of the authors I read have dropped their membership.

[nsl]

I love Courtney Milan's books, but her commentary on the Kavenaugh confirmation (she's a former clerk for Sandra Day O'Connor) got me following her on Twitter. I remember when the first phase of this went down over the summer, and was glued to my phone over winter break after she was sanctioned.

One important thing to note about the Vox article is that it quotes virtually no authors of color, who are the women who have been victimized the most by RWA over the years, and who have been incredibly proactive about addressing this and other issues. @alyssacolelit and mel_thegreat are two accounts I've been reading a lot about this whole mess.

[wambam]

Jan 10, 2020 18:15:11 GMT -5 AJL said:

Well I think Courtney Milan books are going to see a dramatic uptick in sales! (I'm about to go put her books on my to-be-read list now.)

I participated in an ebook exchange over the holidays and a LOT of people had her books on their wish lists. I don't read historicals but I bought one for someone else in the exchange!

[beetea]

Jan 10, 2020 18:20:51 GMT -5 wambam said:

I am an avid romance reader. This whole thing is a shit show and the guilty parties just keep doubling down. Many of the authors I read have dropped their membership.

👆🏻 this. Exactly.

[secretlyevil]

JR Ward’s response was great.

[susquehanna]

Also, NPR has a podcast that I really like called "Code Switch." One of the "Code Switch" correspondents went onto "All Things Considered" to discuss this:


www.npr.org/2020/01/09/795002052/romance-writers-of-america-leadership-resigns

[shortcake2675]

I just put a bunch of Milan books on hold in Overdrive. I've been looking for a new author.

[pixy0stix]

I don't read romance much (I have my own genre of brain candy), but I'll check out Milan's books now.

[wawa]

Jan 10, 2020 17:58:19 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I saw some of it play out on twitter. I go in spells of reading a lot of romance novels but I wasn’t familiar with any of the names I saw mentioned (outside of seeing people glad to see a statement from Julia Quinn and maybe Tessa Dare). So I bought all of Courtney Milan’s books.

My situation exactly except I'm trying to spend less money so instead I put a bunch on hold on overdrive and requested the rest.

[mouse]

This quote, wow. Also, I have a fair amount of skepticism toward Hollywood’s current fascination with (white) historical stories, and this is part of why.

Davis also claimed her book is immune to racialized critique because it “was written in the 1990s and is historically accurate, which makes it both immune from and irrelevant to current judgments of racist literature.”

www.vox.com/2020/1/10/21055125/rwa-what-happened-resignations-courtney-milan-damon-suede-backstory-2020-ritas-conference

[Dumbledork]

Not really related, but has anyone watched “Sex, Explained” on Netflix? Janelle Monáe is the narrator.

Anyway, the first episode lightly touches on this topic in relation to porn.

[basilosaurus]

I'm not sure I've ever read a romance novel, unless you count semi smut like Anne rice or the cave bears books (what was my aunt thinking giving them to my innocent 13yo self?!) I may have to change that in support of Milan.

I did read the first few pages that a friend's famous mom wrote. Famous enough to be on oprah. My friend was right that after the first dozen bjs in the first chapter it was... a bit much.

[tacokick]

Jan 11, 2020 17:54:52 GMT -5 mouse said:

This quote, wow. Also, I have a fair amount of skepticism toward Hollywood’s current fascination with (white) historical stories, and this is part of why.

Davis also claimed her book is immune to racialized critique because it “was written in the 1990s and is historically accurate, which makes it both immune from and irrelevant to current judgments of racist literature.”

www.vox.com/2020/1/10/21055125/rwa-what-happened-resignations-courtney-milan-damon-suede-backstory-2020-ritas-conference

It was 1999. We knew it was wrong then too!

[jssymom14]

I have been following along via authors in follow (Penny Reid) and their retweets. It is crazy and the board and president need to step down. Most recent cover of their magazine!!!
.

[candreco]

I don't know if this should go here or in the Meghan and Harry thread, but short, to the point op ed from Alyssa Cole about the intersection of non-white romance writers and the racism that pushed M & H to peace out.

www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/10/i-write-romance-meghan-wrote-this-chapter-way-i-would-because-racism/

And you should absolutely read Alyssa Cole's books too, and Courtney Milan's, Tessa Dare's, Sarah MacLean's, and Alisha Rai's, and so many others. Romance novels are not all the Harlequin/Fabio on the cover books they get lumped together as.

[wambam]

Jan 13, 2020 8:48:18 GMT -5 candreco said:

I don't know if this should go here or in the Meghan and Harry thread, but short, to the point op ed from Alyssa Cole about the intersection of non-white romance writers and the racism that pushed M & H to peace out.

www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/10/i-write-romance-meghan-wrote-this-chapter-way-i-would-because-racism/

And you should absolutely read Alyssa Cole's books too, and Courtney Milan's, Tessa Dare's, Sarah MacLean's, and Alisha Rai's, and so many others. Romance novels are not all the Harlequin/Fabio on the cover books they get lumped together as.

Adding to the list: My fav WOC romance author is Kennedy Ryan. She wrote an incredible duet last year about a Native American woman who has a meet cute at an oil pipeline protest and then becomes a political campaign manager in the running to manage the next POTUS’ election. The first book in the duet was #1 of 2019 for me.

[AJL]

Jan 14, 2020 5:08:22 GMT -5 wambam said:

Jan 13, 2020 8:48:18 GMT -5 candreco said:

I don't know if this should go here or in the Meghan and Harry thread, but short, to the point op ed from Alyssa Cole about the intersection of non-white romance writers and the racism that pushed M & H to peace out.

www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/10/i-write-romance-meghan-wrote-this-chapter-way-i-would-because-racism/

And you should absolutely read Alyssa Cole's books too, and Courtney Milan's, Tessa Dare's, Sarah MacLean's, and Alisha Rai's, and so many others. Romance novels are not all the Harlequin/Fabio on the cover books they get lumped together as.

Adding to the list: My fav WOC romance author is Kennedy Ryan. She wrote an incredible duet last year about a Native American woman who has a meet cute at an oil pipeline protest and then becomes a political campaign manager in the running to manage the next POTUS’ election. The first book in the duet was #1 of 2019 for me.

What's the title of the book. I want to add it to my list.

[beetea]

Jan 14, 2020 5:08:22 GMT -5 wambam said:

Jan 13, 2020 8:48:18 GMT -5 candreco said:

I don't know if this should go here or in the Meghan and Harry thread, but short, to the point op ed from Alyssa Cole about the intersection of non-white romance writers and the racism that pushed M & H to peace out.

www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/10/i-write-romance-meghan-wrote-this-chapter-way-i-would-because-racism/

And you should absolutely read Alyssa Cole's books too, and Courtney Milan's, Tessa Dare's, Sarah MacLean's, and Alisha Rai's, and so many others. Romance novels are not all the Harlequin/Fabio on the cover books they get lumped together as.

Adding to the list: My fav WOC romance author is Kennedy Ryan. She wrote an incredible duet last year about a Native American woman who has a meet cute at an oil pipeline protest and then becomes a political campaign manager in the running to manage the next POTUS’ election. The first book in the duet was #1 of 2019 for me.

Kingmaker was so good! My fave from her is Long Shot, though.  

[wambam]

Jan 14, 2020 8:00:36 GMT -5 AJL said:

Jan 14, 2020 5:08:22 GMT -5 wambam said:

Adding to the list: My fav WOC romance author is Kennedy Ryan. She wrote an incredible duet last year about a Native American woman who has a meet cute at an oil pipeline protest and then becomes a political campaign manager in the running to manage the next POTUS’ election. The first book in the duet was #1 of 2019 for me.

What's the title of the book. I want to add it to my list.

Oh sorry! Should not post at 5AM.

The Kingmaker
The Rebel King

[wambam]

Jan 14, 2020 10:01:31 GMT -5 beetea said:

Jan 14, 2020 5:08:22 GMT -5 wambam said:

Adding to the list: My fav WOC romance author is Kennedy Ryan. She wrote an incredible duet last year about a Native American woman who has a meet cute at an oil pipeline protest and then becomes a political campaign manager in the running to manage the next POTUS’ election. The first book in the duet was #1 of 2019 for me.

Kingmaker was so good! My fave from her is Long Shot, though.  

I want to read this at some point but I was told there was quite a bit of domestic violence described and I want to be in the right headspace before I tackle it.

[beetea]

Jan 14, 2020 10:07:56 GMT -5 wambam said:

Jan 14, 2020 10:01:31 GMT -5 beetea said:

Kingmaker was so good! My fave from her is Long Shot, though.  

I want to read this at some point but I was told there was quite a bit of domestic violence described and I want to be in the right headspace before I tackle it.

Oh yeah, you will feel ALL of the emotions. Every single one of them.

[wambam]

FYI

A podcast I listen to did an interview in four parts, one with Courtney Milan. The podcast is called Smart Bitches Trashy Books and that episode is here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-podcast-trashy-books-reviews-interviews-discussion/id489361869?i=1000464441518