To the best of my ability, I have pieced together my speech for those of you who have requested it. I'm pretty sure I've very close to being spot on with what I said. I apologize for the delay, some of my notes were on route to my home last week via UPS :)
Addressed to the RWA Board of Directors on July 12, 2006 at the RWA General Meeting.
Barb Webb, Region 3, President of From The Heart Romance Writers, Chapter 177, and general member of Passionate Ink, Chapter 207.
First, I would like to thank the board for all your hard work. Please know that we appreciate all you do, and realize that you do not often get enough “thanks.” Particularly, I’d like to thank you for your ability to listen, and take into consideration the needs of the general membership, as you appear have done on a number of issues recently.
Second, I’d like to call for you to listen a little bit more, and to bear with me as I call upon you to re-evaluate your stance on the following topic:
In the RWA Hot Sheet distributed on July 11, 2006, regarding decisions made during the RWA Board of Directors July Meeting, I quote “After extensive discussion, the Board decided not to add an erotic romance category to the contests due in part to the inherently indefinable nature of erotic romance.”
You can imagine my surprise to find out that one of my chosen genres is now deemed indefinable.
I’m not exactly sure what to tell my readers.
Nor the editor who is currently reviewing my entry that finaled in a recent erotic romance contest.
In the spirit of our Dallas setting- I say, bull! I respectfully disagree with your statement.
Erotic romance is a category.
It is definable.
It does have different characteristics.
It is a style of writing that differs from contemporary romance. (or historical, for that matter.)
I’d like to read you a definition from the Merriam Webster Dictionary, if I may:
“Erotic. (noun) Of, devoted to, or tending to arouse sexual love or desire. Strongly marked or affected by sexual desire.”
The erotic writer writes in accordance to the definition.
Yes ladies… it is about the sex.
To take it a step further, erotic romance is about the sexual journey, not only for the characters, but for the reader, too.
A pretty definition for erotic romance might read, “A sexual journey between adults where romance is present, and the words are written to entice the reader to enjoy a sexual journey of their own.”
We won’t stop there, though. I did a little research to determine how “indefinable” this genre truly is.
I didn’t have to search very long. Publisher’s Weekly dedicated their most recent edition entirely to “Erotica.”
Included in this edition are a number of articles. I’d like to read a quote from one, if I may, right now:
Cindy Hwang, executive editor at Berkley is quoted as saying, “we’ve really seen the erotic romance take off. This isn’t to say these books aren’t as sexy as other erotica—just that there’s an emphasis on the character development and emotional connection between characters.”
Berkley, Kensington, Ellora’s Cave, Harlequin, NAL, Pocket Books- to name a few- book stores, readers, and writers have the ability to define and distinguish what erotica and erotic romances are.
Why can’t we?
To say there is no definable nature of erotic romance that separates it from a traditional romance is no different than suggesting that there is no need for a Romantic Suspense category.
Give us the opportunity to directly compete with our peers.
Give us a recognized voice.
We are not indefinable.
Erotice Romance pre-dates RWA and now we are here in a BIG way.
I ask you, as a board to revisit this topic, and to educate yourselves on the erotic romance romance genre, before making a concrete decision on this matter.
Thank you.
Well, folks, that was my speech and I’d like to thank:
- those who graciously applauded my efforts to be heard on this subject
- those who offered me such great support and kind words
- and those who offered debates in response too, for it is always enlightening to "see" the full spectrum of an issue.
I would also like to take a moment to address a few common comments that I did not allow for in my response for the board:
Erotic Romance varies by Publisher, so how can it be defined?
Publishers may prefer different heat levels, story length, or packaging, but in the end, in erotic romance – the story centers on the sexual journey with the intent to arouse the reader. I would hedge a bet that the editors of the publishing houses know exactly what they are publishing and why it falls in the erotic romance category.
Erotic Romance writers say it’s not about the sex.
I heard this from a few people, though, when I asked them, they admitted they do not write or read erotic romance and had heard this from a friend/critique partner/etc.
One thought I had was that perhaps they or their friend/critique partner/etc. possibly thought erotic romance was simple a romance with a few hot sex scenes to spice it up. (A common misconception.) I encouraged them to experiment a little and to read an erotic romance or two, then get back to me on whether their opinion is still the same… and of course, I gave them a list of some of my favorite erotic romance authors.
In closing of this post, I’d like to ask the same thing I asked of the group at nationals attending the meeting:
If you are a member of RWA, and you would like to see the erotic romance category added to the Golden Heart or RITA competition, please take the step to petition the board to re-address this matter.
A full list of board members and email address may be found here http://www.rwanational.org/cs/about_rwa/board_of_directors
Best Regards,
Barb
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