by Charlene Teglia | May 25, 2005 | Uncategorized
Update on the new erotic romance authors group: there are more than 100 members already, the request for RWA approval is in process, and all the various business items related for forming a new chapter, incorporating, etc., are underway. The big question right now is which way the wind in RWA is blowing because the membership will be voting on two proposed mission statements that will determine the future course of the organization. Get out and vote, members.
What you give; what you get. Somebody in this newly formed group asked what was the point of joining RWA. Good question and one I struggle with every year when renewal time comes up. There are two sides to this coin. One is what you give. The other is what you get.
What you get: the RWR, a monthly publication filled with industry news, market updates, first sales information, craft and business articles. RWA e-notes, a monthly online newsletter filled with more of the same and 2nd book sales information, also very useful to those wondering which publishers are building ongoing relationships with new authors. Access to the Member’s Only section of the RWA website, full of useful information, including RWA approved agents. That in itself is a very useful resource when you’re beginning the agent quest. Networking opportunities. Opportunities to learn from other members. Editor and agent appointment availability at local, regional and national conferences, along with educational and networking opportunities at those same conferences. And of course the chance to make and maintain friendships in the business. I’ve made some terrific friends in RWA over the years.
What you give: this is the one that probably gets overlooked. Certainly I have overlooked it in the past. One huge thing we as a group have to give is education about our subgenre and the realities of our part of the romance industry. The vast majority of RWA members who are struggling to master craft, learn the business, and get published have no idea of the opportunities available in erotic romance. For instance, Amber Quill Press and eXtasy ebooks are now at the same sales level that gave Ellora’s Cave their initial RWA publisher recognition status. The rules got changed in the last month and now they don’t qualify. (EC still does.) But this is a little-known fact and members do not know that these publishers are good ones to deal with.
Published members are also very much in the dark about this subgenre. There’s a lot of confusion over the difference between erotic romance and erotica, about sales figures, about why this is both legitimate romance and legitimate publishing experience.
As I see it, RWA as an organization and our fledgling group as a chapter have a great deal to offer each other. We are a large part of the romance industry and we deserve to have a voice in our national organization. Likewise, RWA deserves to have our expertise, our knowledge, our inside experience to support, educate and assist writers in the road to publication and beyond (where it gets more complicated and support and education are still needed).
by Charlene Teglia | May 24, 2005 | Uncategorized
Since Sasha White and Meg Harris both tagged anybody who hadn’t done it yet, I consider me tagged. Here’s some bloggy amusement for today while I do my RTB columnist thing!
Total number of books I own: No idea. Seriously. But I think it took about 30 book boxes for us to move and we’ve bought more books since then. (There’s a reason we’re buying more and more ebooks!)
Last book I bought: Wildcard by Cheyenne McCray.
Last book I read: A Fine Work of Art by Shelby Reed. I’m not normally a fan of the deep emotional romance where there’s very little exterior plot and a lot of internal conflict (and surprisingly little dialog), but that’s her voice and it is astounding. She sucked me in, made me sniffle, and kept me breathless until the end. She made me care deeply about the characters from the very beginning. She had me at hello!
5 books that mean a lot to me:
A Wrinkle In Time, Madeleine L’Engle. By age 8 or so I was already reading Heinlein and Asimov, but here was juvenile SF with *gasp* romance! And a FEMALE protagonist!
A Stranger In a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein. An amazing book. I read it in junior high and it knocked my socks off. It still does. Michael Valentine Smith will live forever in my heart. And so will that crusty old Jubal Horshaw.
Dove, Robin L. Graham. For years after reading this I dreamed of learning to sail and sailing around the world. I still do, actually, although now I’d like to have a boat we used on weekends. For any long voyage I’d rather take a cruise!
Hearts Aflame, Joanna Lindsey. I love Vikings! First Viking romance I ever read. First Lindsey I ever read. And after this I studied everything she wrote. Learned much craft from Lindsey.
Of Men and Numbers, Jean Muir. The book that taught dyslexic me how to understand math.
by Charlene Teglia | May 23, 2005 | Uncategorized
I posted my next RTB column (going live tomorrow) and it’s not the technical website-related post previously mentioned here. I came down with a hideous virus last week and was not up to finishing the technical details involved, even though I had it nearly complete. So I wrote on another topic that I’m pretty fired up about; my happy reading life. Because sometimes it seems like nobody else is having a good time between the covers of a book, with all the fuss about poor quality in books, too much of this, not enough of that, etc. Also, it didn’t require any research so I could get it done and posted on time.
The promised “all about websites” article will go up here sometime this week. I’d save it to post as my next RTB column, but that isn’t until July 2nd and this is the internet after all, so how long does anybody want to wait?
Still filled with delight over the JERR review of Love Spell. It is very, very hard to write a romance with happily ever after in 12,000 words or less! I found Love Spell a great technical challenge and it stretched me to write to that length. I enjoyed every minute of it, too. There’s nothing like writing short to force you to really focus on STORY. There’s no room for anything else! Also, it was fun to think about kinds of ideas that can’t support an entire novel but can be told fully in a novella or quickie length. It’s always good to flex your mental muscles in different directions. I realized some of the things sitting in my To Be Written pile were really suited to a shorter length.
Lastly, membership is starting to tally up for Sylvia Day’s ERWA chapter. For erotic romance writers out there who may not have heard about it yet, check it out and please consider joining. There’s lots to be done to make it an official RWA chapter but I think it could be a very positive addition to the organization and a wonderful platform for the voice of erotic romance. It also literally allows us to stand up and be counted. I just hope Sylvia’s ready to be voted Chapter President.
by Charlene Teglia | May 22, 2005 | Uncategorized
From Just Erotic Romance Reviews, 3 of the stories got 5 stars, no story rated below 4 stars, and all of them were rated O, the highest heat level. It is an outstanding anthology! Here’s what reviewer Susan White says about Love Spell:
Love Spell by Charlene Teglia
Rating: 5 Stars
Heat level: O
“Lucy Wilson knows she should break up with her current boyfriend. He is so cold towards her that he has not even kissed her yet. She wants a man who desires her with a passion that cannot be denied and she is sure that Mitch is not that man. Mitch Davis is so hot for Lucy Wilson that he has barely managed to keep his hands off of her. He is afraid that if he touches her he will lose all control and end up arrested or disbarred. When she dumps him he decides to do something about it.
Lucy and Mitch are fabulous characters. The emotional bond between them is easily visible. They feel so much like real people that it is easy to cheer for both of them as they try to make their way through the maze of love. The love scenes are hot and sexy with just the right amount of graphic detail. The magical elements included in the story help to make it more complete and interesting. Ms. Teglia is a terrific writer who has penned a story of love and magic that left me sighing at the end.”
And that review leaves me sighing at the end!
by Charlene Teglia | May 21, 2005 | Uncategorized
You know those tags on matresses, couches, etc.? The ones that say, “Do Not Remove This Tag Or You Will Be Arrested, Strip-Searched By An Unattractive Person, Deprived of Chocolate for Life, Sternly Spoken To, Stood In The Corner, Buried In Paperwork And Viciously Paper Cut In Tender Places Then Rinsed With Lemon Juice”?
The cat tore the tag off the couch this morning and batted it all over the hall.
I don’t think the Tag Police are going to believe me when I tell them the cat did it.
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