The Stars are Going Dark

As you can probably tell from my blog title, this isn't going to be an upbeat post. Sometimes the news is not good, but I think it's important to get the word out. There are two pretty important things happening.

It seems another bright spot of the SFR universe is going to be extinguished.

So many sites and projects that once supported SFR are no more. In the past few years we've lost The Galaxy Express Blog, Smart Girls Love Sci-Fi, and The SFR Quarterly, to name only a few.

In fact, this blog is probably one of a handful of survivors from the mid-to-late 2000s. If even that many are still around.

And now the SFR Station will be the next to go dark. Corinne Kilgore has just announced she will be shutting down the site--which is a curated, go-to site where readers can find SFR books. She recently posted a notice to the SFR Brigade that the site will go dark as of January 2019 when the domain expires.

It's understandable that priorities change for those who invest dollars, time and effort into maintaining and managing these sites, and that they can't continue forever. But the alarming part of losing such resources is that no new resources seem to be created to replace them.

I'd just like to offer my heartfelt thanks to SFR Station and Corinne Kilgore for the many years of supporting the genre. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

UPDATE: Since writing this blog last week, good news happened. Brigader Steph Pajonas has worked with Corinne Kilgore to take over the SFR Station site! This is fantastic news for the science fiction romance community, and now that we came close to losing this valuable resource, maybe there will be more focus from authors on contacting the site with their new SFR books.

At any rate...it's a YAY!


Stay Golden, RWA

Recently, RWA announced they are considering ending the Golden Heart Awards. While I haven't been eligible to enter for a number of years, this award holds more fond memories and gave my writing career more of a boost than any other single factor, so I'm very much opposed to seeing it trashed.

The Golden Heart Awards are unique in that it's for unpublished authors who have completed a manuscript. That's a key word, because most contests judge only the first few chapters, so writers can enter and win without actually having written an entire book.

Although the Golden Heart is only judged on the opening of the story, the entire manuscript must be submitted and verified to be an actual, complete book for the entry to be eligible.

Recently, the Rubies (the 2009 Golden Heart Finalist class, aka The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood) published a blog with a discussion among several of the 2018 GH finalists--Elisa Beatty, D. Murphy Ryan and Eileen Emerson--talking about why this award is and has been so very important to the careers of so many.

The blog resulted in a large volume of comments, a few of which I'll paraphrase here:

• Other genres have almost zero opportunities to hone their craft and build toward publishing. The Golden Heart Awards is astounding and oh-so-needed by writers!

• The peerships made through the Golden Heart Awards are invaluable and often last for decades.

• This isn't just a contest. There are enormous behind-the-scenes perks of becoming a finalist. 

• I would have been lost without the Golden Heart and the friends and peers I made because of it.

• If the Golden Heart goes away, what will be the cascading effect to the contests of local chapters, many of which prepare writers for the GH?

• Many writers aspire to enter the GH, and it keeps them going when the writing gets tough.

• In the many years I've been a member, there's been no other event that gives unpublished authors this kind of opportunity.

• The Golden Heart is an incredibly special contest. RWA needs to recognize the value.

• It's not just a benefit to the 46 finalists. This contest is vital for unpublished romance authors.

• RWA is unique among writer organizations in its support of unpublished authors. The Golden Heart is a big part of that.

• It's daunting to submit your manuscript, but so is publishing. The GH is great experience for everything else in a writer's career. 
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• It's the light at the end of the tunnel...the door that opens up a whole round of possibilities.

• I love the Golden Heart! I know it got me my agent.

• I got my agent because I was a finalist, and that got  me a publishing contract.

• It gave me an amazing, close-knit group that support me in so many ways, both online and in person.

• The first time I entered, I didn't final. I spent a lot of time improving my craft and my manuscript. Later, I did final. The contest helps you improve your writing.

• There is a certain cache to being a finalist in a national contest. That benefits all unpublished romance authors who enter and final. Stay Golden, RWA.

• The GH was an incredible step up the career ladder, and although it's just one ceremony, what matters is the way the class gets together and supports each other for years afterward.

• I am where I am today because of the GH. It would break my heart to see it end. (This from a major, traditionally published author.)

• The GH was a turning point for me. I finaled in March, signed with my agent in April, won in July, and in December, I got a two-book contract (with a large, traditional publisher). 

• The contest is near and dear to my heart. I hope the board takes a long look at this post.

There was also a lot of discussion on how to better manage, promote and grow the contest, and the value of the contest vs. the costs involved.

A commenter also suggested all the comments be compiled into a document and submitted to RWA. I certainly hope that happens! Or that maybe some of the board members of RWA were paying attention to the overwhelming support from a large group of writers and authors.

Either way, it seems a clear message has been sent. The question is: Will it be heard? Will the needs of the membership outweigh the bureaucracy of the organization as a whole? Time will tell.

The Golden Heart really has been a very bright star in my writing universe, and now faces the prospect of being snuffed out. Hopefully the collective voice generated from this blog will put a positive spin on its future.

UPDATE: Yes, this portion of my blog has new information too, but unlike the upbeat report about the continuation of the SFR Station, this is a definite downer. In spite of the outpouring of support for the Golden Heart Awards and all the things it has meant and continues to mean for the romance writing community, RWA posted this updated from their board meeting highlights at the national conference in Denver last week:

"The Board voted on a timeline for phasing out the Golden Heart contest: the last contest will be the 2019 contest."

Sadly, it seems all the support being voiced for the continuation of the Golden Heart Awards made no impact on the board's decision whatsoever. It was as if they had already made up their minds and input from the members was of no consequence. While I realize the board works very hard on behalf of the membership, they don't seem to be listening to what the membership is saying, nor acknowledging the many arguments against their outline why the Golden Heart Awards was not cost effective.

From my perspective, this seems to be a disturbing trend in the last six or seven years. It's disheartening when an organization loses touch with the membership it's supposed to serve.

I hope to be back next Monday with a much more cheerful blog.

Have a great week.

On Contests, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 & more Star Wars

On Contests...
Last week Donna posted about the changes being made to RWA's Golden Heart contest (you can read it all HERE rather than me regurgitating the whole thing). But it got me thinking about contests and why they matter, if they matter. So I thought I'd throw out a few of my own thoughts on the subject.
Does entering contests achieve anything?
Well, first you need to look at what the contest might do for you and what you want from it. For example, in the case of the RWA LERA Rebecca, you get feedback from the judges, which is a bonus even if you didn't place. In my previous two entries I was able to see exactly why I didn't make the final, but also how painfully close I'd come only to just miss out. I do find at least one judge will disagree with the other two or vice versa so you shouldn't take that as sole feedback perhaps. When I finalled in my third year, it was with a story heavier on the SF elements than most I'd written, which not only surprised me but reassured me I could go heavier without scaring readers off.
In Donna's case, her GH award opened doors to agents, even those who had previously said no, so in terms of agents/publishers, an award - even as a finalist - is clearly a bonus.
Do they sell books?
To agents/publishers, yes. To readers? Here I have no direct data and can only speak from my own experience. I have three books that are award winners/finalists. One sells consistently and better than all my other titles put together, though not as well as it used to. One sold well a couple of years ago, but no more. The third has never sold well, despite having a revamp and new cover (though it has done as well in six months back with me after rights reversion as it did in three years with the publisher). I can't say that announcing a contest win/final made any boost to sales, or that it's a deciding factor in any reader's purchase (it certainly isn't a factor in my reading choices but I know I'm not the average reader). However, if I ever went looking for an agent/publisher, I'd certainly be listing all my shinies.
So are they worth it?
I don't have any regrets over the contests I've entered or the money I've spent on them, that's for sure! Okay, maybe a little pang over the ones where I didn't place at all. I tend to stick to RWA contests for romance and the EPIC for my non-romance because they're reputable and I know they're legitimate. I've never felt brave enough to enter the RITA/GH (having looked at some of the books that have won and the style/themes that seem to be favoured, I don't think I'm quite in the preference zone). But now my budget doesn't extend to doing many. I prefer to spend my money on edits and covers, which doesn't leave anything for promotions and contests. My only entries this year were the Ariana cover contest and the EPIC for my SFR short Quickshot. I didn't have any real aim with contests before other than I wanted some shiny things, feedback, and/or validation perhaps, so it's not a be all and end all for me.
So, it's down to the individual and what value you place on an award.
Do I Have To Enter Contests?
No. Not at all (and not all contests are worth it anyway - do check them out beforehand!).
Reputable/highly esteemed contests are good for:
1. Getting that extra foot in the door with agents/publishers.
2. Possibly feedback to help hone your writing skills (but there are plenty of other ways to do this, and not all contests provide feedback so check carefully!). Workshops (some online ones are free), critique groups (like Critique Circle), finding critique partners among peers, beta readers, posting on WattPad, looking for a professional who will crit your manuscript (for a fee), and there are lots of books on writing). Also critiquing other authors work will give you some ideas of what doesn't work for you and how you can improve your own writing. TBH, I personally wouldn't rely solely on contest feedback anyway, but it can be an added extra.
3. It doesn't hurt to be able to mention that a book is an award winner in promo or that you're an award winning author, though I have no personal evidence to know if it helps. As a reader, it's the cover, blurb and opening that decide my purchases, not what the book or author has done or if they're a bestseller or not. But others may feel differently.
4. Validation. This may be the worst reason but I'm not going to deny it is one.
At the end of the day, it's a very personal decision as to what you chose to do, but as with all things, do your research.

Happenings
The second Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 teaser trailer released this week. Oh yeeeaaahhh. With Rogue One on my 'must see at the cinema' list of films in just nine days (woot!) and possibly Passengers a week later, GotG2 is top of my list for 2017. And how adorable is Baby Groot?!

Next week the SFR Brigade Holiday Showcase begins (the same day I'm off to see Rogue One). I'll be posting Christmas treats - a starry recipe and a short story giveaway.

And in two weeks Spacefreighters Lounge will be Going Rogue as Laurie, me, and possibly Greta will be posting our thoughts about the latest additions to the Star Wars universe.

Status Update
The Christmas story isn't quite finished. Ooops. I got distracted by having to make curtains and buying a replacement car. >_<
I leave you with a couple of pics - our newly bought and erected Star Wars tree (not our main one but a bonus edition) and another BristolCon cosplay photo recently sent to me by author Jaine Fenn.

ROMANCE WRITERS CELEBRATE THEIR BIGGEST DAY WITH CONTEST FINALISTS

As Laurie mentioned on Wednesday, today is one of the biggest days in the romance world calendar: Romance Writers of America’s® RITA® and Golden Heart® contest finalist announcement day. It’s our equivalent of an Academy Award, the highest honor we can receive as romance writers, for one of our books to be named a finalist in either the RITA® contest (for published writers) or the Golden Heart® (for unpublished writers).

The competition is fierce for a spot on the final roster of no more than eight titles per category, from Paranormal (where SFR competes) to Inspirational, Romantic Suspense to Historical. (Entries are typically capped at 1200 for the Golden Heart®, for example, and up to 2000 novels are entered in the RITA®.)

On announcement day, those who have entered sit on tenterhooks, waiting for that all-important phone call or email to tell them their books have been anointed. Believe me, it’s a nerve-wracking process! By 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time, all the finalists will have been notified and the list is published on the RWA® website http://www.rwa.org. (If you want to follow the craziness live, as Laurie mentioned, the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood is hosting their party live here.

For the finalists, the flurry of excitement is just beginning of course. After all, in the end, there can be only one—winner per category, that is. Those winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at the RWA® National Conference in San Diego on Saturday, July 16.

In the meantime, huge congratulations to all the finalists, for both Golden Heart® and RITA® from all of us here at Spacefreighters! Do your happy dance! Enjoy the joy and attention as you approach the National Conference in July. You deserve every minute of it!

Cheers,

Donna

THOUGHTS: YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE

Some of the swag from Behre's book signing

I had a few thoughts this week.

“And one year, at RWA . . .” Last week I waxed eloquent about all the fun to be had at the RWA National Conference in San Antonio.  Each conference has its own unique flavor and new ideas to offer, but one thing that is always a feature of Nationals is the opportunity to meet other writers and make lasting connections.

I met fellow bloggers Laurie and Sharon at my very first RWA conference in Washington D.C. five years ago, and look where that has led us!  The three of us have come a long way since that day we met in the lobby of the conference hotel at the beginning of our respective journeys.

I’ve met others at Nationals whose progress I can cheer from year to year, including, of course, my Golden Heart® sisters, the Firebirds.  Many of the members of my cohort have found agents, publishers and sales success.  I made a point of going through the vast ballroom that held the Literacy Signing event in San Antonio looking for folks I knew so I could celebrate the moment with them.  Of the Firebirds, I found Heather Nickodem (w/a Heather Ashby), Terri Osburn, Susan Boyer, Lorenda Christensen and Kim Law signing in the same room as Nora Roberts, Nalini Singh and hundreds of others.

I was also surprised to see my friend Mary Behre, a writer of light romantic suspense who only a year or two ago had been working the Literacy Signing with me as a volunteer usher.  There she was, signing her first book, Spirited, the first in the Tidewater series from Berkley Sensation.  Mary lives in nearby King George, Virginia, but it took traveling to the national conference for us to meet.  As is not uncommon in our state, I attend the Richmond-based Virginia Romance Writers chapter meetings; Mary meets with the D.C.-based Washington Romance Writers.

Mary’s second book, Guarded, just launched last week with a signing at the local Barnes & Noble.  I went out to show some support.  She had a decent-sized crowd, and she was well-received, but reading to a bunch of strangers can be an intimidating moment.  It can help to have a friendly face in the crowd.  Because we have our RWA connection, I know she’ll show be there to back me up when I need it, too.

(Mary describes her Tidewater series as “humor, suspense and a psychic love connection”.  Her writing voice is just as much fun as her own genuine personality. The first book was a great read; I can’t wait to get to the second one.)

Come and get your love . . .  Mary had plenty of goodies to give away to readers at her Barnes & Noble book launch.  Those who bought a book came away with not only the author’s signature, but a pen, a notepad, a goodie bag with the book and author’s name, a drink coozie similarly printed (drink not included), and a bookmark.  Visitors to the RWA National Conference Goody Room  will find all of these items, plus chocolate; rulers; postcards and business cards with book covers on one side, blurbs on the other; keyrings; magnets; calendars; pins; mugs and cups; trading cards.  I’m sure I’ve missed something.  

The purpose of all this swag at book signings is clear:  readers love free stuff and will think kindly of those who provide it.  At a conference for writers, though, one wonders why you’d spend the money.  Yes, writers are readers, too, but do any of those writers go out and buy the book based on what they pick up in the Goody Room?

Stuck . . . According to one of the workshops I attended at the conference, Pinterest is the hottest social media thing going right now.  (Right behind Twitter, I guess.)  I have a hard time seeing the benefit for writers, beyond the obvious example of pinning covers with a link to your other sites.  The only time I’ve used Pinterest is to look at possible hairstyles.  I did notice, however, that when I Googled the hairstyle question, Pinterest literally took over the search, sending me there whether I wanted to go or not.   Hmm.

How long has this been going on . . .?  As if my life wasn’t crazy enough, my husband and I are packing up and moving out of the home we’ve lived in for 18 years.  We’ll be renting a house here in Fredericksburg for a year before we make the big move to Marshall, North Carolina, just north of Asheville.  What this means is, I’m hip deep in the accumulated junk of most of my life, trying to “downsize”.

I came across a few pages of an old journal, started in an aborted attempt to gain control over the chaos that was our life with my oldest daughter in her early years of grade school.  The journaling didn’t last long—I don’t have that kind of discipline—but on the last page I found a note that had nothing to do with real life per se.  

 It was an idea for a story:

UFO abduction on a dark country road. Kids die in a fire.  Woman spends story trying to find out what happened to two-hour memory gap.

That note is the germ of Unchained Memory.  The date is April, 1991.  The bad news is it took me almost 25 years to get the experience that would allow me to do the story justice, to write the book, to find an agent, to find a way to publish it.  The good news is, the story that came to me so long ago will finally be published in February, 2015.  

Hallelujah and amen.

Cheers, Donna

RIBS AND ROMANCE ON THE RIVERWALK: RWA2014

Boots and books at RWA2014!

Yee-haw, y’all! I’m just back from San Antonio and the Texas-size energy of RWA2014.  As Laurie noted earlier this week, you didn’t even have to attend Romance Writers of America’s annual national conference to feel the boost.  With major speakers—Sylvia Day, Cindy Ratzlaff, Karen Rose and awards ceremony emcee Simone Elkeles—dozens of workshops and the buzz of 2000 other writers, the inspiration was contagious.

I must admit I was a little distracted this year, though.  As my husband, Graeme and I sat in the airport waiting to leave D.C., we got an offer on the sale of our house in Virginia.  We spent a large part of the weekend texting and answering emails as we negotiated with the buyers through our agent.  I had to help my oldest daughter through a major work/life crisis at the same time.  In many ways, I was grateful that my hubby was by my side to help, but navigating the conference with a partner rather than solo created a different dynamic, too.

I did make it to a few workshops, despite all the personal business. Promotion was my focus, with a book coming out in February, and the same message was pounded into us at every turn: social networking is everything.  I learned a few points about connecting with readers, improving the blog and my website, and making sure my Facebook presence is through an author page, rather than a personal profile.  (And you tech savvy types you can smirk all you want; a year ago I didn’t know any of this stuff!)

I heard so much about Twitter I felt like I was in a bird sanctuary!  I still don’t want to do it.  I have two daughters who blow up my phone constantly—why would I want total strangers doing it?  And sharing my thoughts?  I can hardly keep them straight as it is.  Believe it or not, I think I’m more cut out for YouTube.  

Indie and self-publishing got a lot of much needed recognition in the workshops and award nominations, culminating in the first-ever RITA for a self-published novel for Carolyn Crane’s romantic suspense Off the Edge.  

SFR, in the form of steampunk, was well represented with nominations in the paranormal category of RITA, too, though the winner seemed to be a genre mashup/women’s fiction-y title (The Firebird, by Susanna Kearsley).  It seems the new, stricter rules defining “romance” in the GH and RITA contests haven’t affected science fiction or paranormal romance as much as, perhaps, romantic suspense or inspirational titles.  There were glaringly fewer nominees in those categories than in others, while, of course, contemporary and historical romance had a surfeit of riches.  (Though apparently Golden Heart contestants also struggled to get it right in the contemporary category, as opposed to their more experienced pro sisters.  There were markedly fewer nominees in that category than in the past.)

The controversy over the narrowing of rules to better define “romance” seemed to find its voice in the chapter leadership workshops, from what I hear.  Chapter officials were not happy and let the National leadership know it.  Whether the protests from the rank-and-file will lead to further changes in the bylaws remains to be seen.

Some personal highlights:  

--Biggest disappointment:  No Laurie or Sharon to pal around with. (I did have my Golden Heart Firebird sisters, though, and fellow SFR Brigader Laurel Wanrow as stalwart stand-ins.)

--Second biggest disappointment: Not being able to volunteer at the Literacy Signing, something I’ve done for four years. (Guess the word is out that it’s the coolest gig at the conference—I registered early for the conference, but volunteer spots were already full.)

--Best fangirl/fanboy) moment: Talking with Psy-Changling series author Nalini Singh at the Literacy Signing. (Graeme and I are both big fans!)

--Most fun at a workshop: Self Defense for Writers and their Characters (with Cam Fawcett, Cathy Tully and  Rayna Vause), a hands-on demo from three high-level karate instructors that took fight scenarios from those authors present and acted them out. (As a martial artist, how could I resist?) 

--Best Party: As always, FF&P chapter’s The Gathering, a costume party blowout with great food, wonderful company and dancing! (This year’s theme was Steampunk Cowboys/Cowgirls, and Graeme and I were among the finalists in the costume contest.)

--Best food:  A tough one!  Was it fall-off-the-bone Texas BBQ ribs at County Line or amazing New Orleans etouffee at Luke? (Graeme had a platter full of five different kinds of meat at County Line—not a place for vegetarians!)

--Best tourist sidetrip: The Alamo, of course, in the heart of San Antonio.  (I count fellow Tennessean Davy Crockett as one of my heroes, so I had to make the pilgrimage.)

--Most inspirational moment:  Karen Rose’s Saturday morning speech, with quotes from letters readers have sent to her. (Makes me wonder if I’ll ever have the ability to affect people with my writing the way some of these authors have.)

So, next year in NYC?  Not so sure.  I’ll be moving next summer from Fredericksburg where I’ve lived for nearly 20 years to Marshall, NC, outside Asheville.  I’ll be promoting a new book, and I’ll need to reach readers more than other writers.  That may mean focusing on the Shore Leave STAR TREK con (August) in Maryland and the Romantic Times con (May) wherever it happens. If I don’t go, though, I know I’ll miss it.  Next to the joy of a good writing day, the RWA conference is just about the best fun a romance writer can have.

Cheers, Donna