There’s been a lot of talk lately about racism and the romance industry. I thought about the subject again yesterday when I saw a bulletin from RWA. The bulletin highlighted the 2008 Romance Slam Jam and referenced the Emma Awards which, according to the bulletin, were “selected by readers and authors of black romance.” Here are the winners:

* Favorite Anthology: Cuffed by Candlelight by Beverly Jenkins, Gwyneth Bolton, Katherine D. Jones, and Simone Harlow (Parker Publishing)
* Favorite Hero: Reese Anthony from Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins (Avon)
* Favorite Heroine: Teresa July from Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins (Avon)
* Favorite Novel: Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins (Avon)
* Favorite Novella: “Prisoner” in Cuffed by Candlelight by Beverly Jenkins (Parker Publishing)
* Favorite Sequel: Only You by Francis Ray (St. Martin’s Press)
* Favorite Steamy: Whisper Something Sweet by Deatri King-Bey (Parker Publishing)
* Favorite Suspense: Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins (Avon)
* Cover of the Year: Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins (Avon)
* Debut Author of the Year: LaConnie Taylor-Jones
* Author of the Year: Beverly Jenkins

Here’s what I was wondering:
(1) How many of us knew about the Emma Awards?
(2) How many us have read these books?
(3) How many us have have read Beverly Jenkins, the woman who is up for, what, 10 awards?

I’m not saying RWA is racist or that readers are bad people or anything even like that. I’m just thinking we’re all missing out on a whole bunch of talent…and that’s a shame. Not sure what the answer to this problem is.

I’ve ordered Beverly Jenkins’ DEADLY SECRETS. That doesn’t make the situation right - of course - but I’m intrigued to try the book.

In case you’re wondering, here’s the copy:

Though her Lexus may be broken down on the California freeway, Jessi Teresa Blake is no damsel in distress. Rich, smart, and beautiful, JT, or “Lady Blake,” as she is called, is one of the toughest sports agents around. She’s negotiated megabucks contracts for every superstar in the business, and only the most confident of men can match wits with her. Men like Reese Anthony, the impossibly sexy trucker who gives her a lift back to Oakland.

Continuing my weekly discussion about HARD AS NAILS, my July release (June 24th, actually)… HARD AS NAILS is an anthology of three related novellas. Two of the men appeared in my very first published novella in WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS - Cole and Adam. They each get a story in HARD AS NAILS, as does Ray. I, of course, adore all three of them.

The story revolves around the renovation of a fictional brownstone in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C. My house, the situation and the characters all come from my imagination. Dupont Circle, however, is very real. Everything else is totally fictional. I lived in D.C. for a total of about 17 years (excluding three-year detour to law school in North Carolina). Loved D.C. Loved Dupont Circle. Loved the stunning old brownstones in Dupont Circle. So, when it was time to think about where this the fictional house in HARD AS NAILS would be, Dupont Circle was the obvious answer.

Problem was that I now live in San Diego. I couldn’t just hop in the car and drive around Dupont Circle to get an idea of what I wanted my fictional house to look like. To put the house and setting in my head - yeah, that’s what has to happen for me before I can write - I went on the internet and found a fabulous B&B near Dupont Circle and used that as my guide. Checking out this real B&B helped me to keep the setting center in my mind as I wrote.

The real house I used as a guide? Well, it’s the Aaron Shipman House. Look to the left for the photo from the outside - isn’t it adorable? [Photo is from the Aaron Shipman House website]

It’s a B&B. This place gives off a warm and inviting feeling. Great location, garden, porch, antiques - just lovely. It’s much nicer than anything I could conjure up in my imagination.

I’m thinking I need to visit this real B&B. Maybe check out that special apartment they have… Very tempting.

You Know you’re getting older when you see all of these covers with hot bare-chested males and the first thought that runs through your mind is…what’s with all the tattoos?

Just saying.

I recently read a book called STILL LIFE WITH HUSBAND by Lauren Fox. The back cover did not appeal to me, but I picked it up because Michiko Kakutani, the NYT reviewer known for what one might call nastiness, gave it a great review. The back cover goes like this:

Meet Emily Ross, thirty years old, married to her college sweetheart, and personal advocate for cake at breakfast time.

Meet Emily’s husband, Kevin, a sweet technical writer with a passion for small appliances and a teary weakness for Little Women.

Enter David, a sexy young reporter with longish floppy hair and the kind of face Emily feels the weird impulse to lick.

In this captivating novel of marriage and friendship, Lauren Fox explores the baffling human heart and the dangers of getting what you wish for.

Basically, Emily gets bored with her marriage, has an affair and messes up her life. But, really, that’s too simplistic of a description. The book is more nuanced than that. What is compelling about the book is the unflinching way the author handles the subject of infidelity and all the people it touches. She doesn’t apologize or explain away Emily’s actions. She doesn’t make the husband unlikable so that Emily has some sort of justification for her behavior. Rather, Emily screws up and it’s messy just like life would be.

I actually disliked the heroine in this book. I’m thinking Fox meant for her to be flawed but lovable to the reader in a somewhat reluctant way. I never got the lovable part. Instead, I kind of wanted to smack some sense into her. But, for me, the book worked. I liked the real-life, watching-a-trainwreck feel to it.

We’re not supposed to use the term chick lit…for whatever reason…so I’ll call this smart women’s fiction (the phrase I heard recently). I recommend it for Fox’s strong writing and impressive characterizations. She does not rely on gimmicks or murders or a convoluted plot to keep your attention. The idea is simple and the prose is clean and refreshing. Mostly, however, I recommend it as an example on how to write a flawed heroine and still have the book succeed.

First, I got another call last evening. YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY is also a finalist in the single title category of the Book Buyers Best contest sponsored by the Orange County Chapter of RWA. So, that’s three finalist calls for this book in a week. I’m so happy!

Second, the fabulous Shiloh Walker came up with a fundraiser for Myanmar. A bunch of authors have donated books to the cause. Many of these books, including HARD AS NAILS are not out yet. If you win this bundle, you get all those books early. You bid, you can win and the kids in Myanmar get some relief. Everyone wins.

Here’s the ebay info on the donation so you can bid. It’s a great cause. And, yeah we’ve all heard that much of the aid is not getting where it needs to go in Myanmar. Shiloh took that into consideration, did her homework and is trying to help. Check it out.

My parents are in town, so I’ll be with my mom today. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

I’m about to go pick up my parents at the airport. While getting ready, I got a fabulous call from the lovely ladies at the Greater Detroit RWA Chapter saying that YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY is a finalist in the single title category of the Booksellers’ Best Contest. Yay!!!

Almost a year later and this book continues to kick butt. It was featured in Cosmo and at E! Online. It was a Reader’s Choice nominee at AAR. Now it’s a finalist in the Golden Quill and the Booksellers’ Best. No wonder my editor told me just last week that she loved this book.

For those who haven’t read it, it’s still available in trade. It will be out in mass market (for somewhere around $7.00) in March ‘09. As soon as I mave the mass market cover, I’ll post it.

To the creators of the tv show Lost, the people in charge of Lost and anyone at ABC who is affiliated with, or makes decisions on behalf of, Lost:

I have been loyal. I have watched every show in every season since the beginning. When you had that one season, the one I like to call The Season That Went Nowhere And Made Me Think About Tuning In For The 43rd Season Of ER Instead, I stuck with you. I’ve swallowed the idea of polar bears in the tropics, a smoke monster that’s just silly and now time travel all in the hope of a payoff that will be worth it. I did not complain that you kept Claire around much longer than necessary (and thank you for taking out Shannon before I had to beg). I’ve tried not to snicker at the idea of that Daniel Faraday guy being a genius. I have ignored the fact you made Jack the leader when he is clearly a putz. [Would it kill the guy to tie up the people from the boat and insist they answer a few simple questions? ] I’ve been disgruntled but accepting of the fact you brought in a really interesting character - Miles - and now never use him. I weep that we do not see more of Desmond or Sawyer, but I accept it. I’ve even put aside my lawyer training and tried to believe that the survivors never ask a follow up question of the people trying to kill them. I mean, come on. Locke tells Hurley that Ben killed all the people in the Dharma Intiative and shows him the mass grave, and Hurley doesn’t ask why? More importantly, he doesn’t ask how? See, those are tidbits the rest of us not involved in the crash would ask. The how part is something I might want to know in case Ben decides the kill again and I need to run.

A sojourn to Tunisia? Fine. A disappearing cabin? Sure, why not. Dead people walking and talking? Bring. It. On. But you’ve gone too far this time. You have now journeyed into the one area that is sure to lose me (and many of the other loyal followers who continue to insist you guys are brilliant while fearing you are dragging us into the abyss). Do you know what I’m talking about? Let me be clear. I am bemoaning the number of commercial breaks this season. Honestly, what the hell are you people thinking? Last night’s episode had almost as many minutes of commercials as it did of the show. I don’t care what the financial folks at ABC are telling you, that’s too much. My husband reads the paper during commerical breaks, so he’s pretty tolerant. Last night even he got ticked off. See, a man should not be able to read the entire Wall Street Journal while waiting for the show to come back on.

Look, I get it. Shows cost money. You’re nearing the end and want to wring every penny out of this baby. Got it. No one is more appreciative of a commerical artist’s need to make money than I am. I tried paying the Countrywide mortgage in ARCs and that didn’t work. Truly, I feel for you. But there has to be another way. Maybe you could stop with the whole Lord Of The Flies thing where you have unnamed survivors wandering around the island, never speaking to the attractive leaders of the group. Just get rid of them and save on their pay. They bug the fans anyway. We think they’re losers for not standing up now and then and at least demanding a line or two.

Whatever you need to do to go back to a more rational number of commercial breaks - preferrably fewer than one every four minutes like last evening - do it. Really. Do. It. You have made some risky moves in thie past. This is the worst. It is guaranteed to lose fans. It’s too much. And, frankly, you owe us. If we’re going to have to wait from May to January for a new season, the absolute least you can do is give us episodes that are longer in content than 29 minutes.

Sincerely,

Your humble fan, HelenKay

I read an online interview with Toni Morrison in Time. Morrison is a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author…but you know that. Heck, the woman has won about a billion writing awards. My favorite of hers is BELOVED. I’ve read it 3 or 4 times. I think I kept hoping it would be less heart-wrenching on subsequent reads. It wasn’t.

Morrison was asked 10 questions. Her answers were interesting. I like what she says about why she started writing:

My deepest passion was reading. At some point—not early, I was 35 or 36—I realized there was a book that I wanted very much to read that really hadn’t been written, and so I sort of played around with it in trying to construct the kind of book I wanted to read.

Notice how she did not start writing for glory, money, fame or to hit bestseller lists. Just saying.

Her advice for aspiring writers goes like this:

The work is in the work itself. If she writes a lot, that’s good. If she revises a lot, that’s even better. She should not only write about what she knows but about what she doesn’t know. It extends the imagination.

Now, that advice won’t get you published, but it provides a good direction to getting started. My sense is that her underlying point is: just write and keep writing.

I’m blogging over at the Brava Authors today and welcoming our two newest Brava authors - Mary Wine and Beth Williamson. Welcome ladies!