Does This Sound Like A Writers Conference to You?

I saw this statement on Twitter and I got mad. It was about RWA, more specifically the Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech that Suzanne Brockmann gave. And I saw red. 

Before I go all in my short answer is yes it does. I have no idea if the person who said this is an RWA member. 

If RWA writ large was telling me who to vote for in my local government elections, I'd be mad. But I am so over this idea that politics doesn't directly affect each and every one of us. Even if Brockmann hadn't explained eloquently how concerns about offending readers with the mere presence of gay characters had shaped her career, even if she hadn't talked about how it was within our lifetimes that she wrote the second book featuring African American main characters for a particular character before talking about how RWA was working to fight white supremacy and homophobia just as our country was, I want to be done with the idea that people who are artists, writers, actors, or athletes don't have a stake in politics. The number of policies from suppression of LBGTQ+ rights to gun control (or lack thereof) to healthcare to taxes all affect writers. They affect you and me. Sure, there's a time and a place. I probably should not hunt you down in the drug store aisle to ask what you've done to fight fascism today. But let's face it, writers tell stories. Brockmann told stories of her writing and connected that to a larger problem. Does that sound like a writers conference to me? Yes. Even if that had been the whole of the conference, which obviously it wasn't, my answer would be yes. 

And look, if it made you mad - that's fine. I don't agree with every writer, not even every Lifetime Achievement Award winning writer. You don't have to. But don't pretend you're worried we didn't talk enough about writing. If you paid attention to the whole speech, that's exactly what we were doing. 

"Dave" at Arena Stage

I have a confession. Despite being a Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver fan, I have never seen the movie "Dave". It seems vaguely possible that I dismissed it on premise, like ugh, a fake president? How ridiculous. 

Anyway, I was intrigued when I saw it on Arena's new season. As we know, I love a good musical. Several people suggested I should see the movie first, and I decided at this point there was value in going on cold, in not comparing casts. So that's what I did. 

For those with similar pop culture blindspots, Dave is an American history teacher who gets fired due to budget cuts and struggles to pay his ailing dad's health bills, starts taking impersonation gigs, since he looks a bit like the newly elected president. 

He is called on by the actual president to do some crowd waving while the real president, ahem, has sex with his secretary. When the president has a stroke, the staff decide maybe they can have the stand in act as figurehead so they can finish out their plans, which is all fine and good until the American History teacher starts having his own ideas. 

The cast is wonderful. I always scan the bios to see if I should recognize the actor under the wig and there are quite a few familiar faces and voices here. 

The set made much use of circular walls, no surprise really, given circular offices, but it got a little busy at times. 

The show as a whole provided the heart and idealism in the possibilities of government you may be looking for. The songs ranged from heartfelt to hilarious. I don't think there was a crazy memorable one, but that isn't said as a knock. I still left humming. 

Seeing this in a DC crowd, meant there was some chuckling over how easy they make budget changes look. It's also a show that asks an incredible amount of it's leading man. He's hardly off the stage, performs several switcheroos, one involving a trick bed, for the two scenes where Dave and the president swap out. 

I was glad to have the chance to see it. 

Suzanne Brockmann - Now a Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

I discovered Suzanne Brockmann in a bookstore.  Strolling through a new to me bookstore on a vacation near a beach, I found Over the Edge. I finished and went back and got Out of Sight. I then went back ad found the beginning of the Troubleshooters series and worked my way through, finding the other series and standalones along the way.  I joined her newsletter list.  I went to a fan event in Atlanta, which I documented here. The event had been timed to precede the RWA conference.  Many of the other attendees knew to stay an extra day for that.  I did not.  (I actually had to come back and move so it was probably just as well.)  But I remembered this RWA thing.  And sometime after that, I read a Meg Cabot blog post where she talked about RWA being the organization that had helped her the most in her career.  It took a little over a year for me to join, but I did.  

Suzanne Brockmann has talked many times about how she pushed to write characters of color, gay characters, and even to make a featured gay character have his own multi-book arc.  And here's the other thing, she is a white, straight, cis-gender author.  She is a multi-bestseller.  Sure, I bet she gets less pushback now, but it's still there.  Yes, no one will always like you.  But, Brenda Jackson and Beverly Jenkins are likely the only African American authors to receive RITAs, and those were lifetime achievement awards.  Not everyone who writes great things will get an award, but such a lack is still glaring.  African American authors are not the only category of authors RWA has failed to acknowledge.  But it's a big, obvious one.  Partway through, Brockmann's speech, I thought about the second thing.  I don't claim to be besties with Jackson and Jenkins (although, hi, universe, drinking buddies would be just fine), but their speeches were wonderful and talked about the struggles they faced and how grateful to receive such an award now.  And Brockmann as a intersectionally privileged person, was able to be a little angry.  It was exactly what I expected of her, and was a powerful demonstration of true allyship. Just like she also had a list of favorite authors other people should go visit at the Literacy Signing.  (A thing, she has actually been doing forever. Not all favorite authors have the same taste as you, but I have discovered lots of great authors from her.)

Brockmann posted the full text, with some notes here.  I have already sent in my feedback that the RITA ceremony was everything I wish for RWA to be and hope for it to become.  

Three Interesting Things

1. As a "West Wing" fan, I think about the episode where they interview a judge who says that privacy is the next big thing we'll be battling out a lot.  So, I took not of the story that one of the genetic ancestry companies is now selling data to pharmaceutical companies. 

2. This story from the L. A. Times about a person who moved through many literary and non-profit spaces, has lots of ties to the DC area.  And a reminder to folks, scammers may not mean to be scammers, so they often seem and even in their worldview are super genuine.  You being scammed is not a failing. 

3. Apparently there has been some gold prospecting going on in Scotland. 

RWA 2018

Trying to encapsulate RWA 2018 in Denver into a coherent piece, is hard.  

I went to part of the Newsletter class, but quickly reached my brain saturation point, so left and began making dinner plans.  

My WRW chapter had a breakfast which was awesome but meant a second early morning (Day of YA was an early start too). It was great to see people in one room that we don't always get to hang out with at home.  (In fact, some of our members are distance members.)

I was on duty at the PRO Retreat, which means many things came to me in snippets as I ran to help other committee members.  (I also learned an important lesson about standing more than I needed to.)  But the panels talked about the challenges and joys of entering publishing, remembering to take care of your writer self, letting yourself believe that your writing has worth, and how to push through the doubts.  We also gave out the PRO Mentor of the Year award to Cindy Dees, who talked about the PRO to Published initiative in her chapter, and that a lot of it is the PRO writer letting something hold them back.  

The Golden Heart ceremony meant I got to hear my lovely chapter mate Pintip Dunn speak again as emcee.  And watch lovely folks win awards.  I went and huddled in my room before the RITAs because my feet demanded it.  The RITAs were wonderful, and I have a longer story about the Lifetime Achievement Award Winner speech, that I'm going to break out into it's own post.  I thought the theme of both ceremonies, which was very much how writers and authors support each other was wonderful. I was so, so, glad to be there for it.  

Friday I moderated two sessions, which is in fact a clever way to make yourself go to things.  Jennifer Barnes' discussion of Psychology of Fiction was amazing, as was Robin Covington and Avery Flynn's Professional Jealousy.  

Saturday, I volunteered at the registration desk.  I told a story about that here.  I had a wonderful time and look forward to making my way through the recordings for more.