Jordan Summers

Again, I did not alter the below letter in any manor. I think the author of the letter speaks quite eloquently for herself. Something to keep in mind, she is one of RWA’s biggest supporters. That should tell you something.

Permission was granted to forward this.

To the board:

By now youve probably heard in great detail from many members about
what an outrage the awards ceremony was, so Ill try a different
approach, speculating on what an outsider (say, the documentary
people from Bravo who were there) might conclude from that ceremony.

1. RWA is anti-woman, dwelling on women like Monica Lewinsky, Lorena
Bobbit, and Donna Rice while tossing off mentions Sally Ride, Ruth
Bader Ginsberg, and Oprah Winfrey.

2. RWA is racist showing only one person of color for any extended
time–O. J. Simpson–while ignoring anyone else who wasnt white.

3. RWA is so far to the right politcally that its falling off the
map, spending an extended amount of time including voiceovers on the
Clinton/Lewinsky affair while making Reagan and the Bushes look like
gods.

4. RWA is insensitive, juxtaposing tragedy with upbeat music and
lighthearted segues into the nominations.

5. RWA doesnt care about its members, its fiction, or its past,
sidelining all of that to showcase a general history lesson that did
nothing to illuminate or celebrate the organization or the people
within it.

At this point, I dont care who was responsible for that truly
wretched script; I dont care who was responsible for forcing it
through, even though Nora Roberts, one of the smartest people I know
when it comes to gauging audience reaction and public relations, was
ignored when she tried to stop the train wreck that ceremony became.
I just want to know that whoever was involved in this will never
again be allowed near any public statement, that there will be a
committee that reads the script ahead of time fthat has both taste
and veto power, and that the next time a very smart woman says, You
cannot do this, its horrible, SOMEBODY will listen.

And please, for the love of God, next year remember that its a party
not a political platform; that were there to feel good about
ourselves, not be ashamed that were women; to feel like were one
happy family, not the White Girls Club; that we want to leave
uplifted and confident and happy and laughing, that we want to
CELEBRATE on that night. Get somebody who understands happiness
and celebration and humor and light, somebody who loves women and
RWA, somebody who doesnt have an ax to grind or a personal stake in
the script. Get an entertainer with brains. We have a LOT of them
in RWA; in fact, Eileen Dreyer comes immediately to mind. You know
Eileen, the one who looked at her script, saw more disasters and then
said, And a lot of bad things happened that year but were not going
to talk about them and got an ovation? Eileen would be good.

Saturday night was the worst Rita awards show in history; lets make
sure its the worst one of all time by never going that low again.

Jenny Crusie

Well there was some interesting news out of National. Apparently, the RITA and GH had a bit of controversy, which had nothing to do with the actual awards. That’s a pretty impressive feat. It seems a particular political bent was presented. I received permission from Beth Harbison to pass the letter Nora Roberts penned on. Here it is in full. I have not added or deleted a thing.

OK, the details from one that knows. Here’s the statement Nora gave Tara Taylor Quinn to read the one Tara Taylor Quinn SAID she’d read, but did not (the intro paragraph was just added):

As Ms. Quinn refused to read my statement, as agreed, before the awards ceremony in Reno, then again reneged on her agreement to read it after the awards, I will write it here.

Nora Roberts declines to host tonight’s awards ceremony as she feels the content is inappropriate and believes the focus should be on the nominees and the organization.

Oddly, I wasn’t given a script by Ms. Quinn. One was provided by a member of the production team when I requested it on Friday afternoon in Reno. The only significant change I was able to implement, though I argued and debated with Ms. Quinn, Laura Hayden and Diana Pershing, was the deletion of the video containing the fall of the Twin Towers and the Oklahoma City bombing. How painful those images would have been to the many editors and agents in attendance who lived though 911.

Instead of a celebration, a night of fun and anticipation for the nominees, and an entertaining and sparkling event, the audience was treated to a three-plus hour world history lesson, heavy on disaster, death, politics, war and tragedy–in one memorable moment, Don’t Worry, Be Happy was played over those images.

I can’t comprehend how such tragic events and images had a place at a ceremony meant to showcase the nominees and the twenty-five years of the organization. Nor can I understand how it was thought proper to juxtapose those with presenters being driven on stage in a limo, walking to the podium to Joan Riveresque commentary in a format that gave more play to the presenters–through no fault of their own–than those who were privileged to take home a Golden Heart or a Rita. The emcee’s place in all this seemed to be to recite endless dry facts and figures of RWA dues, conference fees and sites over the last quarter of a century, instead of relating the heart of our organization.

It was tempting to resign my membership–I haven’t been so tempted in 25 years. But it wasn’t RWA that pushed this agenda. It was a handful of individuals. RWA has, as always, my respect, affection and gratitude. The current president has none of those.

Nora Roberts

-sent by Beth Harbison

For those of you who’ve sent me emails, asking about the Atlantean’s Quest Series paperback editions, I have some news. Yah!!! I’ve been told by a pretty reliable source that Atlantean’s Quest Bk. Two: Exodus will be released in paperback at the beginning of December 2005. Also, Tears of Amun, my Egyptian time-travel, will be released with Julia Templeton’s ‘Now and Forever’ Regency time-travel in January 2006. The latter book is tentatively titled, ‘Somewhere in Time’. I’ll let you know about my submissions as soon as I hear anything.