Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

First, I don’t think you can properly appreciate or even understand the experience of the RT convention unless you’ve seen one and been there for the whole of it (which means my opinion means diddly since I had to leave early to go feast on the matzo this year). So to try to reveal the convention to outsiders, both to the convention itself and the genre on the whole, might backfire and invite more snide and demeaning comments about how silly, sexist, and sophomoric romance and its fans are, don’t you know.

I honestly don’t know that it’s possible to capture on film what makes RT the giant cluster of ?!! that it is, because underneath the costumes and the feathers and the contestants and the male beauty pageant and the balls and the matched sets of luggage that hold six foot chiffon wings are a dedicated posse of readers and fans of romance who live for that weekend. They save up all year and work for months on their costumes. It is impossible to overstate how much happiness the attendees squeeze out of the RT convention. They love it like I love donuts. I don’t know if it’s truly possible to capture that happiness beneath the costumes and festivities, which from the outside looking in miss ‘joyous and fun’ and might land squarely on ‘just plain weird.’ RT is a lot of, ‘You had to be there.’

Second, the degree to which the interviewees discuss Alpha Males in the trailer makes me pause. Phrases like, “We bring these women into the fantasy” and “We’re here for the ladies” give me the shudders because nothing says “silly empty-headed women” like the phrase “bringing into fantasy.” I didn’t think RT was so much about the Alpha Male, or the ever-present hero that embraces that archetype with his steely gaze and rock-hard abs. It’s certainly true that alpha maledom is a known element in the genre, but is that the avenue through which to introduce folks who aren’t familiar with romance to the genre? It’s not all Alpha males and wings, folks. Neither is it all women who “live in their books.”

Thirdly, I have to wonder about the way in which the RT Convention is being held up as indicative and representative of “Romance.” Given the “Romance is....” headers to each segment of the teaser, and the fact that the documentary revolves around the convention, the fans, and the authors, it would be easy for anyone who views the film to then presume that all romance readers are like those featured in the documentary. And if there’s anything I’ve learned in the three-plus years of running SBTB, it’s the simple fact that sometimes the only thing romance fans have in common is the romance novel itself.

My questions and reservations aside, I’d love to see this film, simply because RT and its surrounding Fiesta of Whoa are no doubt a ripe subject matter for documentary-style exploration. If you get a chance to go see the premiere, let me know how it is.

ETA - Thanks to Jane, here’s a link to the Daily Oklahoman coverage:

Another behind-the-scenes funny: Beverly Jenkins is part of the Today segment (I hope) reading part of her novel, Jewel. Seems the producers wanted a sound bite or two of an actual romance novel, so Jenkins sat on a chair and read aloud the opening scene from the novel when the hero and heroine agree to pretend to be married for an hour. The posse of bloggers who were at the Borders with us, we were all entranced. It was like Story Time of Excellent with Beverly Jenkins. Then the reporter asked her to read a more “Romantic” scene, which meant, “one with the sex in it please.” So she obliged, and right about the part where Things Get Interesting (and Jenkins writes some fine, fine sex scenes) the reporter said, “OOOk, then that’s plenty!” And the camera men both spluttered, “No, wait! Keep going! It was just getting interesting!”

We now break for the Nora Roberts Shoe Report. Nora’s shoes yesterday were hot screaming red with awesome heels and strappy tops, which she paired with hot pink nail polish. Today was a mix of brown leather sandals with woven medallions, and lace-up flats worn with jeans. Nora’s Shoe Report will continue as long as she continues to change footwear and cause Sarah to ponder that perhaps the rumors are true, and Nora doesn’t have actual nerve endings in her feet.

The Marriott is amazing. Power outage or no power outage, this hotel is rocking my socks off, and I only have one pair with me so they better knock it off. Every single staff member is friendly to the point that I wonder what’s in the staff luncheon, and if it comes with a side order of happy pills and stock options. Seriously. Friendly people like damn and whoa. Plus, every time there is a major event, like a luncheon or the literacy signing, there’s hotel personnel every 10 or 20 feet helping direct traffic and answer questions. It’s amazing. I’m seriously deeply impressed with the staff here. They rock.

Tonight Jane, Candy, Kassia, Wendy the Super Librarian and I had dinner with the Harlequin Digital Team, where there was seafood and bodacious conversation. They wanted to know more about how we viewed ebooks and digital media (No more DRM plskthxbye) and along for the ride was a British film maker who is developing a documentary on romance readers- the real ones. She started by interviewing folks in the UK as part of the Mills&Boon Centennial, and she realized that if she wanted to appreciate the scope of the readership of romance, she needed to hop across the pond (Then across the rest of the US) to investigate American romance readership. The manner in which she discussed her project seemed to indicate that she’s after a respectful and thorough documentary about us romance fans – which makes me ineffably happy.

Alas, my jet lag is getting in the way of more bits o’ recap, so tune in tomorrow for Tweeting and blogging and general merriment.

Tomorrow there may be Olympic events on the schedule, but there’s definitely a Bitching Happy Hour on the docket: 330 pm Local time at the Thirsty Bear, 661 Howard Street, which is about two blocks away from the hotel. I hope we see you there.