United We Standby Rebecca Adams At the start of this country's civil war Abraham Lincoln said, ". . . a house divided against itself cannot stand." This statement holds true for any group or organization, including the Romance Writers of America. Lately, it seems there has been an outbreak of negativity and divisiveness in our ranks. Within the past several months we have seen two articles printed in the RWR decrying both unpublished authors and writers of inspirational romance. Neither article could be considered conciliatory in tone, and can only serve to force our membership into taking sides. Perhaps now would be a good time to sit back and reflect upon the original intent of our organization: to promote and support romance writing. Not romance writing of a particular subgenre or romance writing that is done only by already-published authors. But all romance writing. Our strength is in our unity, and our unity comes only by supporting each other, regardless of our differences. Whatever else may separate us, we all have two important things in common, the love of writing and the love of romance. And while some of us may not like certain subgenres of romance, that in no way prevents us from writing what we do like, just as RWA serving the needs of aspiring authors in no way prevents it from serving the needs of the already-published, or prevents those authors from pursuing their own professional goals. Perhaps what is most disturbing about both of these articles was that they seemed to focus entirely on the particular author's own desires and feelings, with little, if any, regard to the desires and feelings of those whom they spoke out against. The article speaking out against aspiring authors also fails to take into account some of the very tangible benefits of being a published author in RWA. Has her chapter never set up a book signing for her? Showed up at said signing? Bought her books? She is completely discounting the fact that thousands of aspiring authors hoping to be where she is someday, also means thousands of aspiring authors supporting her career as a fellow member of RWA. Their loyal devotion and support should not be taken so lightly. In fact, instead of asking herself what RWA can do for her, maybe she should be asking herself what she can do for RWA. At any rate, it seems our group is at a crossroad. We can continue to stand together, and stand strong, or we can continue to splinter and fragment until we become nothing more than a smattering of smaller groups, non-related and no longer working toward a common cause. How much of a force to be reckoned with will we be then? Probably not much. So, if like me, you want to see RWA continue to grow and prosper, then we must stand together with a united front. All for one and one for all. Rebecca Adams, legal secretary by day, aspiring author by night, is a married mother of three who lives in Madison Heights, Michigan. She has been a member of the Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America since 1991. She is currently working on a mainstream, action-adventure novel.
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