Last night I had the privilege of hosting a frank, open discussion about the current state of Romance Writers of America with interim president, Alyssa Day, interim secretary, C. Chilove, and Director-at-Large, LaQuette. They gave us a glimpse of all the work that the interim board has been doing to right the ship and rebuild RWA’s reputation with authors, publishers, and readers.
I invited these women to chat with me about what’s going on in RWA because I’d allowed my membership to lapse after the debacle and implosion of the organization at the end of last year. So I had several questions about how the organization is handling the rampant racism and homophobia among its membership that led to what has been termed the #RWAShitShow and decades of the odds being stacked against black women and other authors of color in the judging of the RITA awards—which have now been abolished and replaced.
Listen to the playback to find out what practical steps the organization has taken to tackle bigotry and homophobia within its ranks and prevent marginalized authors from being discriminated against or feeling unwelcome or unsafe in the national organization, in local chapters, or on the community of practice forums.
As you listen to the playback, we invite you to share your thoughts on what you heard in the comments section of the video. If you enjoyed the discussion and found value in it, be sure to hit the LIKE button. If you’d like to hear other author discussions, check out my past conversations with authors like Kennedy Ryan, Farrah Rochon, Olivia Dade, and Vanessa Riley in my #StoryBehindTheStory Playlist. And hit SUBSCRIBE to be the first to know about future author discussions.
