Stranger in a Strange Land
Last weekend I attended a mystery writers conference, and I was struck by how different it was from a romance conference. The first thing I noticed was the gender. We had lots of men. We had lots of old men. The lines to the men’s bathroom were longer than to the women’s.
The second thing that struck me was, no one gave a rat’s behind about Harlequin or even knew much about it. Although I’ve had some grim book signings in my time, I believe this was the first time I ever failed to sell even a single book, while the person sitting next to me selling her self-published cozies sold quite a few. My workshops were packed and seemed to go over well, but that didn’t translate into book sales.
Which brings me to the third, and probably the most striking difference: Aside from a few superstars of the genre, mystery writers don’t really expect to make a living at writing, and most have other jobs or are retired or dependent on a spouse’s income. Of all the attendees who were published, the vast majority had sold to very small presses or were self-published, and the whole small press/self-published aspect was more universally accepted and respected than at romance conferences.
E-publishing, however, was barely on their radar.
I’m not the only one to notice differences between mystery and romance culture. One of the other workshop presenters, a male mystery writer, had recently attended a romance writing conference. To much snickering, he described it as “over the top.” He said some of the writers attended in costumes. (Excuse me?) But the biggest difference, in his opinion, were the raffle baskets. I guess mystery writers don’t go for candles, scented lotion, and mounds of beribboned cellophane.
But when it comes down to the individual writers, the similarities began to overshadow the superficial differences. Every writer there I talked to had a passion for books and reading and writing and story-telling; all were excited about sharing their stories with others. All were nervous about their agent/editor appointments, and giddy when said appointments resulted in a manuscript request. The motivating keynote and luncheon speeches sounded just like the ones we hear at RWA, discussing how important it is to write your story, to finish the book, to be persistent, hone your craft, and if you keep at it, eventually you will succeed.
When it comes down to it, writers are writers. And though the mystery-writing culture might be slightly different from that of romance writers, at our core we’re still storytellers who are thrilled at the idea of a character that comes to live on the page and a riveting plot that keeps a reader up all night.
No related posts.
I am a mystery writer who is lucky enough to know a few romance writers. It is too bad that you were made to feel unwelcome at that conference; we mystery writers can learn a lot from you romance writers. For one, you really nail character development. For another, you make the reader care passionately about your characters. You know how to build momentum and make a reader feel they’re inside your story. These are aspects I need to work on. In fact, I’m about to shoot a scene over to one of my romance writer friends and ask (beg) for advice: do you like the protag? do you care about her?
Next conference you attend, let me know. We’ll have a drink and talk!
Oh, yes, variety is a good thing is so many ways. Even if a person doesn’t usually read Mystery, I exposing one’s self to it or other genres sheds light on Romance.
crb–
I didn’t mean to make it seem as if I felt unwelcome. Everyone was very friendly and many went out of their way to tell me they enjoyed my workshops.
Kimber An–
It’s easy for writers of any genre to get tunnel vision, I think. I’ve always read widely outside the genre, and at any given time I always belong to some writers group that isn’t strictly romance.
Kara
I wish I’d had the time to attend. Even though I don’t write mysteries – I believe there’s something to be learned from everybody.
though I must admit – I’m wondering whey (I) never saw anyone in costume! bummer! lol.
thanks for sharing your observations – very interesting. Also makes me glad to have had the romance writers support – gives me a minute to wonder how much longer might it have taken for me to get as far as I have without it.
LOL, Chris. He wasn’t even talking about the RT conference. It was in Ohio, I think.
KL
Kara,
I enjoyed your post. To me, it really underlined the unique unity found within the romance genre. For me, I feel we’re blessed to have such tremendous support from each other in a field that’s tough to break into.
Diana Cosby
http://www.dianacosby.com
How interesting! I do get the sense that the community of romance writers is a society unto itself, complete with social tiers: leaders, lurkers, and boatloads of wannabes (I mean this in the kindest sense since I’m one too). And because it’s dominated by women, it has a tone and atmosphere that is very female in nature, both good and bad.
Thanks, Diane. And Patricia–yes, I think the “femaleness” of our genre sets the tone. I was once active in a screenwriters group that was dominated by young men. The differences between that group and my romance group were even more pronounced.
I forgot to mention one of the funniest differences between my two groups. At DARA, we receive silk roses when we make a sale. At MWA, we receive handcuffs and laminated funny-money. (All a romance writer’s idea, though.)
The most striking difference I’ve discovered in attending mutligenre conferences or conferences that focus on another genre is that romance, with all of its subgenres, encompasses elements of or crosses boundaries into other genres more than the other way around. Therefore, it seems as if for the most part, we tend to be more open to other genres.
Another really striking difference I observed is that at the non-romance conferences I attended, editors and agents had absolutely no compunctions about putting down romance publicly during panel discussions and I think I can honestly say that I have never, at any romance conference, heard any editor or agent put down any other genre.
For all our occasional kerfluffles and craziness, I really do love coming home to the romance genre.
And that should be “multigenre.” Typing with a headache really sucks.
Fascinating post, Kara. I write both genres (mystery and romance), but I’ve been strangely terrified of attending mystery events. I’m not sure this has made me more or less terrified.
If you belong to MWA, would you hold my hand at the next meeting? (just kidding)
[...] at Romancing the Blog, there was a very nice article about a mystery writer’s convention comparing and contrasting [...]
Great post, Kara! I’ve not attended a mystery writer conference yet, but plan to. It’ll be fun to observe the differences and similarities.
You do give awesome workshops, BTW!
Light,
Nancy Haddock
La Vida Vampire
Barbara–
You’re right, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a romance editor put down another genre, other than to say they aren’t looking for it. I took a little ribbing (you know, about “bodice rippers” and “how do you research, wink wink nod nod”), but some people were curious about the genre and had many misconceptions.
Hope the headache is better!
Wendy, yup, I belong to MWA. Our meetings are very friendly–probably because they’re run by a romance author (Rebecca Russell).
Thank you, Nancy!
SleuthFest is one of my favorite writing conferences. I love mingling, and since I write romantic suspense, I don’t feel too outside. And since I read a lot of mystery, I sit there with my mouth hanging open as I meet some of the authors I’ve placed on those pedestals. One thing that astonishes a lot of mystery writers is that as romance writers, we have to write two complete character arcs. They tend to freak at the thought of managing dual protagonists.
I also attended a “generic” writing conference this year and that was very different in focus, but all the basics are there. The panels, the speeches, the workshops, and yes, the fear-inducing agent/editor appointments.
And yeah, the gender mix is a nice change!
Very interesting! I’m working on a suspense wip and you just got me more interested in finishing it.
Kara,
Thanks for talking about the similarities between writers. I think solidarity is important. And, more often than not, we have more in common than we have differences. I also feel especially blessed to be a part of the romance community. I have found it to be incredibly supportive!
Love Romancing the Blog
Tiffany James
http://armchairheroines.blogspot.com