We all know how I am with respect to rules as applied to writing- *twitches just writing that out*

Not my favorite thing in the world. However, I have a deep respect for chain of command and following of rules, especially in a large organization where the rules are in place in order to provide a fair baseline for the majority.

Which is why I find myself both bemused and amused by the fact that there is apparently some... erm, issue with the fact that I won the RITA. Oh, wait, excuse me-- that I won the Best Contemporary Single Title Romance RITA.

What's the issue? All I did was follow the rules of the contest as they were laid out but this seems to be bothering a few people. There has been some speculation that I won because I'm "nice." Or that I work hard. Or that I wore Maggie Gyllenhaal's dress. The theory has been posited that those things seemed to be mentioned in lieu of the fact that I wrote a good book. Silly me-- I thought having double finaled might have implied that I wrote a good book.

See, here's how I see it-- yes, I am nice. For one thing, writing is my profession and I behave in a way I believe professionals should. Well, that and my mother would bitchslap me into next week if I wasn't nice or polite.

Yes, I dress well. Again, that whole professional thing. The fact that for the RITAs I wore Maggie Gyllenhaal's dress from the Oscars? Well, as I already mentioned in a previous post-- I didn't simply buy it. I bid on and won it in a charity auction. It was a personal thing for me. 'nuff said.

If I'd gone to the RITA ceremony in ripped jeans, a skanky t-shirt, no bra and acted surly and bitchy, I'd be getting criticized for disrespecting the genre and the organization. And bitchslapped by my mother.

With respect to the award itself? Look, all I did was follow the rules. I checked off Young Adult as my first category. We didn't make the minimum number of entries (twenty-five for those of you playing along with the home game) and so I had a choice: withdraw and receive a refund or choose a secondary category. Because of the various word count restrictions, which have thankfully been lifted for future contests, my second best choice was Contemporary Single Title. And even then I thought hard about it. I made a list and ticked off the requirements. Contemporary? Check. Single Title, stand-alone story? Check. Over 70K words? Check. (Mainstream with SRE had an 80K word count minimum.) Romance woven throughout the story with an emotionally satisfying ending? Check. The only major hurdle was that it was a young adult novel. Thing is, and this was the one purely selfish motive on my part, was that I didn't want to lose my only opportunity to compete in Best First Book. The way the contest is structured, Best First Book doesn't exist as an independent category for entry, but rather an adjunct category. That is to say, one has to enter one of the genre specific categories then indicate on their form if the book is eligible for Best First Book. And it is possible to amass a high enough score to final in Best First Book without finaling in the original category in which you entered. That's actually all I was hoping for-- when I received the call that not only did I final, but that I'd finaled TWICE, oh man, you coulda knocked me over with a feather.

Truthfully, I felt my best shot was in Best First Book and the irony there is, if I'd won that category, no one would've blinked twice, despite the fact that there are so many different genres represented within that category and so many good books.

What it seems to boil down to is that there is a small cluster of people who are offended/angry/appalled/whatever that a young adult novel won in what is historically an adult category. And again, I repeat, dude, all I did was follow the rules. The people who are having issues seem to be neglecting to understand the book had to pass through not just one, but two panels of judges. At any point during the first round, a judge could have gone "WTF is a YA doing in ST?" and marked "wrong category" or "NR" for Not a Romance.

From the RWA website:

If three or more judges circle the NR box, the entry will not be eligible for the final round judging.

Okay, guess that didn't happen. However, it seems that regardless of the fact that I made it through that particular gauntlet, there are those who feel that when YA didn't make it as a category I should've packed my bags and slunk off into that good night, little tail between my little legs and not even let things get that far.

Yeah, right. SO not my style. Again... followed the rules. Since this seems to be a difficult concept for some people to follow.

The real beef seems to be that there are those out there who think that YA isn't... I don't know, a viable, intelligent, vibrant, kicking ass all over the place, genre. Harry Potter, much? Or perhaps the better example is Stephanie Meyer, since I know one of the things that readers go insane for in her young adult novels is the romance between Bella and Edward. I mean, does something like this:

Stephenie Meyer is getting some special publicity attention from her publisher.

The Little, Brown Books for Young Readers breakout author, whose books have sold more than one million copies since Twilight, her debut YA title, was released in 2005, has been assigned her own publicist. Current publicity director Elizabeth Eulberg has been promoted to the newly created role of director of global publicity for the writer, whom the house dubbed one of its “fast-growing franchise authors.”

imply anything but kick ass?

Look, my goal in writing Adiós was very simple-- I wanted to write a book that contained all the elements I love as a reader, including romance. I wanted a book that teenage girls would enjoy. That I wound up with a book that seems to have blurred genre lines and that appealed to those teenaged girls and their mothers was just an absolute bonus. My proudest moments this past week came from the people who came up to me and said a variation of, "I got your book last year and gave it to my daughter who's been a reluctant reader and she just ate it up." With commentary like that buoying me all week, I totally felt like a winner before Saturday night even rolled around.

Yes, for those who are wishing I'd just taken my little YA book elsewhere, there are organizations out there dedicated to children's books. However, the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators isn't geared as strongly toward YA as it is towards picture books and middle grade novels. I have entered Adiós for consideration for the Pura Belpré medal, given by the ALA and the Association for Library Service to Children. However, that's a biannual medal and it'll be sometime next year before I know the outcome for that one. However, as an author with a strong romance-writing background, I have long said that I feel RWA to be my writing home and professional organization and the RITA is the highest accolade a published author can receive from the organization and its members. Many people liken it to the Oscars-- to me, it's almost closer to the SAG awards-- the award from my peers, acknowledging a job well done.

I'm good with that.