Monday, May 4, 2009

DANGER: Laughter Ahead—Smart Bitches Working Together

I love a good Romance.

One of the enduring qualities that draw us to romance time and again is the fact they are love stories and traditionally they have an emotionally satisfying ending. Romance stories can be set in practically any time or place. Some like their romance sweet and some—like me—love them hot.

Sarah Wendell, my guest Over Coffee is unabashedly, a lover of Romance novels. Sarah, along with Candy Tan, is part of the dynamic duo known as Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. You may have read their very popular blog by the same name,
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/. Together, Sarah and Candy co-authored the popular book, Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. As a writer, I have collaborated with others to write. I can tell you it’s not easy and it’s not always smooth sailing, particularly when blending different writing styles and voices into a cohesive end product. So, I wondered how the two of them were able to work together to write such a fantastically funny, irreverent book, especially considering they don’t even live near each other?

I had questions and Sarah was happy to give some me answers:




Sia said, when I asked what she'd like me to write about, that she "was interested in how the two of you took a project such as this and worked together to produce the finished product--I'm sure the tale was full of the usual frustrations, glitches, laughter, and the satisfaction of a job well done. [What were] the reactions of those authors you did contact when they found out what you were doing?"

Since we started the site in 2005, Candy and I have been in the same place at the same time exactly twice. Once in Dallas at the 2006 RWA National, and then in San Francisco at the 2007 RWA National Conference. It could be their new slogan! "RWA: Bringing Smart Bitches Together - and Damn the Consequences."

So we're very used to working online, despite the four-hour time difference between us, and the complete differences of our schedules. When it came time to writing the book, we had a few goals:
  • it was absolutely not going to be reprinting of any content that already appeared online.

  • it would be longer pieces and fun ideas that we really couldn't produce within the limitations and confines of a blog. So we had ideas from illustrations to games to Choose Your Own Man-Titty.

  • it would be part analysis, part fun, part goofy, and all awesome. Or as awesome as we could make it, anyway.


I started out by drafting an outline of things we wanted to touch on in each chapter, and we divided that up and added or subtracted as necessary. Ultimately we emailed chapters back and forth, editing and resubmitting to each other until we had a workable manuscript.

That was about 18,000 words over the limit.

Oops.

So we edited—same process. The thing about working with Candy that I like best is, well, two pronged. A hemipene of positivity, if you will. First, from the start of the website to the formation of Beyond Heaving Bosoms, our goal was partly to crack each other up. Few people make me laugh as hard as Candy, and few people impress me more with their creative ease and twisting subversion of language. Second, we are each other's best editors. She's very, very good at taking content wherein I am way too long winded and cutting out the unnecessary parts.

The best part of writing the book, however, was how enthusiastic folks were when I contacted them for interviews. By the time we had the complete manuscript with all the edits, I realized that in a unique way, Beyond Heaving Bosoms spans sub-genres and publishing houses and unites authors and readers (two traits that are often conveniently housed in the same person) with one common message: that romance is wonderful, sometimes hilarious, and absolutely ought to be taken seriously. I think that because we were clearly writing an affectionate guide to the genre, the people we contacted for interviews were receptive and very generous with their time (thank you!).

I had email interviews and phone conversations with authors whose books I've adored, and publishers who I've only seen on panels at conferences or seen mentioned in the acknowledgments of a book, and all of them said, "I'm so glad you are doing this." To be honest, their enthusiasm made the writing part so much easier, and also so much more intimidating, because I then had to do justice to their faith that we could adequately represent the entire genre and what makes it wild, wooly, and wonderful. No pressure, or anything.

The one person who wouldn't return my calls or email messages? Fabio.



John DeSalvo, on the other hand, was a marvelous interview subject and I learned about the entire process of creating a romance cover from him, and artist Jon Paul.

The reactions of the people we contacted while writing Beyond Heaving Bosoms was probably the first and greatest indication that our approach to the genre and our affectionate examination of it from the best of the best to the mullety of the mullets, might be received by an equally eager and enthusiastic audience. So far, our reader mail, reviews, and the reactions from people at our book signings have been tremendous confirmation of what we suspected all along: that smart, savvy people love romance novels, and love nothing more than finding fellow romance lovers who recognize honestly the diverse power of romance novels. We're pleased and proud to be among the smart women and men who read romance.




***
By day Sarah Wendell is mild mannered and heavily caffeinated. By evening she dons her cranky costume, consumes yet more caffeine, and becomes Smart Bitch Sarah of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/

The site specializes in reviewing romance novels, examining the history and future of the genre, and bemoaning the enormous prevalence of bodacious pectorals adorning male cover models. In April 2009, Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels was born, published by Touchstone Fireside and co-authored by Sarah and her partner in nefarious deeds, Candy Tan.


Sarah has spoken at Romance Writers of America’s national conference, at the Romantic Times BookLovers’ Convention, and at several RWA chapter conferences and meetings. Sarah was invited to speak as part of the closing plenary panel at the first academic conference devoted to the romance genre, Love as the Practice of Freedom, at Princeton University in April 2009. Her writing has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Tango Magazine, and in the SmartPop book Grey’s Anatomy 101: Seattle Grace, Unauthorized. Sarah has appeared on The Today Show, the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Steven and Chris Show, and on Too Many Books. Sarah has been quoted in The New York Times, The New York Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Los Angeles Times Book Blog, Metro:New York, and Publishers Weekly.

Picture of John DeSalvo is published here with John's permission. Thank you John, :-)