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hrjThis past weekend I popped up to Seattle on a no-vacation-days basis to take part in the Gay Romance Northwest Conference, held at the main library downtown. This is a relatively new event--just the third time it's been held, I believe--although the local organization sponsoring also does many smaller get-togethers.
Since I was willing to indulge myself with a room in the official conference hotel (just kitty-corner from the library and where the after-session vendor session was held) and a rental car, the logistics made it a fairly relaxing weekend. (The city being a nonstop fight away also helped.)
Due to my no-vacation plans, I wasn't able to attend the Friday evening readings. And due to the conference's decision not to compete with a popular "Banned Books" drag show in the evening, also sponsored by the library, the schedule was relatively compact: opening and closing plenary sessions in the main auditorium, and two sessions of panels (with a total of 7 different panels). This was followed by a 2-hour open-to-the-public vendor room with tables for all the attending authors as well as a couple of publishers/distributors.
I really enjoyed being on the panel "Writing a Historical, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi? Do your Research – And How!" We talked about the uses and purposes of research even beyond "getting things right", and fielded audience questions. When I mentioned after the session that I had business cards for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project they were all snapped up in a couple of minutes, so I'm hoping that translates into a little increased blog traffic.
For the second session, I attended the panel on "Changing Dynamics of Lesbian Romance". I confess I'd expected it to be a rehash of similar panels I've seen at GCLS that talk about what the hot new sub-genre or trope is, but instead the discussion was primarily about expanding the readership for the genre more broadly, and the interesting (and frustrating) differences in the general reception for lesbian romance as contrasted with gay romance. I tossed in a couple thoughts during the audience participation part (especially the larger general dynamics of differential reception of male and female protagonists in genre fiction), but I find it an interesting contrast with the (thoroughly applauded) remark I heard at GCLS that lesbian romance writers shouldn't look for a wider reception. (The implication being that trying for a more general readership would "dilute the lesbian brand" as it were.)
I sold one pair of books at the vendor session and handed out a lot of book cards, but it was a little disappointing to end up taking books home with me given that there were fewer than half a dozen authors with lesbian books (among almost 60 listed authors--though I don't know if all of them had tables) and there seemed to be plenty of readers claiming that they were eager to find more lesbian stories.
I skipped the banned books drag show (drag shows just Aren't My Thing) which turned out to be a good choice as the club where it was held was evidently completely packed and very noisy and the people I talked to later who attended said they could barely see the show at all. Instead I had a truly excellent meal in the restaurant of the Monaco Hotel (highly recommended! truffled potato croquettes! ham flights!) and then went upstairs to do some writing until the "after party" at a bar across the street. I guess most folks had either called it a night early or were burned out by the drag show because the after party was pretty much just six of us, most of whom had long drives home calling them away.
Sunday I had the opportunity to spend a long leisurely visit with some dear friends (Hi Eden & Bill!) who live in Ballard. My initial suggestion that we meet somewhere for brunch took a delicious turn when I mentioned looking for good pastries and they pointed out that literally two doors down from their house was the best pastry shop in the entire Seattle area. So we gorged on baked goods over the kitchen table and got well and thoroughly caught up.
My overall assessment of the conference:
* A well-structured and well-organized small event that should be a must-go for anyone in the greater Seattle area.
* If you are traveling further to get there, it makes sense as a general investment in visibility and networking, but the overall cost-benefit for sales is weak.
* Combine the trip with some sightseeing on Sunday for maximum enjoyment. (If you haven't been before, go to the Pike's Peak market right there downtown.)
* The general diversity of genders and orientations among both authors and readers was much broader than that at Rainbowcon (if still skewed to female writers/readers of m/m romance). I didn't have quite the same sensation of having accidentally wandered into an event where I didn't belong. This had been one of my concerns going in. Last year when I was deciding whether it might be worth a quick trip, I'd looked at the first GRNW conference and felt it looked very similar to the Rainbowcon dynamic. The feedback from last year was that it was definitely shifted. I think this is an event that's serious about all the letters of LGBTQIA and it would be well worth contributing to the breadth if you fall in one of the less-represented areas.
Since I was willing to indulge myself with a room in the official conference hotel (just kitty-corner from the library and where the after-session vendor session was held) and a rental car, the logistics made it a fairly relaxing weekend. (The city being a nonstop fight away also helped.)
Due to my no-vacation plans, I wasn't able to attend the Friday evening readings. And due to the conference's decision not to compete with a popular "Banned Books" drag show in the evening, also sponsored by the library, the schedule was relatively compact: opening and closing plenary sessions in the main auditorium, and two sessions of panels (with a total of 7 different panels). This was followed by a 2-hour open-to-the-public vendor room with tables for all the attending authors as well as a couple of publishers/distributors.
I really enjoyed being on the panel "Writing a Historical, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi? Do your Research – And How!" We talked about the uses and purposes of research even beyond "getting things right", and fielded audience questions. When I mentioned after the session that I had business cards for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project they were all snapped up in a couple of minutes, so I'm hoping that translates into a little increased blog traffic.
For the second session, I attended the panel on "Changing Dynamics of Lesbian Romance". I confess I'd expected it to be a rehash of similar panels I've seen at GCLS that talk about what the hot new sub-genre or trope is, but instead the discussion was primarily about expanding the readership for the genre more broadly, and the interesting (and frustrating) differences in the general reception for lesbian romance as contrasted with gay romance. I tossed in a couple thoughts during the audience participation part (especially the larger general dynamics of differential reception of male and female protagonists in genre fiction), but I find it an interesting contrast with the (thoroughly applauded) remark I heard at GCLS that lesbian romance writers shouldn't look for a wider reception. (The implication being that trying for a more general readership would "dilute the lesbian brand" as it were.)
I sold one pair of books at the vendor session and handed out a lot of book cards, but it was a little disappointing to end up taking books home with me given that there were fewer than half a dozen authors with lesbian books (among almost 60 listed authors--though I don't know if all of them had tables) and there seemed to be plenty of readers claiming that they were eager to find more lesbian stories.
I skipped the banned books drag show (drag shows just Aren't My Thing) which turned out to be a good choice as the club where it was held was evidently completely packed and very noisy and the people I talked to later who attended said they could barely see the show at all. Instead I had a truly excellent meal in the restaurant of the Monaco Hotel (highly recommended! truffled potato croquettes! ham flights!) and then went upstairs to do some writing until the "after party" at a bar across the street. I guess most folks had either called it a night early or were burned out by the drag show because the after party was pretty much just six of us, most of whom had long drives home calling them away.
Sunday I had the opportunity to spend a long leisurely visit with some dear friends (Hi Eden & Bill!) who live in Ballard. My initial suggestion that we meet somewhere for brunch took a delicious turn when I mentioned looking for good pastries and they pointed out that literally two doors down from their house was the best pastry shop in the entire Seattle area. So we gorged on baked goods over the kitchen table and got well and thoroughly caught up.
My overall assessment of the conference:
* A well-structured and well-organized small event that should be a must-go for anyone in the greater Seattle area.
* If you are traveling further to get there, it makes sense as a general investment in visibility and networking, but the overall cost-benefit for sales is weak.
* Combine the trip with some sightseeing on Sunday for maximum enjoyment. (If you haven't been before, go to the Pike's Peak market right there downtown.)
* The general diversity of genders and orientations among both authors and readers was much broader than that at Rainbowcon (if still skewed to female writers/readers of m/m romance). I didn't have quite the same sensation of having accidentally wandered into an event where I didn't belong. This had been one of my concerns going in. Last year when I was deciding whether it might be worth a quick trip, I'd looked at the first GRNW conference and felt it looked very similar to the Rainbowcon dynamic. The feedback from last year was that it was definitely shifted. I think this is an event that's serious about all the letters of LGBTQIA and it would be well worth contributing to the breadth if you fall in one of the less-represented areas.
