RWA's Year 2000 National Conference Recap

RWA's Year 2000 National Conference...
Life, Love and the Pursuit of a Happy Ending
Conference Recap

by Diana Rowe Martinez

RWA's Year 2000 National Conference…
Life, Love and the Pursuit of a Happy Ending
Recap by Diana Rowe Martinez

So much history and politics is crammed into Washington D.C.'s parameters, and RWA's Life, Love and The Pursuit of A Happy Ending Conference was just one of many conferences to hit the nation's capital, although politics can't hope to hold a candle to romance.

The setting of the 2000 RWA Conference was the Marriott Wardman Tower Hotel. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Wardman Tower is situated at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Woodley Road, on one of the highest promontories and offers views of the National Cathedral, the National Zoo, Rock Creek Park, the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. This hotel's history began on November 23, 1918 when it opened in the wake of World War I. This project faced many challenges and was even named "Wardman's Folly."

Tuesday morning I attended the Kiss of Death (mystery/suspense) RWA Chapter's FBI and ATF (Department of the Treasury's Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) Tour, of interest to our mystery/suspense writers. Those that missed this missed a bundle of information, as well as a, er, bundle of men.

The highlight of Tuesday's FBI Tour was the VIP presentation given by Special Agent Jennifer Smith with the DNA Unit. The FBI maintains a system called "CODIS," which stands for Combined DNA Index System, a "file" much like the FBI's fingerprinting database. DNA results can be obtained 2-3 days for a priority case (high profile), although typical results are obtained in 1-2 months. Most data is uploaded into CODIS after 30 days. There are 140 FBI labs doing DNA analysis. Unless identical twins, each individual has their own DNA, although certain characteristics may be shared with family members. The FBI has performed DNA processing since 1989. The FBI processes approximately 3,000 to 4,000 DNA cases each year.

Our group then proceeded to the public's FBI tour. If you are interested in more details of the FBI Tour, contact the FBI's press office and request the "tour information" in print. Currently, the FBI employs about 12,000 agents, 11% of whom are women. (Women were allowed to join in the early 70's.) The Washington D.C. office employs 6,000. Check out the FBI's web site at www.fbi.gov.

Romance writers received special attention at DC's Policy Academy where ATF representatives rolled out the red carpet and welcomed us with loads of information and some of their own representatives. Taking a look around at the "men" in the ATF, as well as those in the weight room overlooking the gym where we were "briefed", gave the dozens of writers plenty of information and hero material for future books. After this visit, ATF also stands for "Always the Fine Men."

A brief group meeting introduced us to the program and a profiler spoke. (The profiler stayed and made himself available for us to ask questions.) We were then divided into five groups and sent to five separate "workstations." The workstations were broken up into about 15-20 minute informative talks given by ATF agents. Workstations included bomb, K9 units, fire investigator, and two different ATF vehicles. A bomb specialist displayed his "bomb suit" weighing in at about 85 pounds. His shoulders were broad, but that had to be some load to carry.

The fire investigator gifted each writer with his/her own interactive fire investigator CD, a "game" where you have to solve how the fire was started. Information on the interactive CD may be obtained on the developer's site at www.interfire.org or at ATF's web site, and (I believe) can be purchased by the public for $9.95.

A K9 unit gave us a demonstration. The dog (Labrador) "sniffed" out explosives that were stashed around the workstation. A special agent trains ATF dogs, and upon request, these agents take the animals to the potential explosive sites. (Of note, one of the officers that spoke to us at this station was a woman.)
ATF dogs live with their trainers and are retired when they turn 9. The owners/agents allow their dogs to be petted, and these animals are indeed friendly.

Visit the ATF on the web at www.atf.treas.gov. Snail mail address is Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Washington, D.C. 20226.

Wednesday night of the conference is traditionally the Readers for Life Literacy Autographing. This is an amazing sight to those, like me, who have never witnessed so many writers in one place. The large exhibit hall is filled with romance authors and their books and their fans line up outside the door waiting to meet and greet their favorite authors. This event brings much-needed dollars to the literacy program.

RWA workshops began on Thursday and continue on through Saturday, right up to the magic Golden Heart and Rita awards. I'll offer a few excerpts from workshops throughout the week.

Suzanne Brockmann's "Muse On Command" workshop suggests goal setting for the writer as WRITING = WORKING using long-term and short-term writing goals. Other suggestions were making a list of time-consuming activities and then prioritizing them. Once you get your butt in the chair, these will help you combat the demon of Procrastination. Then, the writer will have to address the next demon: the muse, a.k.a. finding your creativity. Ms. Brockmann suggests the writer using anchoring. Anchoring is defined as "consciously attaching a known stimuli to evoke emotional response." For example, associate sitting at the computer with writing. If sitting at the computer and NOT writing, get up. Or have your own writing chair, where this is the only place you sit to write. Or how about when it's time to write you snap your fingers. Other anchors can be turning on music or lighting a candle. Anchoring will take practice, but in order for it to be effective, you must clearly define your anchor. Finally, she suggests changing the negative connotation of "I have to write" to something more positive, like "I need to write" or I want to write."

Silhouette's Leslie Wainger presented "Inside the Editor's Mind." In this workshop, she read and evaluated twenty one-page synopses and discussed what works and what doesn't. Here are a few of the pointers she offered to the class for writing a synopsis. Take the hooks and strengths of your book and put them up front. Don't make her look for them. You only have one page, make it work and make it work quickly. In a one-page synopsis, always focus on the romance and the relationship. There isn't enough time for anything else. Answer who, what the conflict is and how they solve it.

The Art of Crafting Mystery and Suspense Panel featured authors JoAnna Wayne, Lisa Gardner, Gayle Wilson and Suzanne Brockmann. This well-written panel offered many tips to the writer.

Lisa Baumgartner (aka Lisa Gardner/Alicia Scott) explained the difference between a THRILLER and a MYSTERY novel. The THRILLER can be compared to the movies Silence of the Lambs or Jaws. Thrillers typically do not hide who did it, and the suspense is derived from who is getting it next. Lisa's release The Perfect Husband is an example of a thriller. A MYSTERY constantly asks the question "who did it?" The entire movie/book entails the discovery of information. Lisa's book The Other Daughter is an example of a MYSTERY.

All these authors stress for the writer to get conflict in the scenes. Find out what is the best way to torture this hero/heroine? What happens (in this scene) that furthers the romance. Also, the sense of foreboding keeps the reader turning pages. Atmosphere lends to the mystery, i.e. darkness, candlelight, heat, cold. A quote from William Goldman was read, "Begin and end each scene no sooner, or no later, than you absolutely have to."

This is only the tip of the well of information that can be garnered from attending RWA Conference. To those that couldn't make it, cheer up and make plans for the next year, and get with your fellow KOD'ers that did attend so you can pick their brains and borrow all the good information they received. New Orleans is hosting the 2001 conference July 18-22, and then 2002 will be held in Denver.

Freelance writer of boring technical stuff, Diana writes short contemporary and western historical romance to spice up her life and is editor of the category "Rodeos and Cowboys" at Suite 101. Her manuscript BECK AND CALL COWBOY recently placed first in the Outreach International Contest. She is currently working on a romantic suspense featuring a cowboy sheriff.