Thread by @lesliekelly

Another letter was just sent to the RWA staff and Board from past Board Members. (thread)

January 7, 2020

Dear RWA Staff and RWA Board of Directors-

We are writing to you about the issue of Damon Suede's qualifications to be president of RWA. It has come to our attention,

and to the attention of many RWA members, that he does not meet the requirements to hold the office.

The Bylaws state:

11.2.1. President-Elect. Candidates for President-Elect must: (1) have been General members for a minimum of five consecutive years immediately preceding

filing for office; (2) be the author or co-author of at least five published romance novels as defined in RWA policy; (3) have published or contracted to publish at least one romance novel, as defined in RWA policy, within the two years immediately preceding filing for office;

and (4) must have completed one full year of Board service but cannot have more than six years of accumulated Board and Advisor service.

Romance novel is defined in the Policy Manual as an "eligible novel," which is defined as:

1.25. "Eligible Novel" means a work of Romance Fiction of more than 40,000 words (as determined by computer word count) that is or has been commercially available.

1.46. "Romance Novel" means any Eligible Novel.

Mr. Suede's website lists his romance novels. They are:

Hot Head, Released June 2011

100,000 words

Bad Idea, Released October 2013

136,000 words

Pent Up, Released November 2015

100,000 words

Lickety Split, Published March 2017

100,000 words

The word counts provided here are the same as those set out on

Mr. Suede's website. None of the other books listed on his website meets the 40,000-word threshold to be considered a romance novel under policy. A screenshot of the website is attached for your review.

At the time of the election, Mr. Suede failed to meet two of the specific

qualifications needed to be president-elect then president. He has four romance novels instead of the five required under subsection (2). Also, he did not release a book within two years of filing for office as required by subsection (3).

HelenKay Dimon, one of the undersigned,

was president at the time Carol Ritter, the then Deputy Executive Director,discovered this defect and has some personal information about this issue. Ms. Ritter realized the qualification issue and got in touch with Mr. Suede. He said he had a book coming out in January 2020

and that he would move up the release date to meet the qualifications. His election bio referred to this book as his 2019 release. That appeared to resolve the issue but it turns out that it did not because the book needed for

Mr. Suede to qualify to run-the one he showed as his 2019 release on the election materials-was never released. A copy of that page is attached for your review.

Amazon shows an upcoming release by Mr. Suede, Prince Charmless, but the release date is listed as January 2021.

Mr. Suede's husband spent time on Twitter saying Mr. Suede did not have a recent Dreamspinner release and would not have one coming out in the near future. The Twitter screenshots are attached for your review.

Mr. Suede clearly did not resolve the qualification issue as he promised Ms. Ritter he would do. This is not a mistake that can be fixed retroactively. Further, Section 22.505 of the Texas Business Organizations Code suggests it would take a membership vote

to ratify and accept a defective corporate act such as this.

While there may be a push to ignore or downplay the recall vote and the fiduciary duty violations, RWA cannot ignore this qualification failure. Damon Suede has no choice but to step down

and we ask that he do so on or before the end of business Thursday, January 9, 2020.

Sincerely,

Former Presidents of the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America:

Leslie Kelly (2016-2017)

Dee Davis (2017-2018)

HelenKay Dimon (2018-2019)

Former Members of the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America:
Carol Prescott (1999-2002) ​​Janelle Denison, (2011-2014) ​

(2002-2004)​​​​Pamela Moran, (2012-2014)

Stephanie Feagan (2005-2010)​Barbara Dunlop (2012-2014)​

Julie Hurwitz (2005-2011)

Victoria Alexander, (2013-2015)

Trish Milburn, (2007-2012) ​​Alyssa Day, (2013-2017)

Lorraine Heath, (2007-2013)​​Julie Kenner, (2013-2017

Jeanne Adams, (2010-2014) ​​Tessa Dare, (2014-2018)

Cynthia D'Alba (2010-2012) ​​Jamie Beck, (2017-2019)

(2014-2016)​​​​Avery Flynn, (2017-2018)

Karin Tabke, (2011-2013) Tessa Dare, (2014-2018)

Julie London (2011-2013) ​​Kelley Armstrong, (2017-2019)