Controversy hits Romance Writers of America this holiday

MARK KENNEDY Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — There's not a lot of love at the Romance Writers of America this holiday season. Lots of passion, but not too much love. The organization, which bills itself as the voice of romance writers and cites 9,000 members, has been upended over the way it has treated one of its authors, Courtney Milan, a Chinese American writer and a former chair of its Ethics Committee. The Texas-based trade association initially accepted the vote of its Ethics Committee that Milan had violated the group's code with negative online comments about other writers and their work. Then, just before Christmas, it reversed course, rescinding its vote "pending a legal opinion." Now its entire leadership has changed. The controversy was sparked this summer when Milan i