In the 40 years since the launch of Houston-based Romance Writers of America, the romance genre quietly grew into a reported $1 billion industry. Photo: Michael Spooneybarger, MBR / AP Photo: Michael Spooneybarger, MBR / AP

The Romance Writers of America held elections last week for its Board of Directors. All posts at the organization were open after the Houston-based RWA underwent a tumultuous winter teeming with resignations. The RWA’s crack-up began in December as its 9,000 member body was caught in an internal dispute about diversity that resulted in one of its best-known authors being censured.

Alyssa Day was the sole candidate for president. In a pre-election Q&A posted at RWA.org, she claimed she had turned down multiple requests to run for the position but relented. She addressed the organization’s problematic past.

“I believe we can reinvent the RWA from the ground up,” she wrote. “I believe we can make RWA 2.0 a place where authors from marginalized communities can shine and have an equal seat at the table. My vision of RWA 2.0 does not involve ‘fixing’ or ‘saving’ the RWA that existed in December. It involves reinventing RWA from the ground up. As a past board member, I had the chance to do some good, but I also bitterly regret that I didn’t see more – didn’t do more. The policies and procedures must be built entirely to eliminate any institutionalized racism.”

A former trial lawyer, Day has written more than 45 books and has put several on the New York Times bestseller list.

The RWA secretary position will be held by C. Chilove, who received nearly 64 percent of nearly 1,500 votes. She previously served as the president of the Cultural, Interracial and Multicultural Special Interest Chapter of the RWA. Chilove in her election Q&A referenced concerns last year that the organization might split. But, she wrote, “I have decided to continue my membership within RWA, because the change needed to make the RWA an organization that valued diversity, access and inclusion has to come from within.”

E.J. Russell ran unopposed for treasurer.

Twelve new directors-at-large were also elected from a field of 19. Those receiving more than half of the 1,524 votes will now be directors-at-large. They are: LaQuette, Siera London, Skye Warren, Anna Zabo, Veronica Forand, Lisa Kessler, Jessa Slade, Amy Quinton, Avery Flynn, Nikki Sloane, Elizabeth Schechter and Leslie Hachtel.

Annag MacCallum won election as the PRO Advisor. PRO is the RWA community that has written a manuscript but not yet been published.

ON HOUSTON CHRONICLE.COM: Spring romance writer finds inspiration driving Uber

With a new board in place, the RWA will attempt to stabilize itself as its annual conference approaches. The group already canceled this year's annual RITA awards; authors for several years had criticized the awards for lacking diversity.

The RWA’s rebuild comes at a time the association should have been celebrating its 40th anniversary. The organization formed in 1980 and held its first conference in 1981. The RWA sprung from Houston roots. Houston native Vivian Stephens – an editor living in New York – was at the Southwest Writer’s Conference in Houston in 1979, when she urged a small group of romance writers to start an organization. That first conference was held here, and the organization has been based in Houston since.

Genre fiction has undergone many changes in those 40 years. Science fiction and fantasy have seen top authors welcomed into the mainstream, and westerns have faded almost into extinction. Romance fiction quietly grew into a reported $1 billion industry.

The RWA served as the genre’s hub, but ominous signs surfaced over the past few years, as authors began to publicly note the lack of opportunities for a more diverse body of writers. Last year a former RWA board member, Heidi Bond, who writes romance novels as Courtney Milan – tweeted a comment accusing another RWA author’s book of being “a racist (expletive) mess.”

One tweet proved to be a small crack in the RWA that grew into a full fissure. More on that here.

The fallout was swift and public. By February, the RWA’s leadership had largely removed itself, leading to these elections. The new board officers will hold their posts until Aug. 31. The organization's regularly scheduled elections will take place in August.