the cherries
JCF: The Fan Group
Jennifer Crusie Fans, affectionately known as JCF, is the home of the infamous Cherries. The official group description is “A fun forum to discuss the works of author Jennifer Crusie,” which is true but as Jenny says, “How long can you talk about fifteen books?” so this dynamic and exceptionally chatty group talks about pretty much anything. Ask questions about Jenny's work, rant or rave about a movie/book/sign in your front yard, figure out how to make chicken marsala, or ask for pet care advice. If someone is asking for the best way to run an insurance scam or hide a body, you can assume this is one of the many list members who is also a writer, pimping the list for research purposes (Jenny's notorious for doing this).
JCW: The Writing Workshop
Then there's the writing list. Once upon a time JCF was a small, quirky community of people gathering to talk about Jennifer Crusie. They quickly noticed there were a lot of writers in the room, so writing came up a great deal, and since the non-writers were getting more in-depth information about plot and structure and character analysis than they ever wanted, a spin-off writing group was formed, Jenny's Cherry Writers (JCW).
JCW is essentially an eclectic group of writers, published and unpublished, who talk deep and dirty about writing, especially craft. There is also a critique component of the group, setting up individual scenes on a rotating basis, one scene up a week, with a series of rules and guidelines for participation. These critiques are known for being helpful but sharp, and even Jenny sweats before putting her work up for a Cherry rotation. Spots in this critique rotation are earned by critiquing through a round, which currently takes about six months to complete. People cycle in and out of the rotation as their schedule and willingness to be eviscerated allows.
JCW is now closed to new membership due to time, size, and management concerns. (There is a waiting list to join when spots open, which isn't terribly often, and to get on the waiting list you must be sponsored by a current member of JCW in good standing. Being sponsored usually means the member has met you at a conference or at a chapter meeting or such, and she has come to love you and runs to the moderators talking about how fabulous you are, and can you please be put on the list? Right now the waiting time can be anytime from six to eighteen months.)
Cherries: The Community
Basically a Cherry is any member of JCF or JCW. The nickname, Cherries, came about because they kept ending up in the same places without realizing it and missing each other. They needed a symbol so they could spot each other, so they adopted the cherry from the cover of Welcome to Temptation as their logo. Then they started buying cherry earrings and coffee mugs and tea towels and luggage, and now it's just crazy cherries everywhere. You can recognize them in all corners of the globe wearing too many cherry accessories, and also by their giving and happy natures. Most of the time.
Their biggest gathering is usually at the end of July at the national conference of Romance Writers of America (RWA), where the Cherries meet on the Wednesday night after the literacy signing and then travel in packs for the next three days, meeting once again at the end of the conference to compare notes. In 2005, sixty-plus Cherries met at the conference and flaunted their Cherry T-shirts with the 2005 motto, "Got Snark?" But mostly the Cherries are just a fantastic online community of people who talk about everything. As Jenny says, it's not a cult, it's a tribe.
Super Cherries: The Moderators
The Cherry community could not exist without the help of our moderators, who keep the lists running and (for JCW) on topic, who put out flames and bounce spam and who never, ever lose their cool. Our heartfelt and eternal gratitude to Corrina, Heidi, Jen B, Jill and Kay.
Cherry-Speak: The Glossary
Like any tribe, the Cherries have developed their own language. Here's a partial glossary:
Bangkoky: A designation for anything that crosses the line of good taste, coined by Marge who said (when told she could ask any questions about Bob that she wanted except about that night in Bangkok), “I have more questions, but they would be Bangkoky.”
Big Hair Writing: Swing for the bleachers, almost over the top writing, done to showcase voice, not show off how literary a writer is, so named because big hair on the right personality is both attractive and entertaining (also known as Dolly Parton writing). For examples, see Terry Pratchett, most Southern humor writers.
Blue Eyeshadow Writing: Writers showing off what great artists they are to the detriment of story, so named because writing, like eye shadow, should not be seen coming at you. For example, see way too many bad literary writers. (Example given on Cherry list from actual published work, believe it or not: “His penis lay on her tongue like a wafer.” Yeah, we’re still trying to get over it, too.)
The Bitch Cap (v. getting bitch capped): The penalty for going off topic on JCW, wielded by ace moderator, Corrina, who actually owns the cap and is not afraid to use it.
Cherry: Anyone who posts on JCF or JCW.
Fainting Goats: The first strange topic that Cherries totally lost their grips on. Considered one of the top five Weird Threads in JCF history, along with the Disposal of the Chocolate Jesus rif and the intense discussion on the pros and cons of the Climbing Gecko vibrator.
The Girls, or the Girls in the Basement: The subconscious or writer's muse, the Girls send up pieces of story and guidance on a subliminal level; named by Barbara Samuel after Stephen King's Boys in the Basement.
Headhopping: Writing a third person limited POV scene so that the reader is in more than one person's head. This is very, very bad.
Hugging the Gaffney: Going off topic on JCW, refers to Pat Gaffney's inability to stay on the topic of writing but they love her so she gets away with it.
HQ: Harlequin, a publishing house.
Infodump: The insidious practice of dumping back story or background information into a story, thereby ruining the pacing and willing suspension of disbelief. Bob and Pat love it.
JCF: Jennifer Crusie Fans, the general topic Cherry list.
JCW: Jenny's Cherry Writers, the Cherry writing workshop list.
The Mods: The moderators who keep JCW on topic and riffraff out of JCF. Also known as Corrina, Deb, Heidi, Jen B., Jill, and Kay.
Meg: Jenny's agent who is perfect.
Mollie: Jenny's business partner and webmistress, who can solve any problem.
RWA: Romance Writers of America, an organization to which many Cherries belong.
Saint Jenderlin: Jenny's incredibly patient and understanding editor at St. Martin's Press.
Stroppy: Lots of attitude, learned from one of our British Cherries, Rachel, aka, Stroppy Cherry.
TBR Pile: A stack of books yet To Be Read.
TDTL: Too Dumb Too Live, the kind of heroine that makes Cherries throw books against the wall (see Wallbangers).
TMI: Too much information, which happens occasionally on JCF especially if the conversation is getting Bangkoky.
Wallbangers: Books that are so bad they cannot merely be discarded but must be thrown against a wall with great force.
WIP: Work in progress.
WKS: What Katy Said, referring to the brilliant Katy Cooper's equally brilliant posts; sometimes changed to WBS for What Barbara Said, or any other initial that refers to a previous poster who was scathingly brilliant.
YEC: Scenes with lots of emotion (from Bob's request that he not have to write the Yucky Emotional Crap)
YEX: Emotional scenes with sex, a derivative of YEC.