Congratulations--Great Books!

As some of you know, this past week is the time when many a romance author sits sweating at her computer, trying not to pick up her phone every few minutes to see if anyone called. That’s right, this is the week when the Rita^TM finalists are announced.

The Rita awards are akin to the Academy Awards for the romance writer’s world. Either an author or her publisher enters the book initially into the contest, where it is judged for its ability to beguile. Romance as a central theme and a satisfying ending are a must. Those books that score highest become finalists and undergo a second round of reviews before one is awarded the coveted prize at a red carpet ceremony at the Romance Writers of America® annual conference in July.

While there are a number of categories (and I congratulate all the finalists!), here are the novels most likely to be of interest to those who love the nineteenth century. One warning—I did not check level of sensuality, so some of these may be HOT:

A Noble Masquerade, Kristi Ann Hunter

Bella and the Beast, Olivia Drake

Earls Just Want to Have Fun, Shana Galen

Falling into Bed with a Duke, Lorraine Heath

If the Viscount Falls, Sabrina Jeffreys

It Started with a Scandal, Julie Anne Long

Say Yes to the Marquess, Tessa Dare

Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress, Theresa Romain

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy, Julia Quinn

Tiffany Girl, Deeanne Gist

Tremaine’s True Love, Grace Burrowes

While none of my books was a finalist (sob!), I am absolutely thrilled to report that Would-Be Wilderness Wife won a prize of its own. RT Book Reviews, the premiere review magazine for the fiction industry, bestowed upon it the Reviewers Choice Award for best book of its kind for 2015. What an honor!

Aren’t we fortunate there are so many wonderful books to read?

Blogging from National 2012, Part 2

Thursday and Friday, the RWA Conference gets down to business, with nearly 2,000 authors and other industry professionals crowding the halls and meeting rooms. Marissa and I have been attending workshops, including a great one by Patrick Brown from Goodreads. We’ve also been meeting with our agents and editors, learning how they see our careers going and how we can help each other succeed. Then too, we’ve spent a lot of time networking with other authors, gleaning industry knowledge and catching up with old friends.

Along the way, we’ve been able to squeeze in some extra fun. For example, Marissa had a lovely chat with a nineteenth century lady when we went out to dinner at the nearby Anaheim Garden Walk.

Friday night was the party to end all parties, thrown each year by Harlequin for its many authors and industry professionals. I was not allowed to bring a date, so I had to leave Marissa behind (and she will tell you I was the more upset by that!). But the other ladies who write and work for Love Inspired were very kind to me. One took this picture of me at our table, with the gorgeous centerpiece of red roses on white damask.

Saturday it was back to more workshops, including one on deciding whether to write for the YA market, taught by me, Marissa, and our delightful agent Emily Sylvan Kim.

As I finish this post, we are busy packing for an early flight home tomorrow and eagerly awaiting news of the Golden Heart and RITA® award winners. The Golden Heart recognizes outstanding romance manuscripts and often serves to launch an unpublished author’s career. The RITA is a peer award recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas in 12 categories. The winner receives a golden statuette of a lady. Sometimes attendees get a chocolate version afterwards. I plan to keep mine until I earn the real thing.

Or get really, really hungry.

Blogging from RWA National, Part 2: I Dub Thee . . .

Marissa and I have talked about the various aristocratic titles such as duke, countess, marquess, and baroness. At times too, if your loving papa did something useful to the government (fight off an invasion, pay off the national debt), he might be honored with a knighthood. There were Knights of the Order of the Garter and even Knight Commander of the Bath, each with insignia, garments, and traditions. Your dear papa would be honored at a select ceremony before his peers, and the knighthood conferred by the Prince Regent himself.

We writers have a few traditions of our own. Each year, at its annual conference, Romance Writers of America honors authors for their service to readers, that of writing the best romantic books published the previous year. We also celebrate the best manuscripts by unpublished authors. We dress in our finest, attend a lavish ceremony that seems on par with the Academy Awards, and applaud the work of our peers.

So, Nineteen Teen congratulates all the winners of the 2009 Rita Awards, but especially Rosemary Clement-Moore (Best YA novel for Hell Week) and Tera Lynn Childs (Best First Book for her YA Oh. My. Gods). We also congratulate all the Golden Heart winners, especially Shoshana Dawn Brown (Best YA manuscript for Stage Fright). You can find the names of all the winners here.

And Marissa and I would also like to apologize to anyone we missed this morning at breakfast! The buffet set up was not what we expected (okay, neither of us had seen anything like it before!), so it’s quite possible you didn’t find us in all the hullabaloo. But if you’d like to win one of our darling fans, we’ll be offering chances all through August. Look for more about our trip to the Nation’s capitol next week.