Catch the RITAs LIVE This Year!

Do you love romance novels?  Did you know romance authors have their very own version of the Oscars/Grammy Awards/Tony Awards/what have you?  We do!  It's the Romance Writers of America RITA and Golden Heart Awards and this year for the first time ever they will be STREAMED LIVE!  I'll be there, cheering wildly for my favorites, but even if you can't attend, pop some bubbly and join the party.  ;)

JULY 25, 2015 - 8PM

Visit www.rwa.org for more details. 

It's Almost Call Day!!

As a former Golden Heart winner and active member of RWA, March 26th is always a party day for me.  Calls are going out to the new class of Golden Heart and RITA nominees and much of the romance community is waiting eagerly for our phones to ring.  It is one insanely nerve-wracking and exciting morning - and the Rubies are here to share it with you.  Whether you're waiting for a call yourself or hoping your favorite author gets that much deserved RITA nod, swing on over to the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood and raise a glass of cyber bubbly.  There will be prizes aplenty - but really, it's just fun seeing all the SQUEEs and OMGs as the calls start coming in.  Don't miss it!

Love, the Verb

I love this article in the Huffington Post about love and marriage and our societal expectations of both.

I know romance novels take a lot of flack for being part of the irrational-fairy-tale-building-up-love-as-a-fantasy problem, but I think the best romance novels (if you really read them rather than just venting about them after a glance at the sexy man-chest cover and steamy back-cover copy) are about love as a verb, just like this guy is talking about.  About how it is something we have to learn to do, not just feel.  (And I'm not talking about sex, you gutter-minded darlings.)  It's about getting past your own pre-conceived notions about what emotion is supposed to be, and learning that it isn't always pretty, there's almost always sacrifice involved, but it's a choice.  A choice the characters make.  To do love right.  (In the end.  There will be lots of drama to get them there.)

At least that's what I see, in the best of our industry.  So maybe we aren't part of the problem.  Maybe we're part of the solution.

Romance Man

Here's a little something to keep you entertained while I'm off in the middle of the Mediterranean. Romance Man (which sounds just enough like a superhero moniker to make me want to give him a cape) is a dude who reads romance novels. Cuz love is manly. I like this guy. I really do. Don't always agree with his take, but I love the way he says it. Anyway, worth a look-see. And always fascinating to get the Dude-like perspective on romancey-ness.

Enjoy!

DABWAHA!

It's that time again! March Madness! And we're not just talking about basketball, boys and girls. It's time for the Dear Author Bitchery Writing Awards for Hellagood Authors. Yep, the DABWAHA is here!

As with every year, there will be beaucoup prizes to be won as we pick our favorites and vote them on to glory in this tourney that pits book against book, author against author, in a Deathmatch for Writing Glory! Sixty Four Books Enter. One Book Leaves. (Mwa-ha ha.)

The finalists have just been announced and... okay, I'm totally out of step this year because while I'm huge fans of several of the authors represented, I've only read a couple of the actual books on the list. (Though, for the record, Julie James's A Lot Like Love is deeply badass.)

Swing on by and take a gander at the finalists and then place your vote to add books that are Too Awesome Not To Be Included to the roster. One more will be added to each category according to reader demand, so let your voice be heard. Go forth and DABWAHA, reader minions!

P.S. Am I the only one having a "Where the f*ck is Victoria Dahl on that list?" moment? No Eloisa James? No Kresley Cole? What would YOUR brackets look like if you picked the best of 2011?

Fox & Mormons - a day for WTFery

First off, an apology for being so absent the last week. I've been road-tripping my way across the country and while this has been awesome, it has not really been newsworthy, so I just didn't have anything much to say. I'm boring. It's true.

But you know who's not boring? Fox News and the Mormons.

Item the First: Fox News equates women reading romance novels on ereaders with senators tweeting naked pictures of themselves and getting all porny online. (Be sure to take a glimpse of their classy - and not at all faked! - spread of "romance novel covers".) Let's all take a moment to appreciate their logic, shall we? (Are you appreciating? While you're appreciating, remember not to throw heavy objects at computer screens. They're delicate.) You know, I've heard the Girl Porn classification for romance many a time, but this is a new spin. Watch out, female congresswomen! You might be asked to resign because of that Julia Quinn book you downloaded to your Kindle last week!

WTF Number Two: Mormons! (Is everyone all psyched that The Book of Mormon won all those Tonys? I wasn't that jazzed about it until I heard it was a collaboration with Bobby Lopez of Avenue Q fame and then Oh Baby!) Anyway, a chickie from the LDS has proclaimed that romance novels are addicting (duh) and bad for you and your relationships (actually there have been studies showing the opposite but oooo-kay). And then the internet community commenced the smack-down. I love being called "unbalanced" by pseudo-psychologists because of my reading material, don't you? Worthy of a giggle, at least.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Book Clubs & Romance & Controversy, Oh My!

You guys wanna hear something funny? There's this place on the Interwebz called Crasstalk ("Home of the World's Most Self-Aggrandizing Commenters" - hee hee) and they have a book club, right? Last time they discussed an Ibsen play (which I actually read in college, cuz I'm all edumacated like that). This time the runner up in selection votes was a book about an Iraq war veteran, Hurricane Katrina aftermath and death-death-depressing-issues-drama-death. Basically an I-need-a-bigger-tissue-box book. Standard book club fare, right?

You ready for the funny part? The book that edged that one out and was officially selected for their book club? The Sexorcist.

I kid you not, reader-minions. The Sexorcist.

[Note the famous mantitty cover. Visual Aid --> -->]

And lo, there was controversy. And Vivi saw that it was good.

Lets just say that among the members of that particular online community, this was not a popular choice. "This is why we can't have nice things" made me grin. "Super lowbrow" coaxed a giggle. Talks of a re-vote and adamant declarations that they would not be reading that had me chortling (chortling, I tell you!). Apparently I have a defective sense of humor because I found the horrified reactions waaaay too funny.

But you know what was most cool? The way I found out about the whole kerfuffle. A fella from the site emailed me and asked if I would be interviewed for an academic look at the book. He and another Crasstalker were trying to open people's minds and get them to take my fluffy little book seriously, treat it like a legitimate work of fiction. (Don't you just want to give them both a big hug?) The questions they asked were awesome. Really an interesting look into romance and the themes expressed or alluded to in the book.

I don't know how successful they will be in opening people's minds to the possibility that romance might have merit beyond titillating sex scenes, or how successful I will be at helping them achieve their goal (serious has never really been my strong suit), but you have to respect any effort to attach legitimacy to the most vilified genre out there. Go them!

The interview is up now and the book club discussion is later today. Whether readers love it or hate it, a polarizing discussion is always interesting. I'll keep you posted as the story develops. It's bound to be fun, one way or another.

Romance Writers on Romance

My fellow romance-lovers, we must set an example for those who would mock our genre by always taking our books EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY. In that vein, to promote our somber dedication to all things romance, I present the following not at all funny or tongue-in-cheek video.



*snort* You didn't really think I had suddenly started taking myself seriously, did you?

Romance Crossword

Dude, you guys! Joan Swan is over at the Borders TrueRomance blog combining two of my favorite things: Romance and Crosswords! Check it out just for fun or play to win, baby! Link Me Up, Scottie!

Kissing Cousins

I'm a broad-spectrum reader. If I like an author's style, there are very few genres/subgenres I won't follow them into, but I'm coming to understand that this makes me something of an anomaly among readers.

The other day I was chatting with a friend about a mutual friend's complete and unswerving addiction to vampires. If a book doesn't have a vampire - even a book by an author she knows she loves - she won't touch it. Her tastes are very strict. I know other readers who are equally devoted to British Regency romance, shape-shifters, or small-town contemporaries. They don't want to be broken out of their favorite shell.

In the interest of broadening horizons, I started thinking about the books I would recommend as a baby-step away from those familiar favorites - which led to a long and involved thought-bender about the relationships between various romance subgenres - the siblings & cousins of romance. Like a happily ever after family tree.

Consider this: Are paranormal romantic comedies more closely related to dark, atmospheric paranormal romance or fun and flirty contemporary romance? I'd be more inclined to put Michelle Rowen next to Jennifer Crusie than JR Ward. What about romantic suspense? Surely a serial killer books has more in common with a really dark vampire book than a flirty, cozy mystery.

Are the relationships necessarily drawn along the genre lines? I say that I read eclectically, but that isn't really true. I don't like characters saturated in angst or plots heavy on the evil & death - so I veer away from darker romantic suspense and darker paranormal alike.

What about links drawn by theme or character type? Do Alpha male books drag you across genre lines (by your hair)? Is a secret baby book in category romance a kissing cousin to a secret baby who will save the world from the apocalypse in futuristic? Or are they just too dissimilar?

Where do the lines get drawn? How would you describe your Happily Ever After family tree?

Beware the Knitters

If you are a romance reader in the mood for some indignation and WTFery, pop on over to Smart Bitches and check out SB Sarah's analysis of Bloomberg BusinessWeek's recent look at the romance industry. Pull out your flasks, darlings, cuz this is a heck of a drinking game.

On the plus side of the article - yay, Romance! We're a growth industry, y'all! Long live the happily-ever-after!

In 2009 romance novel sales continued to defy industry trends, increasing to $1.4 billion, up $100 million, or 7.7 percent, from the previous year, according to Simba Information's annual Business of Consumer Book Publishing report. Romance now accounts for 14 percent of all works of fiction sold. Some 75 million people read at least one romance novel in 2009, and it's the top-performing category on the best-seller lists compiled by The New York Times, USA Today, and industry trade Publishers Weekly.

Of course, then he gets all patronizing. Here's a charming example of his take on the popularity of knitting & quilting themed romances:

The industry would seem challenged to find greater mundanity (bridge games? Wheel of Fortune reruns?), yet that's what the public is demanding.

Now, I'm not a crafty person, but I'm also of the opinion that mocking something just because it is a popular trend doesn't make you erudite and insightful. It makes you a dick. You can not get it (I do not understand the appeal of most domestic tasks - knitting, sewing, cooking, you name it), but at least respect the fact that it makes others happy. Dude.

Don't piss off the knitters, Bloomberg. They're armed and dexterous.

And the RITA goes to...

Boys and girls! It's the big day! The day of the Romance Writers of America's RITA/Golden Heart ceremony. What's that, you ask? Only the biggest award out there in the romance writing industry. The Oscars of romance, if you will. The RITAs are for published books, while the Golden Heart represent the unpublished up-and-comers we hope to see on best seller lists in years to come.

And who won this year? Oh, baby. There's a lot of awesome in this group.

There's a link to the complete list of winners below, but I'm gonna gush about a few notables. On the Golden Heart side, two Rubies won this year! Mad congrats to CJ Eernisse Chase (Inspirational) and Elisa Beatty (Regency Rockstar Goddess of Epic Proprotions who also won two categories of the Royal Ascot Historical Romance competition this year, why the hell is this woman not published yet?). Yay, RUBIES!

And in my category, the Single Title Contemporary Golden Heart baton was passed to Lizbeth Selvig - who I met a couple years back at the Emerald City Writers Conference and who it is safe to say rocks some serious socks. Congrats, Lizbeth! (I wasn't able to be there to give out the Golden Heart, so they got Roxanne St. Claire to fill in. I'm sure Lizbeth didn't mind the substitution... given that it was Rocki-freaking-St.Claire. Dude.)

Roxanne St. Claire with RITA winner Kresley Cole.

On the RITA side, there was much "woot, woot"-ing at Casa Andrews as the announcements went out and some of my All Time Favorite Authors got the nod. (Oh, the awesome! I can hardly contain myself!)

Sherry Thomas won Historical for Not Quite a Husband (which I will confess I haven't read yet though it is on my TBR pile right now but I was lucky enough to crash a dinner with her at RT this year and I can vouch for the deep, deep awesomeness she possesses). Congrats, Sherry!

Then two of my hero-worship favs won back-to-back! Julia Quinn for What Happens in London (Oh-my-freaking-god, I loved that book) won the Regency Historical and joined the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA! And then Kresley Cole took home her second Paranormal Romance RITA for Kiss of a Demon King (which was that one with Sabine the deeply badass anti-heroine and I love to see the tough-girl heroines getting the RWA love).

Finish the night off with Kristan Higgins taking home the Single Title Contemporary RITA for Too Good to Be True (brilliant!) and... well, it's a pretty sweet line-up.

Mad congrats to all the RITA and Golden Heart winners and nominees! Enjoy every second of your most deserved recognition!

Romance Writers Gone Wild!

This week the Swan and Dolphin hotels in Disney World are being overrun by HEA devotees. It's that time, boys and girls, the Romance Writers of America's annual National Conference! Nowhere on earth can you find a larger concentration of romance junkies.

The conference kicks off each year with a signing to raise money for literacy. Rows upon rows of romancey-awesomeness and it's all for a good cause.

Alas, I am not there. I'm home. (I'm also sick. Ugh.) But thanks to SB Sarah and her crew, I get to enjoy a little sampling of the romancey-awesomeness of the literacy signing. Thank you, Smart Bitches!



You can also check out the "Live from Nationals" posts this week at the Ruby blog. Anyone else staying home and feeling pathetic and envious?

Even JR Ward Wasn't Always JR Ward

I saw this cover today and I have to admit it kinda confused me. I was all, "Why launch a new pen name at all if you are going to put your I'm-a-Rockstar penname in big jigundus letters on the cover and make it so you can barely read the snazzy new pen name? Even Nora/JD Robb & Jayne Ann Krentz/Castle/Quick put the pen name the book is being written under biggest on the (very cluttered with so many names) cover."

I was puzzled.


So I did a little searching and realized that this book is also this book (--> -->) and was originally published six years ago when Dark Lover was just a glimmer in JR's eye.

Just another example of the publishing motto: "Thou shalt reinvent thyself and become a rockstar goddess whose books are cracktastically addictive." (And then you can re-release everything you ever wrote and make mad backlist bank.)

That's about as profound as I'm gonna go with this. Just a "Hey, look at that."
Now I'm off to roadtrip up to the lake for the weekend. Woot!

Do You Romance Responsibly?

On Monday, contemporary romance author Kelly Fitzpatrick posted an interesting blog about female empowerment and how it relates to sexual safety/education in romance novels. It sparked an interesting conversation about heroine/hero condom use in romance novels.

So now I'm curious: Do you like it when a romance author "Romances Responsibly" or do you think references to the realities of STDs & unwanted pregnancies are mood killers in a hot and steamy sex scene?

Should romance heroines be role models who practice safe sex at all times? Or should we trust our readers to know the difference between fiction and reality? Surprise pregnancies abound as plot twists - but always result in happy marriages with two loving and devoted parents by the time we get to the happily ever. Do STDs even exist in Romancelandia?

These books are entertainment, clearly, but do the authors have a responsibility to their reader to show that safety can be sexy? What say you, reader-friend?