The Golden Lady: Who's Gonna Win A RITA This Year?

One of my favorite things about the RWA National Conference is the RITA and Golden Heart Awards. Basically they are like the Oscars of Romance Books. So kind of a big deal. :)
Books on Board is holding a contest this year for the person who can predict the most correct # of RITA winners. I totally took the plunge and sent in my predictions. The delima was: Do you go with who you want to win or who you think will win? I decided to go with who I hoped would win.

Here's all the info about Books on Board's contest - you can win a $25 gift certificate! You can see all the nominees and categories there too.

I'm going to put it all out there and share my predictions below, but I hope you'll tell me who you want to win too!

Best First Book: When Harry Met Molly by Kieran Kramer
Contemporary Series Romance: Christmas With Her Boss by Marion Lennox
Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure: A Cop In Her Stocking
Contemporary Single Title Romance: Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl
Historical Romance: His At Night by Sherry Thomas (I would tie this with A Little Bit Wild)
Inspirational Romance: Finding Her Way Home by Linda Goodnight
Novel With Strong Rom Elements: The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Rayborn (Would tie with Killbox)
Paranormal Romance: Sins of the Heart by Eve Silver
Regency Historical Romance: When Harry Met Molly (Would tie with His Christmas Pleasure or Nine Rules to Break - so many good chocies!)
Romantic Suspense: The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks
Young Adult Romance: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The awards are given out Friday night, so we'll see how I do. Some of these are personal favs that I'm not sure can pull off the win but I'm crossing my fingers! Who do you want to win?

I've Been MIA...At RWA!

So the craziness that is The Romance Writers of America National Conference snuck up on me fast and I didn't get a chance to pre-write some posts for while I was gone. So sorry, but being a stand-alone blogger can get overwhelming!


This was my very first RWA Conference and I had no idea what to expect or how open people would be to my being there as a blogger. I shouldn't have worried one bit - it was a blast from start to finish and I'm still recovering.


The best part of the event was meeting all the wonderful authors, editors and agents who love the romance industry and it was amazing to see the support and appreciation shared between all the attendees. For instance, I was waiting in line to get a book authorgraphed by none other than Lisa Kleypas when I realized that the lovely woman assisting her looked very familiar. This woman was unpackign books, handing them to Lisa to sign and also counting those last of us in line to make sure there were enough books for everyone. It came to me all of a sudden - this was author Christina Dodd! I had thought this was a publicist or editorial assistant helping Lisa out, but instead I learned that Christina and Lisa are very good friends and obviously very supportive of each other.


Saying that to Christina on twitter, she says that she just wanted Lisa to hurry up so they could go to lunch but I was there and thought it was obvious she was having fun helping Lisa out. :)


So if you know me, then you know I would totally dork out on a few fav authors. I did not disappoint! Upon seeing Victoria Dahl, I suddenly had no control over my mouth. I just kept talking and talking and talking. I have no idea what I even said. I do know it couldn't have been anything intelligent! Poor Victoria!


I also totally lost it - but this time at least my craziness was coherant - on meeting Vicki Lewis Thompson. She's an all-time favorite of mine and I just had to tell her so. At least she seemed very excited and happy to meet a reader who loves her books - she said I made her day. I hope so!


I can't talk about RWA and not mention all the other awesome bloggers I met. Wendy the Super Librarian rocks the house. Seriously. We met at a dinner put on for bloggers by Carina Press - more on that later in a special post - and I just wanted to talk to her about books for hours. If you aren't familiar with her blog (which I'm sure you totally are, but just in case) go check it out here.


Some of the other fantastic book bloggers I meat were Aztec Lady (such a lovely woman!) the awesome ladies from All About Romance, KristieJ from Ramblings on Romance, PJ from The Romance Dish. There were so many others, but it would be impossible to list them all!

I'll have more to say about my time at RWA in the coming days, including news on upcoming books that caught my eye, more about Carina Press and all they have in store for readers and more details on what's happening with your favorite authors.

So readers, have you ever made a fool of yourself in front of one of your favorite writers? Or did you manage to keep your cool? We want to hear about your own author sightings!

Happy Reading!

Authors on Air - Live From RWA 09 - Four Dukes and a Devil

Head on over to the Avon Books Romance Blog and check out the details on two upcoming live radio interviews with the authors of Four Dukes and a Devil!

The interviews start at 11am today and its really easy to listen to these - just click on the link at Avon's Blog!