Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Ok, so I counted how many authors I was familiar with that are nominated and came up with 10. However, I haven’t read 95% of the book nominated.  I wonder what that means about the books I did read?

Yep, I haven’t read squat of these either. 

And I have no idea what the big deal is with Cherry Adair.  I read two of hers, about four years ago and the horrible-ness is still seared into my brain.

Terri Garey’s book DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY is a fantastic read! There’s adventure, ghosts, voodoo and luurrve. If you want to get a taste of awesome RITA fun, give it a read.

The nominations are for books published in 2007, right? So I don’t need to be indignant that The Spymaster’s Lady isn’t listed?

As for the current crop, I’ve heard of three of these books: Sexiest Man Alive (which is on my TBR pile at home), High Noon, and the J.R. Ward one, which… I’ll not say anything about.

there are alot of authors mentioned that I’ve never heard of, though I did read 4 of books listed(both of Anna Campbell’s) and have 6 more in my TBR pile...mostly from authors like Nora Roberts, JR Ward, Susan Anderson & Lisa Kleypas

I recognize 25 of the names and have read other books by 15 of them.  Of the nominees I’ve read 1 (Sara’s Son) and have another on my TBR (Kristin Hardy).

I cannot for the life of me understand why Sara’s Son is in Suspense.  I was told authors select the category and while I think Sara’s Son was excellent, the judges should not have selected it as correctly classified in Suspense.

Oh well.  I’m not sure if this slate means I’m out of touch or if RWA is.

I didn’t think Tangled Up In You and Coming Undone (Gibson and Andersen, respectively) were *that* great--a three on a scale of one to five, maybe. I am glad to see Maggie Shayne and Melissa Marr nominated. Wicked Lovely was one of the best books I read last year, and I can’t wait til I have a chance to read Ink Exchange.

I’m so excited to see Wicked Lovely up there! Best of luck to you, Melissa!

Untouched by Samantha Hunter is one of the best Blazes I’ve ever read--it’s got a fun superhero theme if you’re into that. I highly recommend it, her nomination is well-deserved.

I have Untouched by Anna Campbell on my TBR, but other than that, I haven’t read any of the rest of them.

I’m not sure if this slate means I’m out of touch or if RWA is.

Does it matter? Either way, I think the bigger point is that the Rita has very little influence on most people’s reading choices.

I mean, really, is anyone looking at that list and thinking, “OMG! Rita books! I must go buy these right this minute, before I miss out on the best books of the year!”

Puh-leeze.

So I don’t need to be indignant that The Spymaster’s Lady isn’t listed?

Chicklet - I totally agree with you here. I just finished reading this. Annique is the best written heroine I’ve ever read. I’m reccing this book to my friend who doesn’t read romance - I know she will love it.

I really only read Regency (and some other historical periods if the synopsis grabs me). I really hope that Julia Quinn wins - Secret Diaries is one of her best yet.

Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey
HarperCollins Publishers, Avon Books

Gotta root for my pal. I’ve known Terri for several years and she’s been overlooked each year in the GH.  Finally she’s getting the recognition she deserved with DGAE!  I couldn’t be happier for her. This book was so much fun!

As for the rest of the list, well, I tend to tire of seeing the same names year after year.  How many RITA finals does one crave? I dunno. Guess it’s just me. I had one GH final and I was happy. (Then again, maybe I’m just cheap! LOL!)

Hmm. I have Deanna Raybourn’s book on my TBR pile. I bought it thinking it was a historical mystery, and here it is nominated for two RITAs. I must get around to reading that one.

~Puh-leeze.~

You may be right--you probably are. But the award means a great deal to the majority of RWA members. It’s not a reader-to-writer award, but a writer-to-writer award.

Just to clarify, my comment about being unfamiliar with the vast majority of nominees this year wasn’t meant to disparage the nominees, just myself. Because I thought I was relatively knowledgeable about the genre, and y’know, obviously I’m not. ;-)

I have not been near or even in the same room as some of the books nominated for a RITA. I’ve never heard of some of them.

-->I’ll go you one better. Some of these are from my employer, from the imprint that I work on, and I don’t recognize them.

(Okay, it’s not that bad. They went directly to my staff and didn’t have any problems, so I didn’t have to do anything with them. But oi, it’s a long way from my assistant days when I knew everything about every title, right down to memorizing the ISBNs.)

wait, Hank Phillippi Ryan the reporter in boston writes romances?
who knew?
also, i’ve read 12 of the nominated books!  (not counting the double nominated one twice)
that’s a crazy number for me. and i have a few others waiting tbr. nice.
also also, huzzah for girl at sea! that book is so much fun. go maureen johnson!

Count me among the people who are stupid giddy for Terri Garey.  I’ve watched her work her ass off for years and I was thrilled when she got her deal.  That she’s a double finalist is just thrilling to me.  Probably not as much as for her *g* but I definitely know what she must be feeling.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Think of it along the lines of the Oscar awards.....I’ve never seen most of those movies either, but they still mean a lot to the artists. :)

Yaaaaay, for Anna Campbell and Julia Quinn!!!! no Victoria Dahl?

I’ve only read 4 of the finalists, and haven’t heard of many of the others, but I’m excited to rush out and try them. I think I’ll start a romance book club where we read through the RITA winners every year - Yum!

I want to send out a big CONGRATS to all the Seattle finalists:

Christina Dodd, Julia Quinn, Cherry Adair, Joleen Wieser, Jane Porter, and Janice Johnson

It must be something in the water…

I’m very sorry to see neither Colleen Gleason nor CL Wilson listed.

That being said, I’ve read 14 of the books nominated, so I think that’s probably pretty good.

Congrats to all of the nominees. Is it like the Academy Awards where “It’s just an honor to be nominated?”

Big congrats, everybody!!!

And I’m so glad the YA category pulled through this year.

I have to admit that I don’t recognise many of the nominees this year - looks like I’ll be expanding my to-read list even further.

I’m pleased to see favourites such as Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas nominated, but I am absolutely thrilled that Laura Lee Guhrke’s “And Then He Kissed Her” was nominated - it is one of my favourite historical romances. No, scratch that - it’s one of my favourite books, period.

Best of luck to all the nominees!

As for the rest of the list, well, I tend to tire of seeing the same names year after year.  How many RITA finals does one crave?

I know.  It could be any other year from the lists.  Is it still sparkly and exciting the tenth time around?  Do you still need to eat an entire Doctor Who Tardis cake if you miss out (erm, not that I did or anything).

Think of it along the lines of the Oscar awards.....I’ve never seen most of those movies either, but they still mean a lot to the artists.

But actually, I remember reading an article that compared Oscar-winning actors’ paychecks before and after their wins and nominations.  The leap was amazing, from six figures to eight in some cases.  The more wins, the higher the salaries.

I’ve only read one Rachel Gibson (It Must Be Love) and wasn’t partial to it, so stayed away. Did I just pick a dud? Are the better ones I should consider?

Excited to see Mine Till Midnight on there - less excited to see Sugar Daddy, which I didn’t like as much.

I’m delighted to see the YA category reappear, not least for the reason that there are some really superb books represented in that (and other) categories.  I went back and looked, at it had been 11 years since there had been sufficient qualifying entries for the YA category to make! 

As for the RITAs being out of touch with what readers actually read, someone up topic pointed out that this is an award for writers from writers.  It has nothing to do with sales, and probably not going to be an inducement for the average reader to buy a book.  (The same could probably be said for the Nebulas and the Edgars.)

But it’s really REALLY awesome to be recognized by your peers.

--Rosemary Clement-Moore (one of the authors you haven’t heard of. :-) )

~Is it still sparkly and exciting the tenth time around?~

Speaking for myself, yes. Absolutely.

I’m another huge Terri Garey fan...uhm, maybe I should reword that huge. ;) I’m a fanatical Terri Garey fan and am so excited that she double finaled with Dead Girls Are Easy!  I love that book and Terri’s awesome writing voice. 

I was also disappointed not to see C.L. Wilson on the list for best first book and paranormal.  I can not imagine anyone not LOVING Lord of the Fading Lands.  Another surprise to me was that historical author Stacey Kayne’s Mustang Wild didn’t get a Rita nod.  Her fiesty heroines and yummy cowboy heroes are fabulous.  Of all the great books I read during 2007 (and there were bunches of great ones!), Terri, C.L., & Stacey definitely stood out.

I can only imagine the thrill of finaling in the Rita (maybe someday!), but as far as unpublished (and a few published) finals, my belly still does flip-flops each and every time I get that call or email and I walk on air for the rest of the day.  I truly hope that excitement never fades.

To all the finalists, congrats!!!

I agree that C.L. Wilson should have made the Rita nods with Lord of the Fading Lands.  That book pulls you right in and makes you want more from this author. 

Thrilled to see Terri Garey’s Dead Girls Are Easy make the Rita list.  Loved that book!

Congrats to all the 2008 GH /Rita finalists!  I’ll be adding more books to my TBR pile.

I’ll add to the 2008 Rita hopes for The Spymaster’s Lady.  I just finished it, and it was brilliant.  If it doesn’t at least final next year, someone wants shooting.

La Nora, Congrats on your RITA nod!! I think it’s great you’re keeping America literate by giving the crowd more books they enjoy.

Some others mentioned CL Wilson--can’t imagine why she didnt’ make it. Such strong writings and a good SB grade deserves a final. Stacey Kayne and Tawny Weber were 2 others I expected to see. I love Stacey’s historicals and Tawny writes a hot Blaze!

Congrats to all of the finalists. I think everyone nominated deserved it--I just wish there was room for more of my favorites!

Me wonders where the bitches weigh in on the recent revelation that over a dozen books were disqualified because they were ebooks.

New wording, apparently, prohibits the submission of a bound/printed ebook.  There was a big threat at Romance Divas, anyway.

Everybody duck… there’s an RWA kerfluffle en route!

I love Hank PR but she writes books about a reporter… and…

well, the MaryJane Category Romance Award goes to…

Long time lurker, first time poster. Had to chime in and say that this will be my first RWA convention I’ll be going to. It took the nomination to push me over the edge...and risk my sister in law’s ire since she might be getting married (again) that weekend.

Here’s my ?. Do people really dress up? Like how much. Because, as someone who was too fat to go to be invited to her prom, I have never, ever, ever owned a long evening dress and this is my excuse. Which is the real reason I’m going since I have a fart-in-a-windstorm’s chance of winning.

So if anyone knows how dressy - could you tell me? I’d hate to, you know, overdue it.
Thanks - sorry for barging in.

Sarah (The Sleeping Beauty Proposal Sarah)

Thank you! Surely, I would have arrived dressed inappropriately. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this dressing up business. I’m 45 and feel 16.

Because at 17, of course, I learned the truth.

It is a member of the site.
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