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

Thanks to Dr. Vivanco, who is 200 times more cool than “Los Vivancos,” we have… an academic paper about you.

No, really.

Awhile back Candy and I were contacted by a grad student doing an ethnographic study of the Bitchery style of communication.

Miriam Greenfield Benovitz presented her paper, “The Interactive Online Romance Community: Contests and ‘Covers Gone Wild’” at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association in May 2008, and her paper has been made available online. You can find a link to the PDF on that page.

Another link to the PDF can be found at the Romance Wiki page on Academic Essays online.

Wow. Dude. AWESOME. Way to go, Miriam!

Getting ready for RWA National? We are. So are the folks at Blogging National. Jane and many others did a group blog last year, but we’re not doing it this year - so if you’re looking for a pile of RWA news, look to Twitter, and to that site for all the latest.

Stay tuned to this spot for details on Bootleg Bosoms Signing on Thursday night during Happy Hour.

What you got in the way of plans for RWA?

So you know how people picture different actors or models or even random dudes they know in the role of fictional heroes? Yeah. I would be shocked if anyone pictured any of these dudes as the heroes of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Especially fluttery Brad with his long long hair.

Question: are fill-in-the-blank javascripts the most funnest thing ever? Y/Y? Y!

Thank you to the HOLY CRAP THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE of you who had fun with the Smart Bitch Romantic Suspense Blurbs Gone Wild! I’ll have to hang out with Mr. Java and his script to make more fun, huh? Woo!

And now, a special message from Roxanne St. Claire:

Two hours? Just gone.  Two hours laughing my ass off at those mad libs, trying to pick winners, which was flipping impossible.  I loved so many of them. Here are three that really caught me because they were either hysterical or possible.

Andieg (at 12:39)
Passions Succulent Thunderheads

Tanja Cilia (at 1:25)
Passion’s Blithe Thunderstorm

tracyleann (at 2:59)
Passion’s Grizzled Tornado

Congrats folks - please email me with your mailing address, and Roxanne will send you a spicy, tornadic copy of her upcoming book, Hunt Her Down.

Thank you to the many, many, nearly 200 applicants who gave me a righteous smacking lesson on how curious readers approach digital books. I have learned so much from reading your applications, such as how many forms of poetry can be created when one desires a digital reading device, and how frustrating it is for readers in locations with faraway bookshops to secure new reading material.

With no further ado, I announce the thirty Test Drivers for the Smart Bitches Sony Reader Test Drive. Many, many thanks to Sony Electronics Inc. and to Harlequin for making this program possible. 

I will be emailing the winners personally with additional details, and I will also be emailing those of you who applied and weren’t selected. I can’t tell you all adequately how amazed I was by the response, and knocked over by your creativity and eagerness to experience a different method of reading. Thank you.

The Test Drivers are:

Lesley Knieriem
Tami Moore
Mary Granade
Billie Bloebaum
Robin McDaniel
Melonie Johnson
Jeanette Cogdell
Lindsey Schmidt
Liz Montgomery
Phyllis Laatsch Wilke
Sabrina Heise
Evangeline Adams
Lee Gorton
Deanna Duffy
Kristen Painter
Tina Chaney
Nikkie Cooper
Elizabeth Krentz-Wee
Corrina Lawson
Randi Willis
Jessica Borchetta
Shannon Stacey
Jennifer Lohmann
Anita Draper
Laura Grunzinger
Karen Shepherd
Laura Phillips
John C. Bunnell
Sandra Coburn
Theresa Meyers

Spontaneous Tweetup!

Candy is in town this week, so let us gather and seek out romance heroes. Or drinks. Or both. We’ll be at The Irish Rogue, 356 W 44th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues at 5:30 pm today. Come on down - we’d love to meet you.

Come on down!

ETA: I hear from Katiebabs that tonight is $5 frozen drink night at The Irish Rogue. How roguish! Let there be slushies!