I really should be sorting through invoices, receipts and bank statements for our accountant to do what we pay him to do, but I just can’t be arsed, so I’m finding ways to procrastinate instead.

I did some gardening earlier, I finally got round to trimming our overgrown hedge at the front of the house. I got stung a few times by some alien plants, and a couple of spiders decided to nest in my hair, but apart from that, I got it done without any fuss. The Tall Guy was busy putting down new flagstones at the back of the house.

I also managed to find time to watch-but-not-really, Danielle Steel’s Family Album. I used to inhale her books (yes I did, and I’m not ashamed to admit it) but I guess I outgrew her, or something. My fave DS book ever was Zoya.

I’m rather hot on books set during Imperial Russia, which is why I’ve always been fascinated by the story of The Grand Duchess Anastasia, who may or may not have been mudered by the Bolsheviks. Give me a Tzar Nicholas over a Lord Bumstead-Higginbottom anyday.

How about you guys? Any of you admit to reading Danielle Steel books? Confession is good for the soul, so spill your guts wenches!

Anyway, moving swiftly on, I was at Cerridwen Press earlier, and I went to check out Emjai Colbert’s author page, to see if she’d released anymore books. She hadn’t, so I tried the link to her website. Her website no longer exists. Can anybody shed any light on what she’s doing now? I certainly hope she didn’t let my less than complimentary review stop her from continuing with her career, after all she got a five star review from those Harriet Klausners gals at Cupids Library I’m kidding of course, I do remember seeing a bad review there in March 05.

Anyway, if anybody knows what’s happened to her, let me know wont you? Thanks in advance.

Is anybody else trying to forget that Lisa Valdez’s Patience was due out in August, or am I the only one? *Sniff*

Oh, By the way, the RITA winners are out, here they are in all their glory courtesy of rwanational.org: (Erm, they list the authors who finalled then tell ya who’s won)

Best First Book
Show Her The Money
by Stephanie Feagan
(0373513542) Silhouette Books (Bombshell) - Natashya Wilson, editor

Best Contemporary Single Title
Lakeside Cottage
by Susan Wiggs
(0778321908) MIRA Books - Margaret Marbury and Dianne Moggy, editors

Best Inspirational Romance
Heavens To Betsy
by Beth Pattillo
(1-4000-7044-9) WaterBrook Press - Dudley Delffs, editor

Best Long Contemporary Romance
Worth Every Risk
by Dianna Love Snell
(0-373-27426-2) Silhouette Books (Intimate Moments) - Allison Lyons, editor

Best Long Historical Romance
The Devil to Pay
by Liz Carlyle
(0743470044) Pocket Books - Lauren McKenna, editor

Best Novella
“The Naked Truth about Guys” in The Naked Truth
by Alesia Holliday
(0-425-206149) Berkley Books - Cindy Hwang, editor

Best Paranormal Romance
Gabriel’s Ghost
by Linnea Sinclair
(0553587978) Bantam Books - Anne Groell, editor

Best Regency Romance
A Reputable Rake
by Diane Gaston
(0263843912) Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited - Linda Fildew, editor

Best Romantic Suspense
Survivor in Death
by J.D. Robb
(0-399-15208-3) Penguin Putnam - Leslie Gelbman, editor

Best Short Contemporary Romance
The Marriage Miracle
by Liz Fielding
(0263 842754) Harlequin Mills & Boon - Emma Dunford, editor

Best Short Historical Romance
The Texan’s Reward
by Jodi Thomas
(0-425-20584-3) Berkley Books - Christine Zika, editor

Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas
by Barbara Samuel
(0-345-46912-7) Ballantine Books - Linda Morrow, editor

Best Traditional Romance
Princess of Convenience
by Marion Lennox
(0263848795) Harlequin Books - Sheila Hodgson, editor

So, how many of these little puppies have you guys read? I’ve read exactly one: Survivor In Death. The only other author that I’m remotely familiar with is Liz Carlyle. I haven’t heard of any of the other authors, no surprise there then, it was more or less the same last year. How many of these books have generated buzz? How is it possible I’ve managed to miss some of these*ahem* ‘gems’? Beats the hell outta me.

BTW, is it churlish of me to be happy that a past Authors Behaving Badly candidate didn’t win the RITA for Best Contemporary Singles Title? It is? Ahh fuck it, I guess I’m churlish as hell then. (g)

UPDATE - Oh incidentally, I heard from Brenda Coulter’s latest audio, that when Nora Roberts (who was the MC) accepted the award for Survivor, she said that JD Robb couldn’t make it, but that had she been there, she’d have thanked Nora Roberts for everything. I thought this was rather cute…

Hey, this will come in very useful when me and TTG are on our hols! How utterly fabulous!

Erm… incidentally, you have to have a blogger account before you can use audio blogger.

If you wanna know what’s going on at the RWA Nationals, this blog should help. It’s rather interesting.

The blogger visited a Jayne Anne Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips seminar called ‘The Secrets of The Best-Selling Sisterhood’. Here’s my fave secret:

Secret Two: Ignore other people’s opinions.
One of my notes for this reads, I swear: some have ason losh byp lo set. (Make of that what you will.)

(Here she talked about not giving bad reviews any power. Especially since she and Jayne don’t think good or bad reviews affect your career that much.)

SEP: Bad reviews do nothing for your career.
JAK: Pipsquat.

SEP: When I get a bad review, I call Jayne who knows just what to do.
JAK: Because I get so many of them.

Incidentally, I’ve always imagined SEP to be much younger. She looks nothing like I thought she would.

BTW, this gal has a list of other RWA bloggers. Check out Brenda Coulter’s audio post. I liked that idea a lot.

Gosh is it that time of the year already? Here’s the blurb on Stella’s website:

Sharpen up your action skills to write a scene where hero and villain face off in a potentially deadly scene. The heroine may be present or not, included in the action, or not.
The Scarlet Boa contest is open to published and non-published authors alike. Submit your entry (approximately 500 words). We’ll accept submissions until September 1st and start posting links to them below.

So who’s going to judge this thing? You are! Scenes will be judged by readers—who knows better what makes them tingle?

The author of the winning scene will receive (apart from kudos, bragging rights and press coverage) the coveted Scarlet Boa, a gorgeous red feather boa that will simply scream “I write Romance!” (well, it will scream something). And since we can’t leave out the judges, one lucky voter’s name will be drawn at random and they’ll receive a sumptious white boa to wear while reading their new romance novels.

You can get further information on this year’s contest here.

Isn’t he just purrrrrrfect….. ?

It’s funny, but this little man stole my heart from the moment I held him. He’s the first addition to our family for over twenty years, and oh boy, was he a welcome addition…

Riverbend talks about the American soldiers who gang-raped an Iraqi girl, then burned her body to hide the evidence, and killed her five year old sister, and the parents.

I can’t imagine living with that shit on my doorstep. It was interesting reading her point of view.

I was in Borders earlier, and as I was trying my best to read an entire Susan Donavan book, so that I wouldn’t have to actually buy it, an elderly man, and his wife ambled into the romance section.

If I had to take a guess at their ages, I’d say that they were in their late eighties. He was quite doddery, as old men are apt to be, and she was in a wheelchair, and looked very frail indeed.

I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. Apparently, she was looking for a romance book, so he basically pushed her to the G, section, and told her to call him when she’d chosen a book.

Now, I couldn’t help but glance over at this lady, because I couldn’t figure out how she was going to manage to look at any of the books in front of her, seeing as she was so far away from them.

Anyway I watched her out of the corner of my eye, for a further few minutes, but she didn’t actually move. I was in two minds whether to ask her if she was ok, or to leave her alone, but me, being me, had to ask her if she was ok.

She told me that she couldn’t reach the books, but that she wanted a good romance book, and because her eye-sight was failing, she desperately needed large print.

I asked her what kind of romance she liked, at which point I expected her to say Barbara Cartland and she just kinda looked at me, and said she didn’t mind as long as it was a good read.

I picked out Garwood’s The Lion’s Lady, but the print was much too small for her. At this point her hubby came doddering along with his walking stick, and cheerfully asked her if she’d managed to find anything. I looked at him and told him that she couldn’t see the books, nor could she reach them from her current position.

I escorted them both to the front of the shop, and asked one of the assistants if there were any large print romance books. He told me that unfortunately, there weren’t, so I asked if there were any romance audio books. Fortunately, for the woman in the wheelchair, there were a few romances, including Robert’s Blue Dahlia (of course), on tape.

I left the elderly couple in the capable hands of the assistant, but I have to say, that episode made me think.

I can’t imagine being unable to read books, because I couldn’t see the words.

Reading is such an integral part of my life, that I don’t know what I would do, if I had to rely solely on audio books. I do have a couple, but I much prefer letting words flow through my mind, using my own mental voice, rather than being reliant, on somebody else’s interpretation of the words, to guide me through.

So, in celebration of the beauty of reading, I’d like you guys to let me know which books you’re reading right now, and whether or not they’re worth recommending so far.

I’m currently reading Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife, and so far it’s marvellous.

Here’s the blurb off the back of the book:

This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry who met when Clare was six, and Henry was thirty six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry, thirty.

Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future.

In the face of this force they can neither prevent, nor control, Clare and Henry’s struggle to lead normal lives is both intensely moving, and entirely unforgettable.

Now doesn’t that sound fab?

Now it’s your turn. you’re even allowed to mention Changeling Press books, as long as the covers don’t suck great big hairy donkey balls.

From AngieW’s blog…

Introducing….

THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest!

The PRIZES:

(1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate
(2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt
(3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People, which lists REALITY CHICK as a Can’t-Miss Pick for August
(4) Free tuition to a session of Lauren’s YA writing class

THE CONTEST:

STEP ONE: Simply copy and paste this whole message (including the info about the contest) into any blog, message board, email list, myspace bulletin, or anywhere a lot of people will see it!

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt is NOW IN STORES!

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless of
course your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world to
watch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking up
on In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As if
school isn’t panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her like
paparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, old
crushes, and learning to live on your own.

Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares?
Ally’s got bigger issues — like how her long-distance bf can watch her
loopy late-night “episode” with a certain housemate…

Freshman year on film.
It’s outrageous.
It’s juicy.
And like all good reality TV, it’s impossible to turn off.

IN STORES NOW!

Check out Lauren on the web at www.laurenbarnholdt .com or on her myspace at www.myspace.com/laurenbarnholdt

STEP TWO — Email Lauren at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com and let her know you’ve posted about the contest and the book, and you’ll be entered to win the prize pack! The winner will be picked at random on September 1st. The more places you post, the more entries you get. Have fun and good luck!!!

(Ok, this is my good deed for the day, and I’m not even sure who Lauren Barnholdt is, but it saves me from taxing my blogging brain too much, heheh!)

Jan W Butler for apparently writing the following in an edition of the Romance Writers Report, courtesy of Kate’s blog.

. . . romance isn’t about just any “two people” celebrating “love in its many forms.” Organizations such as the Man-Boy Love Association would certainly refer to themselves as celebrating love “two people” (or more) finding love in one of its many forms” . . . while they actively promote pedophilia.

Think RWA can’t go down that slipper slope? Think again. Under our present definition, we cannot exclude such “love stories” under the category of “romance”. We, as a culture, seem to have forgotten how to say “enough is enough,” but RWA can–indeed, must–do better than that. . . .

And, please, spare us the arguments about “censorship” and “inclusiveness.” Preference for “one man, one woman” stories represents what RWA has always claimed is romance’s target demographic: college-educated, married, middle-class, monogamous, and moral. . . .Only in recent years has a vocal (translate: shrill) minority tried to drive RWA’s focus off that path, under the guise of “broadening its horizons.” But refusing to define romance according to the parameters it has held for centuries doesn’t “broaden” anything . . . it only starts us down the aforementioned slope, and once we’re in that slide, heaven help us.

There’s an old saying, “Go home with the one who brought you here.” What brought romance fiction to its present level of success is a collection of decades’ worth of one-man, one-woman relationships stories, in all their richness, variety, and power. RWA should be the first to endorse that, rather than attempting to placate fringe groups trying to impose their standards upon the rest of us. If anyone’s in danger of being “censored” here, it’s believers in “what comes naturally”: one-man, one-woman romance. We in RWA owe it to ourselves not to let that happen. Jan W. Butler

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

You know, I’d love to know what the Queen bees of romance think of articles like this. I wonder if they secretly agree, or if they’re disgusted by the absolute drivel that comes from the mouths of people who should know better.

BTW, I didn’t realise that the RWA only targets college-educated, married, middle-class, monogamous, and moral people? So unmarried women don’t read romance?

Check out this great post from Mrs Giggles. All I can say is, what she said.

And that’s all I’m saying about the latest blogland bust up.