I’m back from the RT Convention–and realized I took no pictures! I even have a camera on my phone. Sheesh. I had a great time hanging out with authors, bloggers, and readers, and am proud to say that I watched my first Mr. Romance competition. (The part where the Mr. Romance contenders act out scenes from different romance novels is priceless.)
I participated in a lively Save the Contemporary panel with fellow authors Louisa Edwards and Victoria Dahl, and bloggers Jane (Dear Author) and Sarah (Smart Bitches, Trashy Books). It was fascinating to learn what readers like/don’t like in the contemporary subgenre and debated whether people like to see bare-chested men on contemporary covers, prefer small towns to big city settings, and all sorts of interesting topics. (Feel free to chime in on either topic–or your own– below.)
On another note. . . on Friday I received some great news: Practice Makes Perfect was chosen as one of the finalists in the Long Contemporary category of the Readers’ Crown awards! (The Readers’ Crown are the awards connected to the Borders RomCon convention.) How exciting!! I’m honored my book is included in such esteemed company. Looks like I might be headed to Denver in July for the convention.
Here’s the list of all the Readers’ Crown nominees:
Best First
Anne Marsh ~ The Hunt ~ Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Time Travel
Margaret Mallory ~ Knight of Desire ~ Long Historical
Mary Sullivan ~ No Ordinary Cowboy ~ Short Contemporary
Susan Gee Heino ~ Mistress by Mistake ~ Long Historical
Vanessa Kelly ~ Mastering the Marquess ~ Long Historical
Erotica
Joey W. Hill ~ Beloved Vampire
Livia Dare ~ In the Flesh
Maya Banks ~ Into the Lair
Maya Banks ~ Sweet Persuasion
Sunny ~ Mona Lisa Darkening
Long Contemporary
Carly Phillips ~ Lucky Break
Erin McCarthy ~ Hard and Fast
Jill Shalvis ~ Double Play
Julie James ~ Practice Makes Perfect
Susan Mallery ~ Sunset Bay
Long Historical
Anna Campbell ~ Captive of Sin
Deeanne Gist ~ A Bride in the Bargain
Elizabeth Hoyt ~ To Desire a Devil
Jennifer Ashley ~ The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
Jodi Thomas ~ The Lone Texan
Long Romantic Suspense
Bella Andre ~ Wild Heat
Catherine Mann ~ Defender
Cindy Gerard ~ Whisper No Lies
Julia Harper ~ For the Love of Pete
Susan Crandall ~ Seeing Red
Novella
Courtney Milan ~ This Wicked Gift in The Heart of Christmas anthology
Emily Bryan ~ My Lady Below Stairs in A Christmas Ball anthology
Erin McCarthy ~ Undead Man’s Hand in Out of the Light, Into the Shadows anthology
Jade Lee ~ Weekend Tigress in the Winter Heat anthology
Sophia Nash ~ Catch of the Century in the Four Dukes and Devil anthology
Paranormal
Carolyn Jewel ~ My Forbidden Desire
Jory Strong ~ Ghostland
Keena Kincaid ~ Ties That Bind
Shannon K. Butcher ~ Burning Alive
Shannon K. Butcher ~ Finding the Lost
Sci-fi/Fantasy/Futuristic/Time-Travel
Anne Marsh ~ The Hunt
Jess Granger ~ Beyond the Rain
Melissa Mayhue ~ A Highlander of Her Own
Sandra Hill ~ Viking Heat
Veronica Wolff ~ Lord of the Highlands
Short Contemporary
Abby Gaines ~ Her So-Called Fiance
Abby Gaines ~ The Groom Came Back
Holly Jacobs ~ Unexpected Gifts
Linda Warren ~ The Sheriff of Horseshoe, Texas
Mary Sullivan ~ No Ordinary Cowboy
Short Historical
Blythe Gifford ~ In the Master’s Bed
Bronwyn Scott ~ The Viscount Claims His Bride
Robyn DeHart ~ Seduce Me
Terri Brisbin ~ A Storm of Passion
Terri Brisbin ~ The Conqueror’s Lady
Short Romantic Suspense
Carol Snow ~ Here Today, Gone to Maui
Delores Fossen ~ Christmas Guardian
Kay Thomas ~ Better Than Bulletproof
K.M. Daughters ~ Beyond the Code of Conduct
Sheri Whitefeather ~ Protecting Their Baby
Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Anya Bast ~ Witch Fury
Jenna Maclaine ~ Bound by Sin
Julie Kenner ~ Tainted
Lori Devoti ~ Amazon Ink
S. J. Day ~ Eve of Darkness
Congrats Julie on this new nomination! You’re in excellent company. All those books are terrific. Good luck & I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you. Let us know if anyone can vote.
Congratulations. It’s a well-deserved nomination.
Congrats, Julie! Wish we’d been able to spend a little quality time together at RT or Chicago Spring Fling. Maybe in Denver? I’m thinking of going, too!
Great news – congrats! I’m not surprised at all, it’s a great read and deserves all the accolades!
Such wonderful news! You must be over the moon. Congratulations!
Heya! Congratulations 😀
I would just like to say: I don’t (!!!) appreciate half naked men (or women xD) on the cover of books… In my opinion there are a lot of other interesting, but still tasteful ways to design a cover… it’s just something I agree with my friends and since you mentioned it above… yeah… well, you know xDDD
Congrats on your finalist status in the Reader’s Crown!
The contemporary will come back. I write historicals, so I know what a market swing feels like. Your readers are still there and they’ll want your books. As long as women shop, there will be chick lit.
Hi Julie,
Congrats on being a finalist!!! And thanks for mentioning my Best First Book nomination. 😉
Margaret
Thanks for the congrats, everyone!! I was thrilled to hear PMP was a finalist.
Blythe: absolutely! I just applied to register as an author for RomCon, so hopefully I’ll be there!
Schenni: For the covers of my books, I prefer that the heroine and hero wear clothes. Particularly if Berkley continues to give me covers like Something About You, with that knock-out fuchsia dress. : )
Margaret and Emily: congrats to you as well! And good luck!
Congrats, Julie.
congrats on finaling, Julie!
Was there anything that surprised you about the reader feedback to your Save the Contemporary panel?
Thanks, Abby and Jane!
Was there anything that surprised me about the contemporary panel… no surprises, really. Although one person mentioned that she didn’t like it when authors describe a character as looking like a certain celebrity. That got me a little worried because I just did that in Book 4–not the hero, but a supporting character looks like an actor on a popular television show and he hates the fact that people constantly tell him that.
Congratulations Julie!
PMP is my fav of yours! So I’m not surprised, LOL
Just too witty characters and too funny scenes.
About the contemporary novels (I only read contemps), for me, I prefer non naked chest heroes on the cover! – now that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t buy one because of it, if the author has been highly recommended, that won’t stop me, see for example Roxanne St Claire – and I prefer big cities settings to small ones.
Good luck for the contest! Can we vote?
Hi Corinne! Thanks for the congrats! (And for sharing your thoughts on contemporaries.)
I don’t think people vote in the Readers’ Crown… I think there are assigned judges who review the books. But if I hear otherwise, I’ll certainly let you know.
Congrats Julie!
Well deserved!
Dottie 🙂