I totally forgot to announce this before I left for ARRC, but we had some MOO cards made to give away to people we met. Wandergurl was very good at handing hers out, whereas I kept forgetting. So anyway, here they are in case you missed  out. (If you want one, let me know!)

ARRC Round-up

More ARRC round-ups are appearing on the blogs, and I’ve collated links that I know of:

Gnomeangel — Adventures with a bleeding heart
Reading Adventures — Reminiscing about ARRC09 – Saturday
Tez Says — Tez in the City, Part II

Bronwyn Parry — ARRC09
Desirabelles — The Australian Romance readers conference 2009
Erica Hayes — tha kikass convenshun, we haz it
Paula Roe — Aussie Romance Readers Convention ‘09

Publishers Weekly — This, that and the Other Thing Monday

You can find a list of all the ARRC posts (that I know of) here, and I’m updating this as I discover new posts. Since there are so many, I’ve chosen the ones with a lot of details on the actual event and those with photos. Don’t forget that if you posted photos on Flickr, you can join the ARRC group and add your photos.

Countdown to Angel’s Blood

This is an unashamed post to try and win a prize, but it’s no hardship to pimp out Angel’s Blood, the first book in Nalini Singh’s new paranormal series:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she’s the best—but she doesn’t know if she’s good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear—failure is not an option…even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other…and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break…

Click here to read an excerpt.

This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I’ve been reading great reviews about this book, so I have high expectations. I love fallen angels; I really do.

Romance writing workshop

Ally Blake is holding a 4-hour romance writing workshop at Montrose Library in Melbourne on March 17. Click here for more details.

Dymocks literary events

Dymocks is holding events, workshops and signings for:

• Stella Rimington
• John Grogan, author of Marley & Me
• Cathy Kelly
• Paul Morris Segal and Katia Loisel-Furey, authors of self-help books on flirting and dating
• Brett McBean, Aurealis Award nominee

Click here for details in your local area.

Book discounts

Affiliate offers from eHarlequin (ends March 31)

• Blazing Hot Offer: Save 20% & get a FREE eBook
• Ultimate Deal: Buy 4 books and get 1 FREE book
• The Dating Game: For every 2 books you buy, get $2 off your order
• Exclusive eBook Offer: $5 savings
• Lucky savings of up to 50%
• Blazing Hot eBook Offer: Save 20% & get a FREE eBook
• FREE Book Friday with purchase of 2 or more

And other random stuff…

The First Tuesday Book Club is back next week (March 3) on the ABC, featuring Aravind Adiga’s Booker prize winning novel, The White Tiger, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Not really my cup of tea, to be honest. On March 10, Jennifer Byrne will also present a special on literary hoaxes and scandals, which sounds quite a bit more interesting.

The New York Times reports that university humanities programs are in danger of disappearing in the face of the economic downturn:

This crisis of confidence has prompted a reassessment of what has long been considered the humanities’ central and sacred mission: to explore, as one scholar put it, “what it means to be a human being.”

The study of the humanities evolved during the 20th century “to focus almost entirely on personal intellectual development,” said Richard M. Freeland, the Massachusetts commissioner of higher education. “But what we haven’t paid a lot of attention to is how students can put those abilities effectively to use in the world. We’ve created a disjunction between the liberal arts and sciences and our role as citizens and professionals.”

Although the report is about American colleges, this has been happening in Australia for some years now as government funding for university declines or becomes increasingly wrapped up in performance indicators that can only be met by catering to international or fee-paying students. Personally, I know the University of Sydney wouldn’t be the same without a robust Arts faculty, and I’d hate to think that in their pursuit of lawyers and doctors, they’re losing part of the soul of the university community. Then again, I’m fairly sure it’ll be the last bastion of the humanities in Australia, if it comes to that.

Save the date

28/2 to 2/3 — Perth Writers Festival
5/3 — Trudi Canavan book signing at Galaxy Bookshop, 5:30pm
17/3 — Romance writing workshop with Ally Blake at Montrose Library, 12.30pm | Bookings: 03 9728 4224 ($10)

Book Bizzo is a weekly omnibus of news items, events, and other interesting tidbits related to books, and especially the Australian romance book industry. You can find past Book Bizzo posts here.

Did we miss anything important? Got a book event coming up? Feel free to send tips, press releases, and any other interesting links to kat@bookthingo.com.au.