Reading (mostly) romance books down under
Today I’m celebrating the start of Book Week by showing off the latest additions to my TBR (to be read) pile.
Not to be smug or anything, but check out the books I brought home from the Gold Coast:
Some of these books were given away for free by authors at the ARRA signing, some I bought from Rosemary, who was the main bookseller at the conference, and some I bought for $1 (used books) at the QT hotel gift shop. I’m looking forward to reading them all!
Australian fans of historical romance author Julia Quinn might want to start saving up now, because she’ll be here for the 2013 Romance Writers of Australia conference at the Esplanade in Fremantle, WA.
That’s right. If you live anywhere outside of Western Australia, you need to save—or save up those frequent flyer points!
Other guest speakers for RWAus 2013 include editor and romantic suspense author Nina Bruhns, author and blogger Sarah Wendell, and Kim Hudson, author of The Virgin’s Promise: Writing Stories of Feminine Creative, Spiritual and Sexual Awakening. I believe the theme will be ‘Riding the waves’.
I don’t know how I’m getting myself to WA—not to mention my books—but plans are afoot, I can guarantee that much!
The Australian romance book industry’s top prizes were awarded last night at the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) conference at the Gold Coast. Congratulations to Romantic Book of the Year (R*BY) awardees Barbara Hannay, Robyn Grady, Fiona Lowe and Helene Young.
The night’s biggest success was Carina Press author Fiona Lowe, whose debut single title release, Boomerang Bride, scooped up the R*BY Award for Long Romance. Earlier this year, Lowe won the prestigious RITA for the same title—an achievement that seems even more spectacular given that her manuscript went through 38 agent rejections before being accepted by Carina Press.
Helene Young won the R*BY for Romantic Elements for the second year in a row with her Hachette title Shattered Sky, the sequel to last year’s winning book and winner of this year’s Australian Romance Readers Award for Romantic Suspense. The third book in the series, Burning Lies, has just been released with her new publisher, Penguin.
Not surprisingly, Mills and Boon authors dominated the awards for category romance, with Barbara Hannay winning the R*BY for Short Sweet Romance for Molly Cooper’s Dream Date, and Robyn Grady winning the R*BY for Short Sexy Romance for The Fearless Maverick.
Capping off a successful night for Mills and Boon authors, Helen Bianchin received a standing ovation as she was named the inaugural inductee into RWA’s Hall of Fame.
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I was lucky enough to join the Google+ hangout featuring three fantastic historical romance authors, Anne Gracie, Christina Brooke and Eloisa James.
I asked questions about historical accuracy, epic romances and, for Eloisa James, overlapping readers from romance and non-fiction. I found it very interesting that James felt that she got more crossover readers from Paris In Love to romance than the other way around. More generally, I loved how honest the authors were and that the chat included a mix of reader-type questions as well as writer-type questions.
Anne Gracie’s fans will be pleased to know that Marcus will get his story…one day. :-)
I found it a little odd to have the hangout in our separate areas when we were all at the same location. I was hoping we could have a Q&A style session, but I guess that would have required more room and introduced more technical complexity.
For those of you who couldn’t tune in live to the Google+ hangout earlier today, you can see the video recording here:
Thanks to Louise Sherwin-Stark from Google for hosting the chat!
Harlequin Australia has launched Harlequin Escape, a DRM-free digital first imprint available worldwide but with a focus on Australian content.
The new imprint was announced at the Harlequin-sponsored cocktail party at the Romance Writers of Australia conference at the Gold Coast and comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement by Penguin yesterday at their own pre-conference event.
Harlequin Escape is open for submissions via their website, and the submission guidelines suggest that although the imprint defines romance broadly, we won’t be losing the happy ending.
Kate Cuthbert (Photo: Kat Mayo)
According to the website, Haylee Kerans will be publishing manager and Kate Cuthbert—who many readers will recognise from the Courier-Mail, BRRAddicts, Booktopia, ARRA or Twitter—will be managing editor. The imprint is aiming to release its first set of titles before the end of the year.
More importantly for readers, it looks like Harlequin Escape will be taking its cue from Carina Press and doing away with DRM:
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Photo: Kat Mayo
I’ve just come back from the ARRA signing at the QT Hotel, and I had a fabulous time. The event seemed very well attended, and many authors stayed beyond the allotted time.
And, yes, I MET ELOISA JAMES! I went a bit crazy. But she signed a modest stack of books for me, witnessed the collapse of my composure and then offered to have a photo taken with me.
Author crush heaven.
Anyway. I met a bunch of other fantastic authors, which I won’t name because I also missed seeing most of the authors. I only managed to get through part of one row of authors before I ran out of time.
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Destiny Romance is the newly announced digital-first romance imprint by Penguin Australia.
It seems Australian publishers are finally taking note, with Penguin announcing its newest imprint, Destiny Romance. The imprint has launched with four titles by Jennifer St George, Elise K. Ackers, Peta Crake and Kelly Hunter, with plans to publish two new titles each month.
The Hunter title seems to have been previously self-published, and the Ackers and Crake titles are new. Update: I had a quick look at the buy links—Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Kobo. Looks like Penguin will be enforcing DRM. Not sure yet if they’re making the books available internationally or just within Australia.
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I love Julie Anne Long, but it took me ages to finally buy this book because I thought I had already read it. Now I realise that Avon has reused the same cover image. No wonder I was so confused!
For some reason, What I Did For A Duke (2011) appeals to me more than Always A Scoundrel (2009). That said, I’m not a fan of artificially windblown hair in general.
I’m curious to know—which cover do you prefer?
So go forth and visit a bookshop today. Better yet, enjoy a bookshop crawl. And don’t let anyone talk you out of buying a book—not for any reason!
For specific events and initiatives, visit the official website, Facebook or Twitter.
Photo: Bookshop in Paris by paskelius (stock.xchng)
Why is it so difficult to share books? Readers should be more creative and pro-active about promoting the exchange of books.
I have no idea who declared it so, but today is World Book Lovers Day. No prizes for guessing how I plan to celebrate it!
I’d like to challenge everyone to celebrate World Book Lovers Day by sharing a good book with someone you know.
Yesterday, I listed my ideas on new ways in which the book industry might bring books to readers. Today I’d like to talk about how readers can bring books to other readers.
It occurs to me that outside of lending books to friends, there aren’t many ways that people can share books. Initiatives such as BookCrossing are fantastic, but how many of us have actually done it or come across a book in the wild?
Secondhand shops are great, too, but they seem to be a dying breed. In the past, you were reasonably assured of finding one near a major train station or in a suburban shopping village. Nowadays, unless you live in Newtown or Glebe, you have to make a special effort to find one.
What I’d like to see more of are book exchange corners in office lunch rooms, community centres, common areas in apartment blocks, schools and universities, sporting facilities, transit areas (including airline VIP lounges), supermarkets, places of worship, hotels and other places where people routinely visit or pass through.
Confession: I made up this list. But please read it and tell me if it doesn’t make sense or if you have more suggestions. I also admit that this will only work for print books.
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(The Bridgertons, epilogues) The series that made me—and the rest of the world—falling in love with Julia Quinn. If you haven’t read this series, start now! If you have, then this is the cherry on the cake.
(Rivers of London, Book 1) Original, witty and fun—this is my new favourite series.
(The Edge, Book 3) Although there are familiar elements, there is something quite distinct about this series. I really enjoyed this difference.
(Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 11) The crack is back. This book will either allow you to exit the BDB world satisfied…or suck you right back in with a vengeance.
(Clockwork Agents, Book 1 and 2) An exciting, fast-paced and very, very sexy steampunk romance series.
(Mercy Thompson, Book 7) Mercy Thompson fans who have been eagerly anticipating this book will love the complicated twists of the plot, and romance readers will absolutely adore Adam.
A lively read, and while I’m not too sure I’d like to have gone through all that Georgette did, waking up next to a hot-hunka-chunka-burning-love Highlander with a kilt (but not in one) might not be so bad. (Except I’d better be able to remember it all the next day!)
You don’t have to be a fashionista to appreciate this book. Grace Coddington is a woman who loves life and what’s she’s made of it, and that comes through very clearly on the pages.
(Mercy Thompson, Book 2) The pacing and plotting are not as balanced as in the first book. Mostly we’re just along for the ride—but it’s still a fabulous trip.
(The Caster Chronicles, Book 1) A book to hand someone with the words, ‘Please enjoy’—something you can have fun with without having to think too much.
Special thanks to BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER for keeping us abreast of what's going on in the Australian book industry, and particularly to Tim Coronel, who patiently explains to us the intricacies of book publishing in plain Tweet-lish.
Website| Twitter | Tim Coronel
