The Romance Writers of Australia is holding its 2009 National Conference in Brisbane.

We’re not writers, but we’re sticky beaks, so we’re following the live tweets to keep up to date on the goings on (no incriminating photos, yet).

If you have a Twitter account, the hashtag is #RWAus09, and you might also want to follow @RWAus. You can catch up on previous tweets: Day 1 | Day 2 | RWA award winners

You can find additional official coverage on the RWA blog. If you know of any bloggers or tweeters covering the conference, please let us know so we can link to them.

If you can’t see the live updates below, you can also view the tweets via Twitter or ScribbleLive. (more)

The Romance Writers of Australia has announced the winners of their 2009 contests and awards. A big CONGRATULATIONS to the finalists and winners!

R*BY awards

The Romantic Book of the Year Award—more commonly known as the R*BY or Ruby Award—is awarded to the best romance book published the previous year by an Australian or New Zealand romance author, as voted on by Australian readers. More details on the RWA website.

Short Sweet — Marion Lennox (His Island Bride)
Short Sexy — Trish Morey (The Italian Boss’s Mistress of Revenge)
Long Romance — Anne Gracie (The Stolen Princess)
Romantic Elements — Suzanne Perazzini (Beneath The Surface) (more)

The Romance Writers of Australia is holding its 2009 National Conference in Brisbane.

We’re not writers, but we’re sticky beaks, so we’re following the live tweets to keep up to date on the goings on (no incriminating photos, yet).

If you have a Twitter account, the hashtag is #RWAus09, and you might also want to follow @RWAus. You can catch up on Day 1 tweets here.

You can find additional official coverage on the RWA blog, including award winners as they’re confirmed. If you know of any bloggers or tweeters covering the conference, please let us know so we can link to them.

This is an archive of the Twitter stream for Day 2. You can also view the tweets on ScribbleLive. (more)

The Romance Writers of Australia is holding its 2009 National Conference in Brisbane. We’re not writers, but we’re sticky beaks, so we’re relying on live tweets to keep us up to date on the goings on (no incriminating photos, yet).

If you have a Twitter account, the hashtag is #RWAus09, and you might also want to follow @RWAus.

This is an archive of the Twitter stream for Day 1. You can also view the tweets on ScribbleLive.

Unfortunately, I think there was an issue with the wireless connection at the venue, so the tweets drop off in the afternoon. Also, the Harlequin cocktail party must’ve rocked because no one was tweeting! (more)

Dying For Mercy winner

Thanks to everyone who entered our Dying For Mercy giveaway. The winners are Katherine Ryan and Michelle Magill. Congratulations, Katherine and Michelle! I’ve sent you an email with instructions on how to claim your prize, but in case you don’t get it, please email me ASAP.

We’re hosting another giveaway in a couple of days, so watch this space. In the meantime, here here are the winning entries. Katherine’s non-romance recommendation was Bill Bryson:

My favourite non-romantic author is by far Bill Bryson.  He takes a genre I previously thought of as boring or mostly irrelevant to me, travel writing, and takes it to a whole new level with his wit and warmth.  I started by reading Notes from a Small Island (about his arriving in England, meeting his wife and starting a life there) and was very lucky one Christmas to receive almost all of his published works from my lovely partner. (more)

The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance is hosting its first ever “Popular Romance Studies: an International Conference” in Brisbane. You can find more information, including the schedule, on the IASPR website.

If you didn’t catch it last night, the event got a mention on ABC News last night. The segment shows lots of old Aussie Mills & Boon covers, which make me want to hunt down a book about the Flying Doctors!

Anyway, we can’t be at the event, so we’re relying on live tweets to keep us up to date. If you have a Twitter account, the hashtag is #romcon, and you might also want to follow @IASPR. (Please note that Book Thingo is NOT in any way affiliated with IASPR.)

To catch up, check out the Twitter stream from the morning and afternoon sessions on Day 1.

This is an archive of the Twitter stream. You can also view the tweets on ScribbleLive. (more)

The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance is hosting its first ever “Popular Romance Studies: an International Conference” in Brisbane, starting today. You can find more information, including the schedule, on the IASPR website.

We can’t be at the event, so we’re relying on live tweets to keep us up to date. If you have a Twitter account, the hashtag is #romcon, and you might also want to follow @IASPR. (Please note that Book Thingo is NOT in any way affiliated with IASPR.)

Click here to view the tweets from the morning sessions.

This is an archive of the Twitter stream. You can also view the tweets on ScribbleLive. (more)

The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance is hosting its first ever “Popular Romance Studies: an International Conference” in Brisbane, starting today. You can find more information, including the schedule, on the IASPR website.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to set up the live Twitter stream thingo for the morning sessions of the2009 Conference.

However, I’ve taken the #romcon entries from Twitter and archived them here, for anyone who’s interested.

Please note that Book Thingo is NOT in any way affiliated with IASPR. I do think they’re doing very interesting work, and I’m still miffed that I didn’t get to go. *sob*

Anyway, here are the tweets from the morning session. (more)

Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd (Darkness Chosen, Book 1)

Once upon a time, Konstantin, a warrior from the Russian steppes, made a deal with the devil. In exchange for a priceless icon that had been in his family for generations (plus his soul, of course), he and his sons—and they only bred sons—would be given a special power enabling them to hunt all their enemies down.

Fast forward to about now. The latest Konstantin escaped his family to build a new life in America. He’s made a prosperous life for himself, and he has 4 children—including a daughter.

One day, his ex-gypsy wife has a vision that tells them how to break the pact and free themselves from their curse. The 4 books in the Darkness Chosen series cover just how they end up doing that.

Scent of Darkness is about Jasha, the eldest son, and his personal assistant, Ann. Ann has a thing for her boss, and one day she goes off to his house, looking hawt, to deliver important papers and try to seduce him. Part 2 of this plan goes rather well, but only after she gets scared out of her wits by discovering his special power: he’s a shapeshifter. (more)

The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire edited by Trisha Telep

If you’re thinking of reading The Eternal Kiss to wean yourself off a Twilight high, think again. Pitting Twilight against this feast of words and emotions would be like comparing Passion Pop with a full-bodied Shiraz.

The Eternal Kiss is a collection of 13 vampire stories for young adults written by some of the most popular authors in the genre. The stories in this luscious anthology are indeed bound by blood, but it’s the complexity of desire that gives the authors room to flex their skills.

This isn’t a romance anthology, but most of the stories incorporate some flavour of love, lust or both. Desire wars with reason, and the passion of youth is explored—sometimes tenderly, sometimes with violence. The authors offer different points of view—guys and girls, vampires and humans, predator and prey.

Most touch on one’s sense of identity and asks the question, What makes us unique? There’s no common sense of morality, and this is what makes the anthology, as a whole, so compelling. (more)