Ann Gracie as Dame Barbara Cartland (RWAus 2010 Cocktail Party)

Last night I attended my first ever  Romance Writers of Australia conference event: the Harlequin-sponsored cocktail party. What? You thought I was going there to work? No, no, I signed up for all the parties!

The cocktail party is a themed event and this year it was ‘Fantasy Island’. Never say that writers aren’t a creative bunch because some of the costumes were pretty amazing. Anne Gracie was awarded the best costume prize for her fabulous Barbara Cartland.

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Bronwyn Parry’s third Dungirri book shelved

In case you missed her announcement, Bronwyn Parry is no longer working on her third Dungirri book. If there’s one thing I admire in an author it’s knowing when to let go of a book or series. The good news is that Parry seems to have a new book in the works, so yay for her and for us readers!

FANGtastic Fiction’s change of focus

I noticed that our friends over at FANGtastic Fiction have decided to stop selling books directly but have become a kind of portal for book recommendations. If you love your books with a touch of the supernatural, it’s worth checking out the site. (more)

The finalists for this year’s Romance Book of the Year (R*BY) Awards have been announced. Congratulations on the finalists and good luck!

Long Romance Category
Mistletoe Magic by Sophia James
Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens
Temptation and Surrender by Stephanie Laurens
Wicked Little Game by Christine Wells

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Because ARRA members just wanna have fun. (And read!)

The Awards dinner was excellent. I’d never heard of Cello’s Restaurant before, but it’s a beautiful venue—although the lifts are a challenge if you’re the least bit claustrophobic. High ceilings, chandeliers, and even a grand piano to the side—it’s just reeked of old world romance.

If you follow  us on Twitter, you’ll know that Tracey O’Hara issued a challenge that eventually resulted in a call for a bling off at the Australian Romance Readers Awards dinner. And do you know what I love most about my fellow ARRA members? They said, Bring it!

You can see photos of the bling off here and here. (I’m missing a lot of blinged out people, though, so let me know if you have any more links!)

Sadly, I got carried away and left my outfit shopping so late I turned up to dinner, well, quite UNfashionably late. Others also suffered for the sake of bling and leather, with stories of shoes superglued to the kitchen floor, the case of the killer heels, and last-minute (more)

Anna Campbell took out the top prize in last night’s Australian Romance Readers Awards, held last night at Cello’s Restaurant in Sydney.

Campbell was voted Favourite Australian Romance Author of 2009 and also won Favourite Historical Romance for her fourth novel, Captive of Sin.

The night was a bonanza of wins for Australian authors, with Paula Roe, Kandy Shepherd and Bronwyn Parry taking the prizes in their categories.

Roe won Favourite Short Category Romance for The Magnate’s Baby Promise. Shepherd won Favourite Contemporary Romance for Love is a Four-Legged Word. Parry won Favourite Romantic Suspense for Dark Country.

New Zealand author Nalini Singh, who was also the guest speaker for the event, won Favourite Continuing Romance Series for her Psy-Changeling books and Favourite Sci-fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance for Angel’s Blood. (more)

Source: perfect gift 1 by lusi via stock.xchng

But first, a big congratulations to the winner of our Solace & Grief giveaway…*drumroll*…Mary Preston! To win, Mary had to tell us what mysterious door she’d like to open and where it would lead, and this was her comment:

My Grandmother had a back room we were never allowed to enter. It was kept locked & no-one would say why.  A solid old door locked with a key that lay heavily in my hand. As a child it was always a source  of intrigue for an overactive imagination. I think now it would just lead me to – the skeletons in the closet.

Mm, delicious! Mary, please send me your mailing address and I’ll post the book out to you.

For those who missed out, don’t forget that we’re giving away a copy of Covet by J. R. Ward (click on the link for details and Decadence’s excellent review of the book). (more)

Dark Country by Bronwyn Parry

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a free copy of Dark Country. The contest ends midnight on Friday, December 11 AEST.

Bronwyn Parry’s second novel is a much more intricate thriller that balances romance and suspense in a way that should appeal to the broadest possible audience.

Dark Country opens with Morgan ‘Gil’ Gillespie’s return to Dungirri, hinting at his troubled past and discomfort at returning to a place that holds nothing but bad memories. He’d been involved in a fatal car accident that landed him in prison, so he’s not expecting a warm welcome from the town. Along the way, he meets police sergeant Kris Matthews. Gil is wary of cops, but an incident sparked by old grievances puts him under Kris’s care for the next 24 hours.

The next day, a dead woman is found in the boot of Gil’s car, and as violence escalates, Gil realises he’s endangering the people he cares about and that it may be impossible to walk away from the town this time around. (more)

Source: Bronwyn Parry

What do you do when one of your favourite authors visits your library? You talk about books, of course!

When I arrived—half an hour late and with the Lilliputians in tow—to Books Alive author Bronwyn Parry’s meet and greet at Ultimo Library, it seems I may have interrupted an animated discussion about books. I felt a little awkward, butting into the conversation, but it’s almost impossible to hang out with book lovers and not be caught up in the discussion.

Located near the library entrance, Bron’s table was the first thing I saw as I walked through the doors. Seated at a large, round table were Bronwyn Parry, Louisa Dear (her publicist), Vassiliki (our librarian host), and a couple of us readers.

It was a far cry from Decadence’s recent author signing experience, but it made for a much more intimate experience. For someone long past her teenybopper years, (more)

Bronwyn Parry at Ultimo Library

Books Alive author Bronwyn Parry will be at Ultimo Library tomorrow from 5pm-6pm. Come along for a chat, and bring your books or buy one on the day and have them signed. More details at the City of Sydney’s What’s On website.

Australian release for Night’s Cold Kiss

Night’s Cold Kiss, the debut novel by Australian author Tracey O’Hara, will be published locally by HarperCollins Australia. The website shows Sept 22 as the release date, so it should be in stores soon.

Coming soon from C. L. Wilson

One of my most anticipated books of the year, the Queen of Song and Souls by C. L. Wilson, is scheduled for release on October 27. (You can read an excerpt here.) I’m told that the book became much longer than anticipated and had to be split, so this will be book 3 in the Tairen Soul quartet. The last book will be called Tairen Soul, which gives it a lovely bit of symmetry, given that it was the original name for the first book, which then had to be split into Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows. (more)

Hi, everyone! We’ve just passed the mid-point of our Books Alive Reading Challenge, and I wanted to check in and see how everyone’s going!

My reading progress has been abysmal these past couple of weeks. I managed to finish 3 books:

1. The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke (fantasy) — Unique premise, interesting characters. I’ve added the next book to my to-buy list.

2. Blue Noise by Debra Oswald (young adult fiction) — I’m not the target reader for this book, but I can see it appealing to younger teens or older reluctant readers.

3. The latest Kathleen O’Reilly (Harlequin Blaze) arrived last week, and I didn’t sleep last night because I just had to finish it!

What have you been reading? Anything you’d highly recommend (or not)? If you’ve posted any reviews or lists, leave a link in the comments so we can check them out!

Bronwyn Parry at Ultimo Library (more)