Reminder! Tomorrow at 9pm we'll be hosting the Sizzling Book Club Chat discussing The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand.
There will probably be intricate discussions of dessert and pastry. Ms. Florand will join us at 10pm ET for a Q&A. I hope you'll come by - book club chat nights are very fun.
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I'm over at Kirkus today, continuing my series about identifying your favorite tropes and character types in romance. This week, in honor of Passover, I'm talking about identifying those things about romance you know you don't like - and can thus pass…over. Ba-dum-bump.
Just as identifying the character types and storylines that you like is a powerful and useful tool for finding more romances you love to read, knowing what to avoid is also a powerful and very useful tool. There is nothing less fun than realizing you are not enjoying a book at all.
If you think about the books you really, really hated, the ones that made you angry, disappointed, or just plain bored, it's likely they have some common elements. Maybe all the heroines were very dim—or too stupid to live, as we often call them—or easily influenced by whomever is telling her what to do in that chapter. I personally dislike heroines who don't think for themselves, and who always do what they are told to do. Perhaps the other books you dislike all feature bookish, quiet heroes, and you prefer the take charge alpha-male-commando-badass hero type. Or maybe you really love mysteries and puzzles to solve alongside the hero and heroine, and dislike angsty, emotionally tense stories about people in tense arguments. These are all good pieces of information to help you identify the books you should avoid.
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ETA: How did this link not make it into the entry? I totally put it here. Wily link. Anyway. RWA has announced the RITA and Golden Heart nominees. Any books you think will win? Any books you think are excellent? We'll be putting together the RITA Reader Challenge very soon - stay tuned!
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The Washington Post asked me to do a round up of the big romance titles coming out this spring - which turned out to be pretty difficult because they have these word limit things that I do NOT understand. And they're really fierce about defending those limits, too. WEIRD.
What books are you most looking forward to this spring? This week and next are hella-big release weeks!
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Voting opens tomorrow, 28 March 2013, for the DABWAHA Sweet Sixteen, so get your vote mongering ready, and fill your tank with gas so you can drive from free WiFi spot to free WiFi spot to keep voting. The voting applies to both the DABWAHA tournament AND the Second Chance tournament - so if you're entered in both, get ready! You can make your picks online, and, since there are only 16 books, you'd think it would be easy, right? Alas, no, there are some very tough matches to predict.
There are excellent prizes for the 2nd Chance Tournament, too: Shannon Stacey provided the winner's prize, an iPad Mini with a complete set of the Kowalski novels. And debut author Jen Frederick has offered an Amazon Kindle Fire to the 2nd place finisher.
Interesting trivia: in the main DABWAHA tournament, 130+ people picked Archangel's Storm to win. In the 2nd Chance tournament, 140+ people have picked it to win.
So, what do you think: likely? Or will there be an epic upset? Who should we be voting for tomorrow?
Categories: DA BWAHA Award, General Bitching, The Link-O-Lator