Romance Supporting Romance - A Very Worthy Cause

Ya'll know that my wife is a romance writer. You also may know that I am a big fan of romance - in its written form, yes - but also a fan of romance in general. I'll admit it, I'm a romantic and I do what I can to promote romance whenever I can. Being married to a romance writer has given me the opportunity to meet a community of great people, mostly women, who work very hard to create romantic fantasies for the enjoyment of others. The majority of them do this for very little money and even less respect. They work to produce "those smut books" and "trashy romance novels" in order to express their love of writing AND of romance so that readers can pick up one of their books and escape for a short time into a world where the girl gets the right guy and they both get their happily ever after. That chance to escape is particularly important because the writers, and the readers, and everyone else knows that in real life the happily doesn't always happen. And sometimes it does but it doesn't stick around ever after. Which brings me to the reason for this post.

Romance author Jo Leigh lost her real life romance hero to cancer this year. Now, while dealing with her loss she is also facing seemingly insurmountable medical bills. The romance community has come together to help support one of their own. Please read the following, follow the link, and consider bidding on some fantastic items donated by Jo's fellow authors including Leslie, plus agents and editors in the industry. And please pass the word, especially if you or someone you know is a lover of romance.

Permission to forward

Author Jo Leigh lost her husband this year to cancer. Theirs was a story of reunited lovers worthy of a romance novel. The loss of her husband hit her hard, both emotionally and financially. (authors are self-employed, so often have no medical insurance.)In an effort to raise money to help her pay off those medical debts, the romance community has once again banded together to support one of their own and an auction is being held. This is a wonderful way to purchase gifts for yourself or a loved one AND write it off on your taxes.
Please spread the word to any loops, forums, etc. that you might be on.

Trash Talkin'

You'd think that with the NBA finals behind us the only trash talking going on would be in the presidential race. You'd be wrong.

Back in March I did a blog post bragging about my wife the romance writer being a finalist for the most prestigious award in the romance writing world. The Ritas are awarded by the Romance Writers of America each year at their national conference and are considered the Academy Awards of romantic fiction. While it is indeed an honor just to be nominated, that little golden statuette is highly coveted and the competition is, well...just look at this video of the finalists in the Contemporary Single Title category.

The one with the sword is my wife. My money's on her.

Time to Brag on My Wife

Yesterday's post was about romance novels. Guess what! Today's post is too.

Movies have Oscar and the Academy Awards. Television has the Emmys. Music has the Grammys. Mystery Novels have the Edgars. Science Fiction has the Hugos. And Romance Novels have...

...The Ritas!

The Rita Awards are presented annually by the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Just as in January, when Hollywood is abuzz over the announcement of the Oscar nominees, the end of March brings anticipation and butterflies to stomachs all over the Romance writing industry. Yesterday the calls went out and my wife Leslie got one! Her book "She's No Angel" is a finalist for Best Contemporary Romance of 2007.

She's been a finalist twice before and here's hoping that the third time is a charm. The award ceremony is a black tie affair that is held at RWA's annual conference. This year that will be in San Francisco and I have until Saturday August 2 to get in shape to squeeze into a tux. Good thing we just joined a gym.

Congratulations to all the finalists!

Leslie, you're amazing. I could not be more proud of you nor could I possibly be more in love with you.

A Plug for a Friend

If you've been around here for a while then you know that I'm married to a Romance Writer. My wife and three of her friends, all writers, have their own blog that's dedicated to romance writing and interacting with fans. One of the four, Julie Leto has a new book being released next week on April 1st and as a way to introduce and promote it she's posting the complete prologue and the first six chapters on their blog site. Starting yesterday and continuing through April 1st you can read through chapter six of her new book "Phantom Pleasures"

AND by simply posting a daily comment, have a chance EVERY DAY to win a $20 gift certificate to either Amazon or Borders. Julie is using the blogosphere to spread the word so check out her book then you tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends and so on and so on...You get the picture.

Here's what she has to say:

"This week starts something very exciting…every day, I will be posting a chapter from my book PHANTOM PLEASURES, which is officially released next week on April 1. That’s seven chapters! (Okay, six chapters and a prologue…but let’s not quibble.)

I wanted give everyone more than just a little excerpt…I want you to know, by the end of the week, if this is a book you will enjoy enough to buy–a book you’ll want to tell your friends about.

I’m also offering a chance for anyone who posts a comment or asks a question to win a $20 gift certificate from Amazon or Borders.com. I’ll pick a winner every day, but you’ll have to come back the next day to see if you’ve won. Regular jungle contest rules apply!"

She started posting yesterday and as usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short but you can go back and read the prologue and still have six more chances for the daily gift certificate drawing.

Julie is a fantastic writer and a great friend. She's also a great cook but I'm not giving her a plug just so I'll get some of her amazing bread pudding...really, I'm not.

Get on over to PLOTMONKEYS, check out her writing, spread the word, and buy her book. In that order. You won't be sorry.

Happy Valentine's Day

I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day

Most people are familiar with Rodin's "The Thinker". Personally I've always been partial to "The Kiss".

Many seasoned partyers consider New Year's Eve amateur night. I hope you won't think me full of myself when I say that I consider Valentine's Day amateur day. I try to show my wife how I feel about her everyday so I don't feel I need a special one to show it. In addition to that, my sweetheart is a romance writer so for me it's always Valentine's Day.

For those of you whose idea of romance is a card, some grossly overpriced flowers and a box of chocolates once a year let me give you an inside tip. If you want to become a master of foreplay read this article:

Gals make passes at guys who wash glasses

A very special Valentine wish to my three beautiful daughters who I love and adore and to their amazing mother without whom life just would not be worth living. Thank you for being my Valentines every day. I love you.

My Wife...And a Dead Guy in a Pear Tree

I know I've mentioned the fact that I'm married before. And that we have a great relationship and I'm an extraordinarily lucky man. I'm extraordinarily lucky for reasons too numerous to list. Today I shall list one. My wife is...are you ready?...A Writer. A writer as in a professional, published writer. But it gets better. To be more specific my wife is a Romance Writer. That is to say, she writes romance novels for a living. She's a multi-published, award winning, real-life romance novelist. And she's all mine. Cool huh?

I though I'd mention this today as an introduction to the fact that I want to give her a little promotional consideration. As it happens, now through the end of the month you have the opportunity to sample some of her work absolutely free. Harlequin, her publisher, is featuring one of her complete stories as their daily online read at their website eHarlequin. It will be posted one chapter each weekday through the end of the month. It started this past Monday so there are already five chapters available. It's called "And a Dead Guy in a Pear Tree" and yes, it's Christmas themed. Can't you tell?

Her next book "One Wild Wedding Night" will be released next month.

You can read a description and an excerpt on her website. Then you can go buy it. Then look for all the books on her backlist. And buy them too. Hey, we have a kid in college and two more behind her. And I want to retire into the lap of luxury. But besides that she's a great writer and you'll love her. She's my favorite author and I couldn't be more proud of her.

I told you I was a lucky guy.