BRENDA NOVAK'S ANNUAL ONLINE AUCTION FOR DIABETES RESEARCH

A swag of authors, prizes and giveaways, there are so many to choose from - it's all happening! Let your friends know & check it out here.

But more specifically, for those who love paranormal romance (and a lone rock star):

Aussie Romance Writer's Set: 6 Books Signed Books From 6 Aussie Authors
This is your chance to get your hands on 6 books and some swag from some of Australia's best paranormal romance writers (we're all ARRA Awards finalists or winners)!

VENGEANCE BORN - Kylie Griffin
FORGED BY DESIRE (ARC) - Bec McMaster
REVELATION - Erica Hayes
SHADOW KIN - M.J.Scott
LICK - Kylie Scott
OUTCAST PRINCE - Shona Husk

There's something for every discerning reader - warriors galore, avenging demons, steampunk vampires & weres, fallen angels, a wraith assassin, an uber-sexy rock star and mysterious fae! You can find samples of each book at individual author websites.

The good news - this auction is open internationally!

Good luck, good reading, and thank you for supporting this wonderful cause!

ARRA Award for Allegiance Sworn!

The Australian Romance Readers of Australia converged at Cello's Restaurant in Sydney last weekend (March 22nd).

What a setting!

The lovely Cello's Restaurant.

The chandelier

A wonderful bunch of volunteers organised and ran the 6th Annual ARRA awards and celebrated all that's great in Aussie romance!

Bec & I enjoying the ambiance at Cello's!

The night was full of entertainment (the keynote speaker was Helene Young and accompanied by a cast of wannabe author-actors, they enacted a murder mystery complete with a "dead" body capably played by Anna Campbell) and the food was absolutely scrumptious!

M.J.Scott & Bec McMaster

One of the highlights was catching with ARRA friends I'd met at Fremantle, WA last year at the RWA/ARRA Book-Signing and putting names to faces of other ARRA members and bloggers I'd only ever met online.

I finally met Helen S. (ARRA reader).

This year Allegiance Sworn was nominated in two categories - Members Choice Favorite Cover Award and Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Futuristic Romance.

Dakota Harrison & I enjoying the night.

I'm thrilled to announce that Allegiance Sworn is Australia's ARRA Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Futuristic Romance 2013! An awesome moment all round as last year Alliance Forged won this award, so it's a back-to-back win in this category.

A proud moment!

At the table were Dakota Harrison & hubby, Amy Andrews, Kelly Hunter, Tina Marie Clark, M.J.Scott, Bec McMaster & myself. Table 6 must have been the one to sit at this year as three of our number took out awards - Amy Andrews, Kelly Hunter & me!

Allegiance Sworn - Fav.Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Futuristic Romance Award 2013

Kylie Griffin, Kelly Hunter & Amy Andrew's ARRA trophies!

You can find the full list of 2013 ARRA winners here.

ALLEGIANCE SWORN is an ARRAwards finalist!

I woke to some awesome news this morning!

Sitting in my inbox was an email from the Australian Romance Readers Association letting me know that ALLEGIANCE SWORN is an ARRAwards finalist in the following categories:

• Favourite Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance
• Favourite Cover from a romance published in 2013 (hats off to Gene Mollica, the cover artist, & the Berkley art department for such great work!)

I'm so thrilled, especially on seeing the finalists lists on the ARRA blog - wow, am I in some fantastic company! Scrolling through them, I kept ticking off the ones I'd read and enjoyed. So many wonderful stories and authors!

And I'm tickled to pieces that my writing buddies Bec McMaster and Dakota Harrison are also nominated for a selection of ARRAwards! Woohoo!

Now, it's a waiting game - winners will be announced at the ARRAwards Dinner to be held on 22 March 2014 at Cello’s Restaurant in Sydney.

ARRA Author Chat is live!

As part of the Australian Romance Readers Association ‘Author Chat’ program, ARRA Host Sharon recently interviewed me.

The video is now available for viewing!

Or you can watch it here!



I chat about my books, including books in the planning, as well as my world building techniques and obsession with all things paranormal/fantasy.

Enjoy!

GUEST BLOGGING over at ARRA!

 Let loose your inhibitions and come talk about sex scenes (fictional, of course) with me over at the Australian Romance Readers Association blog! 

And what's better than a romance book giveaway to celebrate Mother's Day???

ALLIANCE FORGED an ARRA finalist!

A lovely email arrived in my inbox this morning from the Australian Romance Readers Association announcing the finalists for their book awards for 2012.

ALLIANCE FORGED is a finalist in Favourite Sci Fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance section! I'm thrilled to pieces and proud to be among such talented company.

Thank you to the readers who nominated this book - I really appreciate it! And a special thank you to the ARRA Inc. volunteers who've given of their time to organise and hold this event!

A special congrats and shout out to my writing buddy Bec McMaster for her incredible 5 nominations for KISS OF STEEL!!!

If you'd like to see the complete lists for all the categories, click here.

2011 ARRA Finalists announced!

We have some RWAustralia & RWNew Zealand members on the lists - some multiple nominees - CONGRATULATIONS!

* Asterix = member of RWA/NZ - hope I caught everyone, shout out if I haven't! (I cross-checked with our membership lists on the websites).

Voting has opened today for the 2011 Australian Romance Readers Awards. Below are the finalists in each of the nine categories. ARRA members can now vote for their favourite in each category. Voting will close on 29 January.

Winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on 11 February 2012.

Favourite paranormal romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Galaxy Bookshop)

·         Big Bad Beast / Shelly Laurenston

·         Dragon Bound / Thea Harrison

·         Dreams of a Dark Warrior / Kresley Cole

·         Fate’s Edge / Ilona Andrews

·         Goblin King / Shona Husk*

·         Kiss of Snow / Nalini Singh*

·         Lover Unleashed / JR Ward

·         Nightfall / Ellen Connor

·         The Guardian / Sherrilyn Kenyon

·         Three Wishes / Jenny Schwartz*

Favourite sci-fi, urban fantasy or futuristic romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Carina Press)

·         Archangel’s Blade / Nalini Singh*

·         Archangel’s Consort / Nalini Singh*

·         Blood Bound / Rachel Vincent

·         Blood Cursed / Erica Hayes*

·         Born of Shadows / Sherrilyn Kenyon

·         Death Magic / Eileen Wilks

·         Magic Slays / Ilona Andrews

·         River Marked / Patricia Briggs

·         Shadow Kin / MJ Scott*

·         Shadowfever / Karen Marie Moning

Favourite short category romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Harlequin Enterprises Australia)

·         Colorado Cowboy / CC Coburn*

·         Girl in the Bedouin Tent / Annie West*

·         Molly Cooper’s Dream Date / Barbara Hannay*

·         Prince of Scandal / Annie West*

·         Promoted to Wife? / Paula Roe*

·         Rapunzel in New York / Nikki Logan*

·         Sex, Lies and Mistletoe / Tawny Weber

·         The Man Behind the Badge / Sharon Archer*

·         The Man She Loves to Hate / Kelly Hunter*

·         With This Fling … / Kelly Hunter*

Favourite historical romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Rosemary's Romance Books and  Temptation the Romance Bookstore)

·         A Little Deception / Beverly Eikli*

·         Cloudy With a Chance of Marriage / Kieran Kramer

·         Heiress in Love / Christina Brooke*

·         How the Marquess was Won / Julie Anne Long

·         Midnight’s Wild Passion / Anna Campbell*

·         Never Love a Highlander / Maya Banks

·         Salt Bride / Lucinda Brant*

·         The Many Sins of Lord Cameron / Jennifer Ashley

·         Unveiled / Courtney Milan

·         Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue / Stephanie Laurens*

Favourite contemporary romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Romantic Reflections)

·         A Lot Like Love / Julie James

·         Any Man of Mine / Rachel Gibson

·         Boomerang Bride / Fiona Lowe*

·         Claudia’s Big Break / Lisa Heidke*

·         Cop’s Passion / Angela Verdenius*

·         North Star / Karly Lane*

·         One Perfect Night / Rachael Johns*

·         Promises / Cathyrn Hein*

·         The Castaway Bride / Kandy Shepherd*

·         The Next Always / Nora Roberts

Favourite erotic romance for 2011 (proudly sponsored by Romance Direct)

·         Agent / Lexxie Couper*

·         All of You / Rhian Cahill*

·         Bunny and the Bear / Eve Langlais

·         Endless Lust / Lexxie Couper*

·         Guilty as Sin / Denise Rossetti*

·         Love, Lust and Lies / Cathleen Ross*

·         See You In My Dreams / Jess Dee*

·         The Lone Warrior / Denise Rossetti*

·         The Surrender of Lacy Morgan / Suzanne Ferrell

·         Triple Dare / Lexxie Couper*

Favourite romantic suspense for 2011

·         Beyond Fear / Jaye Ford

·         Breaking Point / Pamela Clare

·         Breaking the Rules / Suzanne Brockmann

·         Chasing Fire / Nora Roberts

·         Deadly Little Lies / Jeanne Adams

·         New York to Dallas / JD Robb

·         Shattered Sky / Helene Young*

·         Treachery in Death / JD Robb

·         Viper’s Kiss / Shannon Curtis*

·         With No Remorse / Cindy Gerard

Favourite continuing romance series for 2011

·         Gena Showalter / Lords of the Underworld

·         Ilona Andrews / Kate Daniels series

·         JD Robb / In Death series

·         Karen Marie Moning / Fever series

·         Kresley Cole / Immortals After Dark

·         Nalini Singh / Guild Hunters*

·         Nalini Singh / Psy/Changeling series*

·         Rhian Cahill / Coyote Hunger series*

·         Sherrilyn Kenyon / The League

·         Thea Harrison / Elder Races

Favourite Australian romance author of 2011 (proudly sponsored by Booktopia)

·         Angela Verdenius*

·         Anna Campbell*

·         Annie West*

·         Christina Brooke*

·         Helene Young*

·         Kelly Hunter*

·         Lexxie Couper*

·         Nikki Logan*

·         Paula Roe*

·         Stephanie Laurens*

ARRA Awards 2010 nominees

Just announced, the finalists for the Australian Romance Readers Association awards for 2010.

Check out the local talent from here in Australia and New Zealand!

Congratulations goes to:

• Nalini Singh *
•  Keri Arthur *
• Erica Hayes *
• Amy Andrews
• Annie West *
• Kelly Hunter *
• Melanie Milburne
• Paula Roe *
• CCCoburn
• Anna Campbell *
• Anne Gracie *
• Kandy Shepherd *
• Karly Blakemore-Mowle *
• Lexxie Couper
• Rhian Cahill *
• Jess Dee *
• Helene Young *
• Cathleen Ross

* multiple nominations

Fantastic to see so many great books out there!

And thank you to the reading public for your support of our local authors!

(And a special cheer for Kelly Gay, a friend from the USA who was nominated in the Favourite SF/UF/FR section!)