Just popping in on a quiet day to make sure folks notice our news bar on the left, and if you click MORE (just like on blogs) you'll find all the up to date news for those of us here, and as you can see, the news has been good today. We've done well at All About Romance Karen, Meghan and myself being nominated in their Reader's Choice Awards! Thanks to all of you for doing that -- it's true, regardless of the win, it's nice to be nominated! Especially considering how many books there are out there.

I've never done much in the way of contests, though I'm trying to get more ambitious about it -- I think there are some really good ones, and it's always an honor to be judged well by your colleagues, readers, booksellers, etc and in this industry, it's always nice to have a little boost. So, I'm actually getting ready to send a few books out to some contests, and we'll see. Virtually Perfect placed in a few (The Lorie, I believe, and TARA, when they had it), and About Last Night (I can't remember, but believe it did place somewhere) and Friction (Golden Leaf) and Fascination won a "best cover" award. Since then, I've kind of slacked. I love these contests, and mean no disrespect by forgetting which ones I've had books in, it's just a lot to remember over time, and I need a better way of documenting such things on my website (soon to be redesigned...).

Speaking of which, has everyone received RITA books? Am I the only one waiting on them?

I have acted as contest coordinator for PASIC (Published Authors' Special Interest Chapter) and I enjoyed that but also got a first hand look at how much work goes into these contests -- it's a lot, and for big contests, an enormous among of organizing, timing, and dealing with paperwork.

If you are a reader, do you follow contests that authors win/enter? Do you vote in polls? Writers, do you enter many, or do you volunteer with local chapters?

And don't forget to check out our News -- right on the left!

Sam