The Romance Writers of America have annnounced the finalists in their prestigous RITA contest. Here are the 2012 finalists in the Young Adult Romance category:
Enclave by Ann Aguirre (Macmillan Feiwel & Freinds; Liz Szabla, editor)
Flawless by Lara Chapman (Bloomsbury Publishing; Caroline Abbey, editor)
Hourglass by Myra McEntire (Egmont USA; Regina Griffin, editor)
I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler (Sourcebooks Fire; Leah Hultenschmidt, editor)
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep (Kensington Teen; Alicia Condon, editor)
Warped by Maurissa Guibord (Delacorte Press; Michelle Poploff, editor)
I have to admit that I have not read any of these books--yet--although one paperback sits on my shelf, and the rest are in first-chapter downloads on my Kindle, to peruse and possibly/probably buy.
How about you? Have you read any of the nominated books? Have any recommendations for us?
Congratulations to all the finalists, and I'll be excited to hear the results at the conference award ceremony in July!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
2012 RITA Nominees for Best Young Adult Romance
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The 2011 Young Adult RITA Finalists
Each year Romance Writers of America honors the year’s best romantic fiction, both published and unpublished. The published award is called the Rita®, and here are this year’s Young Adult finalist:
Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder
The Clearing by Heather Davis
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
Kelly and I are sorry we are unable to attend the New York ceremony on July 1st, but send our best to all the nominees!
Friday, March 25, 2011
2011 RITA® and Golden Heart® Finalists!
Romance Writers of America® announced their finalists for the 2011 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards this morning!
In the Young Adult category, honoring romance fiction published in 2010, here are the RITA® finalists:
Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Annette Pollert, editor)
The Clearing by Heather Davis (Houghton Mifflin Graphia; Julie Tibbott, editor)
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Karen Wojtyla, editor)
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (Scholastic; Cheryl Klein, editor)
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin Teen; Natashya Wilson, editor)
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles (Walker Publishing; Emily Easton, editor)
In the Young Adult category, honoring 2010 unpublished romance manuscripts, here are the Golden Heart® finalists:
Irresistible by Suzanne Kaufman Kalb
The Dead Guy Downstairs by Sheri Adkins
The Lies that Bind by Shelley Coriell
Maids of Honor by Jennifer Stark w/a Jennifer McGowan
Piper's Kiss by Sheryl Carpenter
Secret Life by Bria Quinlan
Underhanded by Shoshana Brown
Winners of the awards will be announced July 1, 2011 at the RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards Ceremony to be held at RWA’s 31st Annual National Conference in New York, New York.
Congratulations to all the finalists!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Clueless: Teens in Love
Some fun news to start off the week:
New York Times bestselling author/Fordham University literature teacher Eloisa James wrote a column for the Barnes and Noble blog today about the six novels that are finalists for this year's Romance Writers of America Rita(R) award for Best Teen Romance!
Included in that column is mention of my book, The ABC's of Kissing Boys, of which she said she could not stop reading!
Be sure to check the column out!
And for those of you who don't have an internal clock running toward the Rita/Golden Heart event...we're at 26 days and counting...
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Off on a Short Vacay!
I am off on a five day vacation--with one of the pluses being nice uninterrupted reading time!
In my purse for the outbound flight will be Jennifer Echols’ GOING TOO FAR, because a) I’ve been wanting to read it forever, and b); it will complete my read of all the books that are up for the 2010 Rita® for Young Adult Romance. (And FYI, they have been all great fun...and I am so excited to see/meet the authors in Orlando at the national conference next month!)
So what I need is a book or two for the rest of the trip. I'd love it if you'd shout out some titles of some YA novels that you’ve recently enjoyed!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Getting the Rita Call!
I thought I’d "go wide" (as my agent would say) with my “Rita Call” story here at YA Fresh because it’s a little bit funny and probably a very true glimpse into my ridiculous mind...
So first, a little backstory: I was a 2009 Rita Finalist with my book, How to Hook a Hottie . I had heard that “The Calls” commenced at 8:00 a.m. pacific time, and so when mine came it at about 7:20, I was knocked off my feet in more ways than one. I hadn’t even had time to get neurotic!
Well, this year, just in case lightning struck twice, I knew I’d be ready early. But I didn’t mean that to start at 4 a.m., which is when my subconscious kicked in. I fell into this nightmare where I saw my name on the RWA website as a Young Adult finalist, but didn’t get a call. I tossed and turned for what seemed an eternity, frantically trying to find out where the mistake was...
At about 6 a.m., stressed, achy and bleary-eyed, I got up simply to put an end to that awful extended dream.
Time passed. People started posting their “good news” on the websites. More and more time passed. I did laundry, made the beds, scrubbed the kitchen floor (uh-huh, desperation time).
Until--OMG--the phone rang. I could barely breathe as I dove at it. Only to hear the voice of my dentist’s receptionist, confirming an appointment. Now, she’s actually a friend of mine and a wonderful person, but at that moment, hers was not the voice I wanted to hear.
I finished that conversation and headed back to the computer to check websites and see who else finaled. Clearly, not me.
When suddenly, the phone rang again. This was getting ridiculous. No one ever calls us at that hour. Crossing the room, I hear myself mutter, “Who is it now, the Sparkletts man?”
But lo and behold, it was the lovely Stephanie Feagan, telling me The ABC’s of Kissing Boys.was a 2010 Rita Finalist. I was so shocked that I had to write her name down on a piece of paper to prove to myself later (if I doubted my sanity) that yes, the call *really did happen.*
Wow.
In hindsight, I have to say that wish I’d just chilled out and enjoyed the morning. But instead I’m looking at it as if I’m done with Rita stress now. Relaxation and merriment is my plan for the evening July 31st in Nashville, Tennessee, when the Rita/Golden Heart ceremony is held.
Kelly and I will be sure to talk more about it in the upcoming months and report back on it here.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Special Congrats Announcement!
We interrupt our regular YA Fresh blogging with this SPECIAL announcement...
Our own Tina Ferraro is a RITA finalist for her young adult novel, THE ABC's of KISSING BOYS!!!! Yes, that makes Tina a two-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's prestigious award for How To Hook a Hottie and now ABC's.
Also, Tina has recently become a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence YA category.
Yes, Tina is on fire, YA Freshers! *sizzle, sizzle*
Let's also send congrats to the other awesome YA RITA finalists for Best Young Adult Romance:
Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog
Random House Group, Delacorte Press
ISBN: 978-0-385-738494
Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
Hyperion Books for Children
Editor: Jennifer Besser
ISBN: 978-1-423-11638-7
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Walker Books for Young Readers
Editor: Emily Easton
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9823-7
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, MTV Books
Editor: Jennifer Heddle
ISBN: 978-1-416-57173-5
The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro
Random House Group, Delacorte Press
Editor: Krista Marino
ISBN: 978-0-385-73582-7
Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Editor: Anica Rissi
ISBN: 978-1-416-98264-7
*sigh* I just love RWA RITA time!!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Postcards from the Road!
Here are a few pictures from Wednesday night's Literary Signing with YA Fresh friends.
Above is the three Young Adult RITA finalists: me, Rosemary Clement-Moore and Tera Lynn Childs.
Now here I am with Golden Heart finalist, Vanessa Barnevelt, who traveled all the way from Australia!
And here is Melissa Francis (whose first YA is due out shortly, which I believe is called BITE ME and has a stunning cover), and Jennifer Echols (whose books we've read and raved about here), and me. Jen, by the way, "made" me a RITA flag to sit by my books because apparently none of the flags made the trip to DC this year. (Thanks again, Jen!)
And lastly, our YA Fresh friend, Kay Cassidy, has been kind enough to feature me in her Author Spotlight blog today. So if you're so inclined, click HERE to read her interview with me and play the "Three Truths and a Lie Game." She's giving away a copy of The ABC’s of Kissing Boys to one lucky commenter! Good luck!
I'll be back next week with more! Happy weekend, everyone!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Win All 3 YA RITA Nominated Books!
Many of our readers remember us talking last year about the Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best YA Book because Kelly was up for Graffiti Girl!
This year, I was lucky enough to get “the call,” and it was made all the sweeter for me when I heard the authors who are also in the category, Rosemary Clement-Moore and Tera Lynn Childs, both wonderful writers and friends!
So I had this silly idea to play a little RITA game here at YA Fresh, and give away all three books to one commenter, and Rosemary and Tera were up for it, so away we go...
The Rules: Pretend your editor asked you to write two books conforming to two titles: the others in your Rita category. What spin might you put on them?
Let’s start my book, How to Hook a Hottie:
Tera says: “Big city fashionista falls for a hunky professional fly fisherman and joins his month-long wilderness fishing expedition so she can spend quality time with her dream guy.”
Rosemary says: “A carefree summer fishing trip goes horribly awry when the hapless group of teens pulls a sulphurous demon out of the depths. Can they save the world from a creature that comes from way WAY farther down than the Black Lagoon? It's 'Most Dangerous Catch' meets 'Drag me to Hell.'"
Okay, so what’s the blurb on the back of the book?
“At 17, Kate Delvecchio has one goal in life: to become a millionaire before the age of 20. And as far as she’s concerned, college will only slow her down. Unfortunately for Kate, the one thing her parents do agree on is that they totally disagree with her strategy. And so the deal is born. If Kate can raise five thousand big ones by graduation day, her parents will hand over the balance of her college account to invest as she pleases. No college, no degree, and no way she’ll ever be able to pull it off.
But when Kate accidentally agrees to go to the sports banquet with the hottest guy at school, she stumbles upon a possible cash cow. The rest of the junior class is amazed that no-nonsense Kate could hook such a hottie, and one by one they approach her for help hooking their own. She doesn’t know anything about getting guys, but for $100 a pop, she’s more than willing to invent a six-step plan for How to Hook a Hottie. And how could that possibly backfire?”
Next up, Tera Lynn Childs' Oh.My.Gods.
Rosemary says: "A late night study session in Comparative Religion goes horrible awry, releasing a pantheon of trickster deities from around the world, and a mismatched group of misfits have to round up the supernormal scamps before they wreck havoc onto an unsuspecting suburban shopping mall. It's 'Clueless' meets 'The Breakfast Club' meets 'Supernatural.'"
Tina says: "hmmm...that's going to feature a collection of brothers, a la Jonas, Wahlberg or Baldwin, where one is simply hotter than the next. OMIGOD, OMIGOD...OMIGODS!"
The real deal:
“When Phoebe’s mom returns from Greece with a new husband and plans to move to an island in the Aegean Sea, Phoebe’s well-plotted senior year becomes ancient history. Now, instead of enjoying a triumphant track season and planning for college with her best friends, Phoebe is trying to keep her head above water at the überexclusive Academy. If it isn’t hard enough being the new kid in school, Phoebe’s classmates are all descendents of the Greek gods! When you’re running against teammates with superpowers, dealing with a stepsister from Hades, and nursing a crush on a boy who is quite literally a god, the drama takes on mythic proportions!”
Last, but never least, Rosemary Clement-Moore's Hell Week.
Tina says: "gotta be summer camp. Adventures include looking inside the latrine, a coiled rattlesnake, and no internet access."
Tera says: "December 21, 2012 -- After years of speculating about the Mayan doomsday prophecy, the world's fears are realized when the major television networks announce a week-long reality TV blackout"
But according to Amazon.com:
“Maggie Quinn is determined to make her mark as a journalist. The only problem? The Ranger Report does not take freshmen on staff.
Rules are rules. But when has that ever stopped Maggie?
After facing hellfire, infiltrating sorority rush should be easy. It’s no Woodward and Bernstein, but going undercover as the Phantom Pledge will allow her to write her exposé. Then she can make a stealth exit before initiation. But when she finds a group of girls who are after way more than “sisterhood,” all her instincts say there’s something rotten on Greek Row. And when Hell Week rolls around, there may be no turning back.
If there is such a thing as a sorority from hell, you can bet that Maggie Quinn will be the one to stumble into.”
Okay...who else wants to play? Take a quick stab at how you would spin either Hell Week, Oh.My.Gods or How to Hook a Hottie (just one will do, and you can be brief), and be entered to win all three copies of this year’s RITA nominated books. Or tell us which one(s) you liked best! Or just say "Enter me." It's easy!
The winner will be named Sunday night, July 12th! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Exciting News!!!
The announcement for RWA's RITA and Golden Heart nominations have hit the cyber world today and the nominees for the RITA for Best Young Adult Romance are...
Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Random House Group, Delacorte Press (ISBN: 978-0385734141)
Krista Marino, editor
How to Hook a Hottie by Tina Ferraro
Random House Group, Delacorte Press (ISBN: 978-0-385-73438-7)
Krista Marino, editor
Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs
Penguin Group USA, Dutton (ISBN: 978-0525479420)
Sarah Shumway, editor
Help me wish Tina a big CONGRATS!!!!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
They say a picture tells a thousand words, so how’s this one of Kelly, taken on Wednesday night at the Romance Writer’s of America Literacy Signing?
I’d say it’s darned near perfect, showcasing her beauty, inner glow, and of course, those two flags that indicate she’s a double finalist in Saturday night’s Rita awards! (Go, Kelly...Go, Kelly!)
And thanks to Harper Collins author Heather Davis for taking such a great photo and making sure it found its way to me.
And click here to see the official RWA conference blog, including an entry from Kelly.
Meanwhile, I’m off to Century City for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrator’s conference, to meet with my editor and many, many others. So we’re both gone this weekend, networking, attending sessions, and having fun.
Hope all of you have a great one!