There's no such thing as too many reviews, right? RIGHT. Sort of.
First, thank you to everyone who pitched in to create the 2014 RITA Reader Challenge. It was a little extra challenging this year due to the number of nominees in some categories, but we did it!
And a big huge thank you to Amanda, who was the mastermind and organizational badass behind the scenes, for lo, she is entirely kickass.
Now it's time for the RITA and Golden Heart announcments! Like last year, I'll be in the back of the ballroom live blogging the ceremony as fast as I can.
The RITA and Golden Heart ceremony starts at 8:00pm CDT/9:00pm EDT. The window below will go live with me typing as fast as I possibly can. Last year was really fun, so I hope you'll grab a beverage and join us for the chat.
See you tonight!
I’m usually in bed by 8, much less 9 EDT. Is there going to be a post with just the listing of category and winner. Or should I just go to RWA’s site tomorrow morning?
I hope you had a great time leading up to the festivities tonight, and thanks for everything you do with the RITA awards every year.
oops, forgot about the time difference.
@Shannon, the RWA site should have a list of the winners as they’re announced. The main link is http://www.rwa.org
As a golden Heart finalist who cannot be in San Antonio, thank for the closest thing possible to a live feed!
Can’t wait! It’s time – and there are so many great people to root for.
Here is a list of all the past GH winners. No indication of which books were published, though:
http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=542
Yea, Jane! So happy for her.
Go Nalini!
Thank you, Sarah for doing this for us. I look forward to this each year.
Elinor, I can give you a rundown on the ones from the past two years, but I don’t remember all the title changes. And most haven’t been released yet. Caveat: I can’t remember if everyone has sold or published their GH book or another title, but I’ll note it where I remember.
From 2013:
Miranda Liasson was acquired by Entangled Indulgence, though I can’t remember if this is for her winning manuscript or another one. Jane O’Hanlon’s book was released by LooseId. Joanna Shupe’s is going to be released by Kensington. AE Jones is self publishing hers in the next few months. Krista Hall self-published Broken Places this year.
From 2012:
Tamra Baumann sold to Montlake, but not with her GH book. Hasn’t come out yet. I self-published No Peeking under the title Hold Me Tight. Karen Fleming has sold to Harlequin Heartsong; her book hasn’t been released yet. Lorenda Christensen’s book was released by Carina. Liz Bemis has (or will?) self-publish hers. Romily Bernard’s winning manuscript was released by Harper, and is now titled Find Me.
This only covers the Golden Heart winners, mind you, and only the past two years. Many of the finalists have also sold or self-published. Here’s a list of 2012 finalists and their (our) publication record as of April: http://www.ghfirebirds.com/firebirds-take-flight-4/ The 2013 finalists are doing well too.
A few more off the top of my head: Liz Selvig won the GH for contemporary in a previous year, and was published by Avon. Susan Sey also won and was pubbed by Berkley. Darynda Jones won for paranormal in 2009 and was pubbed by St. Martin’s (and won the RITA for that same book). There are tons more, though. It would be a gargantuan task to compile a complete record of finalists and their published books through all the years. Suffice to say, GH’ers do pretty well!
Thanks, Talia! That’s great information.
@Talia:
Your memory is really impressive! Thank you for all that info!
@y’all:
You are all very welcome – I love doing the live blog, and it’s fun to bring it to you as fast as I can type. 🙂
Sarah, I was a GH finalist in 2012 and 2013. My fellow finalists are my buds. Easy to remember what your friends have been up to! (Or, um, glance through the loop archives and take a quick look. 🙂 )
I know it’s been said so often it’s become a cliche, but it’s really true—the very best part of finaling in the Golden Heart is this powerful bond with the other nominees.