Bitchin' Blog Posts
: DA BWAHA Award
by SB Sarah | April 08, 2013 | Monday at 9:59 am | 0 Comments
Today is the DABWAHA Championship final! Polls will open at 11amET / 10am CT and will run until 10pm CT - 12 hours of intense voting ahoy!
The two finalists are:
Both of these books are interesting championship finalists: both were reader nominated books, and both are contemporary romances. Plus, both have sizable fanbases behind them - so it will be a crazy final!
More than just the bragging rights are on the line, too - the winning reader and winning author receive an iPad, plus there are so many awesome prizes for random brackets once the tournament is done. Even if you're way out of first, you could still win something.
So, who should we vote for? Who gets your vote? I hope you've enjoyed this year's tournament as much as we have!
GAME ON - go vote!
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by SB Sarah | March 27, 2013 | Wednesday at 2:54 pm | 11 Comments
Reminder! Tomorrow at 9pm we'll be hosting the Sizzling Book Club Chat discussing The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand.
There will probably be intricate discussions of dessert and pastry. Ms. Florand will join us at 10pm ET for a Q&A. I hope you'll come by - book club chat nights are very fun.
...
I'm over at Kirkus today, continuing my series about identifying your favorite tropes and character types in romance. This week, in honor of Passover, I'm talking about identifying those things about romance you know you don't like - and can thus pass…over. Ba-dum-bump.
Just as identifying the character types and storylines that you like is a powerful and useful tool for finding more romances you love to read, knowing what to avoid is also a powerful and very useful tool. There is nothing less fun than realizing you are not enjoying a book at all. If you think about the books you really, really hated, the ones that made you angry, disappointed, or just plain bored, it's likely they have…
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by SB Sarah | March 21, 2013 | Thursday at 2:40 am | 8 Comments
At 1am Eastern, midnight Central, the voting began! Are you ready?!
Round one is a big one, too, with Cecilia Grant's A Lady Awakened facing Courtney Milan's The Duchess War, and The Fault in our Stars by John Green going up against Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. And Unspoken and A Notorious Countess Confesses and... I have to go lie down now. Oy.
Then, at 1pm Eastern, noon Central, the next set of polls go up! More voting! More Tweeting! MORE MAYHEM! Just the way we like it.
On 22 March, another set of polls will go up at midnight Central and noon Central. It's two straight days of mania. Then MORE as round 2 begins!
I may need another nap.
Have you seen the bribes and videos offered in support of various books? Susanna Kearsley and her posse of teens are making videos, and she's not even in the tournament this year (which is our fault, picking a book of hers that was reissue. Ooops). Many available teenagers and six year olds were involved in the productions of many of the videos, which is…
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by SB Sarah | March 18, 2013 | Monday at 11:09 am | 10 Comments
Several books nominated for the DABWAHA are on sale, or free, which is awesome, because reading!
Kensington has dropped the price on Laura Florand's The Chocolate Thief, nominated for the DABWAHA in the Contemporary Romance category. The price is $3.99, or $3.49 if you're Amazon.
Breathtakingly beautiful, the City of Light seduces the senses, its cobbled streets thrumming with possibility. For American Cade Corey, it's a dream come true, if only she can get one infuriating French chocolatier to sign on the dotted line. . .
Melting, yielding yet firm, exotic, its secrets are intimately known to Sylvain Marquis. But turn them over to a brash American waving a fistful of dollars? Jamais. Not unless there's something much more delectable on the table. . .
Whether confections taken from a locked shop or kisses in the dark, is there anything sweeter?
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo | iBooks | All Romance eBooks
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by SB Sarah | March 17, 2013 | Sunday at 12:18 pm | 5 Comments
The DABWAHA bracket is ready to be filled out. Just click on "New" and enter your identification. Only the Nickname will show up publicly. Then click on the title of the book you will think will each match until you have only one book left as your Champion. The tie breaker is the number of reader nominations we received. Hint: it is under 1000.
If you have problems, we are going to host a Google Hangout on Monday at 7:30 / 8:30 CST/EST where we will walk you through picking a bracket.
If you're using a screen reader and having problems with the bracket selection page, please email me and I can help you complete your bracket.
Finally, the prizes have been posted. We have a ton of awesome prizes donated by DA BWAHA and authors from iPads to Lush packages. Plus, there are prizes for middle of the road brackets, the worst bracket and for winners of each round.
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by SB Sarah | March 16, 2013 | Saturday at 12:29 pm | 5 Comments
Time to announce the reader nomination winners, and the complete slate of 2012 DABWAHA nominees!
The YA Reader Nominee is:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ( A | BN | K | S)
An interesting pick, and definitely one of the best books of 2012.
The Contemporary Reader Nominee is:
About That Night by Julie James ( A | BN | K | S)
Julie James was the runner up to last year's tournament, and with reader support behind her she may go equally far this year.
The Historical Reader Nominee is:
The Duchess…
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by SB Sarah | March 10, 2013 | Sunday at 10:54 am | 61 Comments
It's time for the 2013 DABWAHA!
What's the DABWAHA?
It's our March Madness™- style tournament of romance novels, hosted by Jane from Dear Author and yours truly. The tournament began in 2008 which makes this our 6th annual tournament of books. Yay!
What's DABWAHA stand for?
It stands for AWESOMENESS. And the assurance that I should be allowed to name everything because I came up with the name. (It stands for "Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hellagood Authors."
What do we do?
Today, we announced the slate of nominees! Have a look.
We put together a selection of great books published in 2012 in eight different categories. The books are pitted against each other. Envision a cage match between books. Your votes determines who wins. The books compete until only one book is left.
You, the player, win by guessing which book will win each match. The person who makes the most correct guesses will win an iPad.
How come there are only 7 per category?
Because you (yes, you!) pick the 8th nominee in…
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by SB Sarah | March 31, 2012 | Saturday at 9:55 am | 0 Comments
The DABWAHA Final Four voting is on now!
From midnight to noon CDT, Courtney Milan's novella Unlocked is facing down Karen Marie Moning's Shadowfever. As of right this moment, it is terribly close. Like, every time I reload the page the tally changes - so this vote totally matters. Check your bracket, drive to various WiFI spots, and use your cell phone, folks. Every last vote will matter.
Then, at noon CDT, Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh wil face Julie James' A Lot Like Love. That race will also be close - so your vote counts today! Good luck and keep your brackets strong!
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by SB Sarah | March 21, 2012 | Wednesday at 1:41 pm | 1 Comments
Last day to sign up for the Second Chance Tournament - voting on the Sweet Sixteen begins tomorrow!
The voting schedule for the Sweet Sixteen is up on the DABWAHA site.
The competition is fierce, hilarious, and friendly. And the audiovisuals continue: Sarah Morgan's son whipped up this bit of adorable for A Night of Scandal ( A | BN | K | S ).
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by SB Sarah | March 19, 2012 | Monday at 8:41 pm | 8 Comments
First: the DABWAHA Second Chance Tournament is up! Bracket busted? You get a Second Chance! Starting with the Sweet 16, pick your winners - and there's prizes for this tourney, too!
This is a separate contest - your picks in this tourney don't override your picks in the main tourney, in other words. The winner of the 2nd Chance Bracket will receive a Kindle Fire, a $100 Amazon giftcard, and an ARC of Echoes at Dawn, book 5 in the KGI series from author Maya Banks.
2nd place in the 2nd chance will receive a $50 gift card to either Amazon or B&N from Sarah Frantz and Eric Selinger, who are celebrating the publication of their academic collection of essays titled New Approaches in Popular Romance Fiction.
Have a look at the prizes page for more information on what's going to be awarded with each round. And, yes, there is absolutely a "Wooden Spoon" prize for the worst bracket overall, so if your bracket is hopelessly broken, aim low and vote against yourself to try to score that prize.
The second chance…
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by SB Sarah | March 14, 2012 | Wednesday at 1:13 pm | 14 Comments
The Round 1 Voting schedule has been posted, and voting will be intense for the next two days. The polls stay up for 12 hours each, and the trash talking and vote mongering has already begun. Then, just after the dust settles - Round 2!
Darlene Marshall and Susanna Kearsley's elderly dogs have been trashtalking one another, and they're not up against each other (yet?). Kearsley is not messing around, either: her Twitter avatar is her dog's "Gaze of Hope," and her teenagers not-quite-teenagers helped her book make a video for the DABWHAHA as well:
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by SB Sarah | March 11, 2012 | Sunday at 9:49 am | 10 Comments
It's Selection Sunday for the DABWAHA!
First, the reader finalists, those voted in by, well, readers, are:
YA: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes Contemporary: If You Hear Her by Shiloh Walker (Bro Magnet by Lauren Baratz Logsted was a close second) Historical: A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran GLBT: Hot Head by Damon Suede Category: A Man of His Word by Sarah Anderson Novella: Once Upon a Winter’s Eve by Tessa Dare (edged out Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews by one vote) Crossover: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning PNR/UF: Radiant Desire by Inara Scott
And now: It's bracket time! There are instructions on how to fill out your bracket online at the DABWAHA site. Please only fill out one bracket. If your bracket is totally shot to hell after the first round, don't worry. We have a Second Chance bracket with a whole selection of really awesome prizes. ETA: And there is also a store online where you can go shopping for the books you haven't read yet, put together by our intrepid intern, Lauren. The store revenues earned go to…
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by SB Sarah | March 07, 2012 | Wednesday at 12:31 am | 4 Comments
The nomination slate is ready and seven out of eight books have been listed at the DABWAHA site. Why is one missing? Because it's time for you to nominate the book you think should be included that isn't listed right now.
Which book were we insane to leave off? Fire up your browser and head on over to fill out the form to enter your nominations.
A few words of caution: please make sure that the book is published in 2011 - but not late December 2011. Anything published the last week of December 2011 is counted as a 2012 book (we had a mighty discussion about it on our last podcast).
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by SB Sarah | March 21, 2011 | Monday at 3:18 am | 2 Comments
Ahoy! Is your DABWAHA bracket shot to smithereens? Did you bank on the romance novel equivalent of the University of Pittsburgh and are now in 1156th place? Fear not - Pitt’s going home (ouch) but you get a 2nd chance! It is 2nd Chance Tourney time in Dabwaha-land! Simple as pie (mmm. pie).
What Do I Do?
Step one: Cut a hole in a box. Ha. Kidding!
Step one: Fill out your 2nd Chance tournament bracket - note, fewer choices, more agony!
Step two: hit submit!
How Does it Work?
Same as the regular DABWAHA tournament does: voting for the DABWAHA counts for both tournaments. (But you knew that!)
When is the Deadline?
Deadline to submit your 2nd Chance bracket is 8pm CDT, 23 March 2010.
What Do I Win?
Prizes? Of course there are prizes!
The winner of the 2nd Chance Tourney wins a Kobo reader in the winner’s choice of color, PLUS a $50 gift card to the Kobo ebookstore. Thank you to Kobo for the awesome prize donation!
But wait, there’s more! The absolute worst 2nd Chance bracket wins a iPod Touch, 3rd generation (i.e.…
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by SB Sarah | March 15, 2011 | Tuesday at 10:49 am | 53 Comments
I had a request for the runners up in the reader nominations for the DABWAHA, so here are the top ten books, with the finalist and the nine runners up as nominated by readers in each category. An asterisk denotes a tie.
YA
1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Finalist) 2. Matched by Ally Condie 3. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater 4. The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong 5. The Duff by Kody Keplinger 6. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly 7. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa 8. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa 9. Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George 10*. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead 10*. Forget You by Jennifer Echols
Series
1. Her Best Friend by Sarah Mayberry (Finalist) 2. A Little Consequence by Amy Knupp 3. Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly 4. LA Cinderella by Amanda Berry 5. The Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly 7. The Vampire’s Kiss by Vivi Anna 7*. America’s Star-Crossed Sweethearts by Jackie Braun 7*. His Virgin Acquisition by Maisey Yates 7*. Poisoned Kisses by Stephanie Draven 7*. A Bride for Jericho Bravo by Christine Rimmer
PNR/SF
1. Magic Bleeds by…
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